ONDOAN brought together more than 200 attendees at the Conference on “The Building of the Future” with which it celebrated its 35th anniversary

14/07/2017

The ONDOAN Group held a seminar on “The Building of the Future” on 23 June, in which it addressed the issue of buildings that have “special requirements”, such as hospitals, residences, hotels, sports centres, museums, auditoriums, laboratories, etc. This event, which was attended by more than 200 people, is one of the actions planned to commemorate the 35th anniversary of the business group, and seeks to address the issue of how to design and adapt future products and services.

The introduction to the conference, held at the Euskalduna Conference Centre in Bilbao, was given by the president of ONDOAN, Zigor Arancegui, and the President of the Engineering Division of the Mondragon Corporation, Aitor Lejarzegi. Pedro Gurrutxaga, Director of Corporate Development at ONDOAN was the master of ceremonies. The event began with a number of presentations that focussed on Sustainability, Maintenance, Energy Efficiency and the Safety of Buildings. Thus, Blas Beristain, Head of Sustainable Building of IDOM, addressed the difficulties in quantifying the sustainability of buildings; José María Borda, Director General of SISTEPLANT, focused on the concept of Maintenance 4.0 to which buildings will have to adapt in the future; and José Manuel Borque, Head of the Tertiary Department of EVE, explained the challenge of building Zero-energy Buildings that can generate the same amount of energy as they consume. To close this first section, Andoni Oleagordia, Director of Civil Protection and Emergencies of the Bilbao City Council, contributed his experience in the field of assessing buildings with “special requirements”.

The second round of presentations, dedicated to Health and the Environment, was opened by Pablo Otaola, Manager of the Driving Committee for the Urban Development of Zorrotzaurre, who explained the urban recovery of the degraded area of Zorrotzaurre. Then, Paulino Pastor, President of FEDECAI and Director of Ambisalud, pointed out the importance of generating good indoor environmental quality, with a view to improving corporate productivity dramatically. Finally, Enrique Peiró, Head of Osakidetza Public Health Programmes, explained the comprehensive plan to minimise microbiological hazards linked to sanitary infrastructure being implemented by the Basque Health Service.

Following the presentations, the event ended with a discussion panel moderated by Mikel Álvarez, Director of Business Development and Institutional Relations of the MONDRAGON Corporation. This panel discussed the experiences learned from such unique buildings as the Galdakao-Usansolo Hospital, the Euskalduna Conference Centre, Iberdrola Tower, EITB or LKS Ingeniería. The event was closed by the Director General of ONDOAN, Rafa Ikazuriaga.

ONDOAN

2017 was the 35th anniversary of the incorporation of Ondoan S. Coop., the parent company of the ONDOAN Group, which was established in 1982 as part of the Grupo Caja Laboral, the predecessor of the current MONDRAGON Corporation. Today, it consists of a business group of five companies (Ondoan, S.Coop., Ondoan Servicios, Ondoan AyC, Kelan and Orgaus Systems), with a workforce of 300 people, with headquarters in Zamudio and offices in the three Basque provinces, in addition to Madrid, Palma de Mallorca, Ibiza, Mexico and Morocco.

For 35 years, Grupo ONDOAN has extended its activities in the fields of energy and the environment, resulting in today’s organisation, which is based on five large fields of activity: Plant Engineering, The Environment and Occupational Health & Safety, Maintenance and Services, Indoor Environmental Quality, and Energy Services. It is very likely that other fields of activity will join this list in the near future.

And in that scenario, the strategic lines that ONDOAN has set out for the next few years will be based on three key aspects: the increasing weight of internationalisation, the increase in activities related to the industrial sector, and the expansion of its geographic presence. Through these actions, which belong to the conclusions derived from an in-house strategy study, the company is seeking to improve its position in an increasingly complex and globalised market that is also highly specialised and in need of technological solutions with high added value.