Energy and climate targets require a radical increase in efforts for implementing and strengthening policies in the building sector. The proposal for a revised EPBD introduced several elements to reach these goals e.g., zero-emission buildings (ZEB), national building renovation plans (NBRP), minimum energy performance standards (MEPS). Other instruments are strengthened: building renovation passports (BRP) and energy performance certificates (EPC). Recent developments (gas/energy/economic crises) have triggered short-term actions and objectives, leaving Member States (MS) with the challenging task to find solutions to implement them all at once and avoid lock-in effects.

The project aims to achieve three objectives:
1) Support public authorities in six MS (focus countries) in the design, implementation and evaluation of instruments (re-) defined in the proposal of the EPBD (ZEB, NBRP, MEPS, BRPs, EPCs)
2) Adopt a consistent approach for the implementation of building policies stemming from the EPBD recast and use synergies with Fitfor55 and other EU strategies
3) Build a replicable model to support the implementation of EU legislation by closely engaging with CA-EPBD, network agencies, and national partners of the Renovate Europe Campaign as well as policy makers and stakeholders.

We analyse national examples, provide support and technical advice and develop tailored policy packages and tools adapted to the specific needs of focus countries. These include guidelines on how to design policies and instruments, measure their effectiveness (monitoring, reporting and policy evaluation) and adjust to EU and national needs and objectives. The project establishes an intensive stakeholder engagement in focus countries, including policy fora and bilateral exchanges with implementing bodies. Selected activities and results are provided to focus countries; replication and adaptation to EU-27 is assured through a series of workshops at EU level.

The project partners:

TECHNISCHE UNIVERSITAET WIEN/VIENNA, Austria
ZENTRUM FUR ENERGIEWIRTSCHAFT UND UMWELT (E-THINK), Austria
SERA GLOBAL - INSTITUTE FOR SUSTAINABLE ENERGY AND
RESOURCES AVAILABILITY, Austria
ADENE - AGENCIA PARA A ENERGIA, Portugal
BUILDINGS PERFORMANCE INSTITUTE EUROPE ASBL - BPIE, Germany
AGENZIA NAZIONALE PER LE NUOVE TECNOLOGIE, L'ENERGIA E LO SVILUPPO ECONOMICO SOSTENIBILE - ENEA, Italy
EMI EPITESUGYI MINOSEGELLENORZO INNOVACIOS NONPROFIT KFT (EMI), Hungary
EUROACE - EUROPEAN ALLIANCE OF COMPANIES FOR ENERGY EFFICIENCY, Belgium,
INTERNATIONAL NON-GOVERNEMENT ORGANIZATION HOUSING AND
MUNICIPAL REFORM SUPPORT CENTRE (HMRSC), Ukraine

easySRI aims to enable a smooth and extendable web platform that offers services for the automated calculation of the SRI according to the Final report on the technical support to the development of a smart readiness indicator for buildings accomplished under the authority of the European Commission DG Energy ENER that will act as a basis for an effective implementation of the SRI and allow further testing at Member State level. easySRI aims to introduce additional parameters that address energy efficiency and financial dimensions in view of making the acquired information more understandable and quantitative for the user of the building. Furthermore, easySRI will support the implementation of a number of ML services (i.e. ML-based core engine and wizard tool for performance and smartness upgrades and SRT interventions), which will assist the evaluation and assessment of the building system’s performance and smartness in more than one normalised metrics as per the SRI framework, and provide customised recommendations for upgrades, considering the cost of investment. Furthermore, novel business strategies will promote adoption and engage stakeholders towards evaluating and upgrading smartness in their facilities, while dedicated workshops and training material will facilitate deployment. Finally, the project aspires the update of current standards as well as the inclusion of its outcomes in new or future standards and will investigate links with other EU initiatives such as EPCs, B-Logs and renovation passports in order to maximize the use of SRI concept in EU policies in the fields of energy and buildings.

Funded by EU LIFE Programme, easySRI project has started in November 2022 and will end in October 2025.

Website: https://www.easysri.eu/
LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/company/easysri
Twitter: https://twitter.com/sri_easy
YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@easysri2022

The project partners:

ETHNIKO KENTRO EREVNAS KAI TECHNOLOGIKIS ANAPTYXIS, Greece (Coordinator)
FREDERICK UNIVERSITY FU, Cyprus
ENERGY@WORK SOCIETA' COOPERATIVA A R.L., Italy
SGS TECNOS, Spain
SERA GLOBAL GMBH, Austria
CENTRO DI RICERCHE EUROPEO DI TECNOLOGIE DESIGN E MATERIALI, Italy
WAIDE STRATEGIC EFFICIENCY EUROPE LIMITED, Ireland
DEMO CONSULTANTS BV, Netherlands
AUSTRIAN STANDARDS INTERNATIONAL, Austria
CENTRE FOR RENEWABLE ENERGY SOURCES AND SAVING FONDATION, Greece

The objective of the transFORMAT-Link project is to create a catalogue of minimum requirements and criteria for the development of the municipal development concept. This should simplify planning and reporting with regard to the NECP. Case studies serve as examples for the development and achievement of municipalities' own goals.

Our partners in this project:

TU Wien (Research Unit of Regional Planning and Regional Development) https://www.tuwien.at/en/ar/re...
Kleboth und Dollnig ZT GmbH https://www.klebothdollnig.com...

TIMEPAC aims at improving the processes of energy certification of buildings. Among other things, the existing static energy performance certificate will be integrated into the overall BIM system and further developed into building renovation passports.

In Austria, SERA global works with the province of Salzburg. In close cooperation with the Department of Energy Management and Consulting, existing residential buildings are analysed and the necessary interfaces for expanding the ZEUS energy performance certificate database are developed.

More information: https://timepac.eu/

The european Partners:

SERA GLOBAL GMBH (SERA) Austria
FUNDACIO PRIVADA UNIVERSITAT I TECNOLOGIA (FUNITEC) Spain
INSTITUT CATALA D'ENERGIA (ICAEN) Spain
CYPE SOFT SL (CYPE) Spain
INSTITUT JOZEF STEFAN (JSI Slovenia) Slovenia
MINISTRSTVO ZA INFRASTRUKTURO (MzI) Slovenia
GORISKA LOKALNA ENERGETSKA AGENCIJA (Golea) Slovenia
ENERGETSKI INSTITUT HRVOJE POZAR (EIHP) Croatia
POLITECNICO DI TORINO (POLITO) Italy
EDILCLIMA SRL (Edilclima) Italy
REGIONE PIEMONTE (PIEMONTE) Italy
EUROPEAN SCIENCE COMMUNICATION INSTITUTE (ESCI) Germany
OMOSPONDIA ERGODOTON & VIOMICHANONKYPROU (ΟΕΒ) Cyprus

ENERFUND was a project funded by Horizon 2020 and has been developing the ENERFUND tool to assess and compare opportunities for extensive renovation ("deep renovation") in terms of their prospects of success.

The ENERFUND tool provides the basis for decision-making for

• Companies: investment strategies and development of energy services
• Municipalities: targeted regional development and promotion instruments
• Public authorities: development of policy instruments

The underlying method was developed in the project:

• Data availability: usable data sources and the conditions for them
• Aggregation of data required to comply with data protection regulations
• Permissible aggregation of data to provide a basis for decision-making
• Data evaluation: types of data and combined evaluability of data

Data sources include energy performance certificates, directories of certified craftsmen, information on subsidy programs and tax regulations.
The ENERFUND tool has been filled with data and tested with stakeholders during the project. It is generally accessible. Operation is already ensured for the period after the end of the funded project. More information: http://www.enerfund.eu/

Project team: 15 partners from 12 Member States: Two universities (CUT/Cyprus, Aalborg University/Denmark), two companies specialized in databases, geocoding, data analysis and presentation (ENERMAP/Cyprus and Energy Action/Ireland), Ministry of Regional Development / Romania, ten energy agencies, NGOs, SMEs: Centre for Energy Performance of Buildings (Romania), Cyprus Energy Agency (Cyprus), SERA energy & resources e.U. (Austria), Energy Centre Bratislava (Slovak Republic), Centre for Renewable Energy Sources and Saving (Greece), Severn Wye Energy Agency (UK), Valencia Institute of Building (Spain), Sustainable Energy Development Agency (Bulgaria), Jozef Stefan Institute (Slovenia), ENERGIES 2050 (France)

Vienna´s Urban Lake Side stands for one of the largest urban development projects in Europe and also for one of the largest smart city demonstration projects in Austria. Supported by the Climate and Energy Fund, Aspern Smart City Research GmbH (ASCR) as consortium leader and the project partners have created a test area on three building plots - kindergarten/classroom, student dormitory and residential building - in which questions about the future of energy efficiency are answered.

ASCR leads a research team consisting of several organizations developing new services and products in the field of sustainable building energy supply. It is the objective to contribute to the Smart City of the future with secure, reliable, and affordable state of the art technology.

A central component of the flagship project Smart City Demo Aspern was the involvement of residents and users. Only with them can the optimal use of energy and the potential savings in CO₂ emissions be further developed.

We have worked together with the users of selected buildings in Seestadt Aspern to better understand consumer habits and users’ requirements and expectations regarding products and services related with energy efficiency and renewable energy use in buildings. Based on our findings, we have provided input for technical research and development as well as input for the development of sustainable energy-related services for the future.

Living research in the Smart City demo project of the Climate and Energy Fund:

https://www.klimafonds.gv.at/press/seestadt-aspern-gelebte-forschung-im-smart-city-demoprojekt-des-klima-und-energiefonds/

Energy savings can also be achieved through behavioural changes. The more differentiated the users, their motives and options for action are known, the better this potential can be tapped. In the development of the Plus energy building, users will become active prosumers who not only consume electricity but also supply electricity to the grid. By using the building accordingly, they can play a decisive role in balancing energy consumption.

The study examined the influence of user behaviour on the operation of low-energy and plus-energy buildings, differentiated according to social, societal and intercultural aspects as well as gender aspects in particular. This resulted in more tailor-made solutions for product development and communication as well as for the planningprocess.

A broad spectrum of building typologies was investigated (large volume residential buildings, office and administration buildings, school buildings, kindergartens, educational campuses), which have been newly built in the last five years to the passive/plus energy house standard or renovated to the lowest energy standard. The entire process, from the start of planning to the current operation, was taken into account.

From this, findings for planning and construction as well as for product development were derived: During planning and construction, conclusions are drawn on the timely involvement of users in the run-up to the project and on adequate advice and information for operation and use. With regard to input for product development, the focus was on building services equipment and control engineering.

The results of the two year project were prepared for different target groups in order to make the highlights interesting for the respective group easily accessible.