The EU introduced the policy on moving towards nearly-zero energy buildings by the end of the year 2020 (Directive 2010/31/EU), defining the nearly zero-energy building (nZEB) as a building that has a very high energy performance. However, in 2013, the European Commission (EC) reported that too little progress has been made by the Member States in their preparations towards nZEBs by 2020. The slow progress towards implementation of the corresponding nZEB EU Directive was mainly due to the fact that the Directive did not address building sector's uptake solutions directly. However, in one of the reports the EC had defined very low energy houses also as passive houses, suggesting the national governments to relate their nZEB solutions to already proved high performance solutions, such as passive house design solutions. Because Passive House design had already been translated into principles and solutions across Europe and wider, it directly corresponds to the specific issues of the nZEB implementation. Successful implementation of the nZEB criteria in member states can thus be assured by applying the Passive House design principles and solutions already available and proven in the building sector across Europe and beyond. Therefore, an in-depth education on Passive House design was the main focus of the project proposal.The consortium was formed by partner countries which on their national level completely lackes Passive House design education (Croatia), partner countries which at the time of the start of the Project had already had introduced Certified Passive House Designer education (CPHD/CEPH) (Greece, Italy), and a partner country which, as the intellectual and geographical origin of the Passive House Concept and with by far the widest practical experience thus far has pioneered the way (Germany). All the partner countries shared the need to adapt the CEPH education curriculum to regional and climate dependent building practices.The Coordinator of the project is Oikon Ltd.-Institute of Applied Ecology, in Zagreb, Croatia. The second Croatian national partner is the Faculty of Civil Engineering from the University of Zagreb. International partnership is formed with Hellenic Passive House Institute (HPHI-Greece), Zero energy and Passivhaus Institue for Research (ZEPHIR-Italy) and Passive House Institute Dr. Wolfgang Feist (PHI-Germany). Partner organizations ZEPHIR and HPHI are both affiliates of the International Passive House Association (iPHA) which is hosted by the Passive House Institute (PHI) and Course Providers in cooperation with PHI from Darmstadt, Germany. Using the existing materials of the CEPH project, HPHI, ZEPHIR and PHI assured the expertise and experience support on preparing the rest of the Consortium in delivering the Certified Passive House Designer education. Each partner country had at least one Certified Passive House Designer within the participating partner's organization. Throughout the project's activities all project partners contributed to the development of the regionally customized education materials for Certified Passive House Designers as the main objective of the project, as an addition to the existing training material for Passive House Designers. The currently available CEPH education materials, which resulted from the project by the same name (Certified passive House Designer), supported by the IEE action, are focused on the Central European climate and reflect Central European building practice and traditions. Since the end of the CEPH project, a lot of research has been done on the Passive House standard in different climates zones. The SEEDpass Consortium developed new additional materials, reflecting the Passive House education to the South East European climate, building practices and traditions. Moreover, the materials related to the building practice in each partner country with the regional Climate specifics. A priority of the Consortium was to elaborate the additional educational materials related to the project partners' countries climate and regional building practice specifics and to contribute to the update of the previously carried out CEPH project accordingly. Here, teaching materials on cooling and dehumidification were developed to meet the demand for detailed training of architects and engineers. In terms of employment, regionally based education on design of high performance buildings is the key success to demand side of the building's sector labor market. It strengthens the framework conditions for regional companies to respond to new structural challenges of the building sector and assures project partner's competitiveness on international markets. Besides establishing internationally comparative building sector expertise, the long term aim of the project is to reinforce and accelerate the implementation of the nZEB Directive by prioritizing adequate Passivhaus education on national level, which assures project’s sustainability.

Project Proposal: Affordable Zero Energy Buildings (A-ZEB) This project aims to achieve significant construction and lifecycle cost reductions of new NZEB’s through integral process optimization in all construction phases. The main objectives are: a) To develop a methodology for cost reduction in synergy with better energy/ grid-interaction/comfort/environmental performances of new NZEB’s for the European climate zones with a framework of tested strategies and technologies from which designers, builders and urban planners may combine the best for their context. b) To disseminate the gained and consolidated knowledge and experience as market-ready solutions to the widest possible EU audience and this way inspire stakeholders to take up new NZEB’s with RES concepts and implement the cost-effective solutions. c) To facilitate frontrunners and innovators, from policy-makers to progressive contractors, to help transform the building sector into a sustainable industry, with ready-to-use material and strategies to influence their target groups. Optimizing construction processes to fully integrate available solutions (in the areas of process, technology, contracting) is seen as the largest potential in lifecycle cost reduction and is at the core of the project. A-ZEB proposes to create a common methodology on this. The main steps are: - Evaluate available experience and solutions - Create a common methodology for cost reduction - Apply the methodology to demonstration projects - Finalise the methodology including lessons learned - Disseminate the results The project will pave the way for the process and organizational innovation in construction, to enable significant cost-reduction and solid market acceptance of NZEB’s.

The Train-to-NZEB project is designed to establish a functioning network of training and consultation centres (Building Knowledge Hubs, BKHs), providing practical trainings, demonstrations and complex consulting services for the implementation of nearly-zero energy buildings (NZEB). Using the improved training facilities, the BKHs will provide enhanced capacity for conduction of trainings on curricula developed on BUILD UP Skills II, thus reaching a significant number of workers not covered by the initiative. Additionally, BKHs will offer trainings for highly-qualified building professionals and demonstrations for non-specialists with decision-making authority, which, combined with administrative and financial consultancy service, will result in increased capacity for implementation of NZEB projects in the involved countries. In order to reach this goal, the following objectives are set: 1. Development of publicly available Terms of Reference for the setting up of the BKHs; 2. Adaptation of existing and development of new training programs; 3. Actual setting up of 4 training and consultation centres (BKHs) according to the Terms of Reference; 4. Building of internal capacity through train-the-trainer activities, targeting at least 90 qualified trainers; 5. Actual training courses according to annual training plans, resulting in: (a) 120 training courses for construction workers, targeting additional qualification of 2400 trainees; (b) 24 training courses for highly-qualified building specialists, targeting additional qualification of 480 trainees; (c) 36 training courses for non-specialists, targeting additional qualification of 720 trainees; 6. Strict monitoring and evaluation for constant improvement of the offered services. 7. Setting up of a web-based networking platform providing facilities for knowledge sharing and exchange between the BKHs; 8. Conduction of a targeted dissemination and communication campaign to increase the market demand for NZEB projects.

Built2Spec brings together a new and breakthrough set of technological advances for self-inspection and quality assurance that will be put into the hands of construction stakeholders to help meeting EU energy efficiency targets, new build standards, and related policy ambitions. B2S will expand upon a cloud based construction support platform, conceived following the most advanced integrated design and delivery framework for the building sector and hosting applications that facilitate worksite activities and quality compliance by putting knowledge in hands of contractors, in the form of shared design specifications and 3D models, installation guidelines, information on regulatory frameworks, and help from construction experts on smartphones and tablets. New self-inspection technologies managed within the platform and developed in the project include: • Special IR camera in smartphones coupled with new mathematical “reverse” models for on-the-fly analysis of existing buildings envelope thermal properties • Rapid BIM modelling via instant 3D capture with smartphones, passed via the cloud to the refurbishment team back-office, allowing accurate instant energy efficiency evaluation, quality check and streamlined quotation process • Portable, innovative low pressure air tightness technique allowing testing of occupied buildings • Smart sensor-embedded construction elements (identification, structural performance, and building environment parameters) • Portable single device for Indoor Air Quality tests offering multi-gas capabilities targeting the most harmful gas pollutants • A novel lightweight portable sound source for on-site acoustic tests to regulation compliance The B2S system will be integrated into the operations of SME contractors, large construction firms, and end user clients directly within the consortium and work program activities, assuring systematic and scientific performance measures, feedback and powerful exploitation and dissemination strategies.