With CO2 emission at 36% and energy consumption at 40%, building sector is far from sustainability. The need for construction materials to achieve climate neutral buildings reaches 0.2 m3 per m2 of net floor in France, leading to several billions of m3 in Europe by 2050. EASI ZERo proposes a global system to cut the environmental impact by rising the thermal performance of buildings envelope by 20% with bio-sourced and recycled materials. This include grown mycelium, wood fibres, low carbon foam, recycled raw material for spayed renders, multifunctional building bricks, and healthy finishes. This unique portfolio of tailored components results from manufacturing and sourcing with reduced CO2 emission and embodied energy. It will demonstrate cost-efficient and easy installation in green deep renovation and also new construction operations. The re-use of components and the integration of recycled materials enhance circular economy by closing carbon cycle and raise resilience in the construction value chain. Design tools, numerical database and material passport will optimise the materials combination towards maximum sustainability and minimum payback time for any typology of buildings and conditions (climate, aesthetics, specific risk). Projects use-cases will show real buildings reaching durable high environmental performance and carbon emission over more than 40 years and neutral energy balance with integrated PV generation where relevant. A multidisciplinary consortium will support these objectives and benefit from project outcomes, as universities, technology developers, construction material producers and building engineers. Use-cases will especially consider social housing. Outcomes will positively impact i) European competitiveness with manufacturing of sustainable and clean construction materials and easy installation on any building in EU stock ii) raise resilience thanks to circular economy, eco-design and digitization of the EASI ZERo renovation system.

BlueBird - BuiLding-integrated User-Empowered flexiBIlity tRaDing With the objectives of the Green Deal in mind, BlueBird aims to tackle the advantages derived from an increased use of flexibility assets in the electricity domain, leveraging AI and data solutions. BlueBird will deliver a comprehensive and validated toolset, to fully allow competitive adoption of buildings as energy flexibility assets, supporting smooth integration of services towards energy market players (i.e., TSO, DSO, aggregators) while maximally aligning with end-user's (i.e., building managers, occupants) requirements and acceptance criteria. BlueBird trials will take place in seven large-scale pilots in six countries: Spain, Belgium, Poland, Austria, Denmark, and Germany. These trials will include the validation of end-user and beneficiary acceptance using social-science methods. To foster replicability, BlueBird will offer a package of lessons learned and recommendations for future adoption. This will include suggestions for feasible win-win industrial partnerships and guidance on ecosystem sustainability. These ambitious objectives will be achieved by a consortium of experienced and highly complementary partners from research institutions, industrial sectors, public authorities, and NGOs across eight European countries.

Syn.ikia aims at achieving sustainable plus energy neighbourhoods with more than 100% energy savings, 90% renewable energy generation triggered, 100% GHG emission reduction, and 10% life cycle costs reduction, compared to nZEB levels. This will be achieved while ensuring high quality indoor environment and well-being. Our main strategy for achieving these goals is to deliver a blueprint for sustainable plus energy buildings and neighbourhoods, leading the way to plus energy districts and cities, through: I. Demonstrating new designs and efficient operation of sustainable plus energy neighbourhoods through the balanced application of integrated energy design, energy- and cost-efficiency measures, local renewables, local storage, energy flexibility, and energy sharing and trading. This will be demonstrated in four real-life development projects with plus energy apartment blocks located in four climatic zones and representing four different types of urban development strategies. II. Delivering customized designs, innovative technologies, and decision support strategies and tools that enable informed decisions to be made by the key stakeholders in Europe. III. Encouraging community engagement and empower user’s control facilitated by digital platforms and driven by housing affordability, improved quality of life, and environmental consciousness to inform and enable behavioural change. IV. Unlocking the potential of neighbourhoods as flexibility providers that enable more RES to enter the system and allow for flexible management of energy demand and RES generation in neighbourhoods, to avoid costly reinforcements of distribution grids while improving the quality and reliability of supply. V. Providing big data based infrastructure management and smart networks that, together with new and validated construction technologies and materials, unlock the flexibility potential, enable community engagement, and provide well-managed housing for the citizens.

e-SAFE defines and develops a market-ready deep renovation system for non-historic buildings, whose ability to uptake the EU market relies on the combination of decarbonization goals with earthquake safety (where applicable), indoor comfort, reduced implementation time and cost, affordable financial options, reduced occupants’ disturbance, increased aesthetic and functional attractiveness. This is reached through an iterative process based on a multidisciplinary methodology, where traditional modelling and experimental research are integrated with tools for promoting financial feasibility, knowledge co-production, mutual learning and public engagement. The result is a new deep renovation system that benefits from the full integration between technological innovation and process-based innovation. From a technological standpoint, e-SAFE integrates TRL5-6 technologies within a TRL8-9 upscaled framework, deployed and validated through 3 large scale pilot projects. The output is an abacus of innovative, tailorable, integrated solutions for energy-efficient deep renovation, with recyclable bio-materials and increased seismic resistance. The e-SAFE technical systems also enhance indoor comfort while significantly reducing primary energy demand. Market uptake and public interest in deep renovation are than pursued via 3 process-based innovations: 1) a co-design protocol for future e-SAFE exploiters, to fully engage their customers in the finalization of renovation design, assisted by a newly developed ICT-based decision making tool; 2) an original dedicated value chain, where e-SAFE-related royalties are used by a new one-stop-shop financing entity for broadening deep renovation opportunities by providing to potential clients tailored financial solutions; 3) the generation of a public engagement protocol that makes every e-SAFE-based project an occasion to raise public awareness on the importance of decarbonization and seismic safety, while enhancing market opportunities.