The decentralization of the energy system coupled with advancements on IoT, big data, AI and distributed computing are creating a new momentum for exploiting data-driven services to improve buildings energy efficiency. Despite a large number of buildings data hubs and vocabularies have become available, some barriers hamper the exploitation of that potential, such as the lack of interoperability among heterogeneous static (e.g.BIM), building automation and IoT dynamic data sources and ontologies, and the lack of interoperable big data architectures fully tailored to smart buildings. In that respect MATRYCS will i) deliver an open Reference Architecture for Smart Energy Efficient Buildings, which aligns BDVA SRIA, FIWARE architecture, SAREF, HAYSTACK, and BRICK schema vocabularies (among the many others), and enable B2B sovereignty preserving multi-party data exchange, while providing full interoperability of big data enablers with smart buildings standards and addressing privacy and cyber-security constraints ii) upscale a number of TRL 5-6 technology enablers, such as sovereignty-preserving DLT/off-chain data governance, big data pipeline orchestration, IoT/edge AI-based federated learning and visual analytics and deploy them within the TRL 7-8 MATRYCS workbench iii) deliver a TRL8 open modular big data cloud analytic toolbox as front-end for one-stop-shop analytics services development iv) validate such framework through the deployment of analytics services focusing on digital building twins, improved buildings operation, building infrastructure design, EU/national policy assessment for energy efficiency investments on 11 large scale pilots by different stakeholders (facility managers, ESCOs, financial institutions, construction companies, municipalities, electricity grid and DH operators, policy makers) v) setup the BDA Alliance as a vibrant data-driven ecosystem for attracting new data hubs and SME service providers, enabling thus EU-wise take-up and replication

The overall objective of ACCLIMATE is to achieve enhanced integrated national and international strategies for climate-resilient, low-emission development. ACCLIMATE will contribute to improving the transparency, consistency, and clarity of GHG emission reduction commitments and create appropriate tools by developing an assessment framework for mitigation commitments. Working in a bottom-up manner with national experts within an international consortium comprising high-emitting countries from the Americas, Asia and Europe, as well as low-emitting countries from West Africa, ACCLIMATE will identify needs for improvements of NDCs and long-term strategies. A focus will be set on adequacy, fairness and feasibility, as well as on needs for improving current policies and measures to actually achieve NDCs and long-term objectives. On this basis, the development of enhanced national strategies and pathways will similarly build on existing scientific national expertise and models, with the development of enhanced pathways for all focus countries being undertaken by the respective partners of the consortium based in these countries, with support from European partners. These pathways will include an increased understanding of the role of ecosystems, non-CO2 gases, and climate impacts and risks, and socioeconomic tradeoffs. The development of enhanced pathways and policy recommendations will build on sectoral deep dives in order to fully capture sector-specific mitigation enablers and barriers. ACCLIMATE will in particular focus on the sectors industry, buildings, AFOLU, transport, and energy supply. ACCLIMATE will enhance the capacity in partner countries to develop and model mitigation strategies and pathways and to analyse and develop respective policy strategies and packages. Furthermore, enhanced strategies will be closely co-created with policy-makers and stakeholders at the national, sectoral and international levels.

PARIS REINFORCE aims to underpin climate policymaking with authoritative scientific processes and results, and enhance the science-policy interface, in light of the Paris Agreement and associated challenges. In particular, our aim is to develop a novel, demand-driven, IAM-oriented assessment framework for effectively supporting the design and assessment of climate policies in the EU as well as in other major emitters and selected less emitting/developed countries, in respect to the Paris Agreement objectives. Building on an exhaustive facilitative dialogue and a strong ensemble of complementary—in terms of mathematical structure, geographical, sectoral and focus coverage—integrated assessment, energy system and sectoral models, we will create an open-access and transparent data exchange platform, I2AM PARIS, in order to support the effective implementation of Nationally Determined Contributions, the preparation of future action pledges, the development of 2050 decarbonisation strategies, and the reinforcement of the 2023 Global Stocktake. We also seek to enhance the legitimacy of the scientific processes in support of climate policymaking, by introducing an innovative stakeholder inclusion framework and improving the transparency of the employed models, methods and tools. Beyond effectively communicating respective outputs and fostering wider societal acceptance of climate policy, we actively involve policymakers and other stakeholder groups in all stages: from the formulation of policy questions and the definition of modelling assumptions in a demand-driven approach; to the design of I2AM PARIS interfaces and specifications, and the mobilisation of tacit knowledge embedded in them in the aim of bridging knowledge gaps. Finally, we will introduce innovative integrative processes, in which IAMs are further coupled with well-established methodological frameworks, in order to improve the robustness of modelling outcomes against different types of uncertainties.

Recent literature has underlined the interplay among climate mitigation, adaptation, and finance, as well as between climate action and other development agendas, including sustainable resource use, human development and equity, and environmental pressures. Such an interconnected policy environment requires an integrated ecosystem of disciplines, methods, and tools. Despite the significant evolution of integrated assessment models (IAMs) in the last decade, there remain several criticisms on their design, use, and adequacy to respond to unaddressed and emerging questions in the light of the Paris Agreement and net-zero ambition. These include openness, legitimacy, and ownership, as well as technical feasibility to represent demand-side and broader societal transformations, cross-sectoral interactions, physical impacts and adaptation, climate finance and labour dynamics, and other sustainability goals. DIAMOND will update, upgrade, and fully open six IAMs that are emblematic in scientific and policy processes, improving their sectoral and technological detail, spatiotemporal resolution, and geographic granularity. It will further enhance modelling capacity to assess the feasibility and desirability of Paris-compliant mitigation pathways, their interplay with adaptation, circular economy, and other SDGs, their distributional and equity effects, and their resilience to extremes, as well as robust risk management and investment strategies. This will be done via integration of tools and insights from psychology, finance research, behavioural and labour economics, operational research, and physical science. We will develop a transdisciplinary scientific approach to legitimise the implementation process and co-create research questions that stretch the frontiers of climate science, as well as establish vibrant communities of practice to transparently open model enhancements and to develop capacities, thereby lowering the entrance barriers to the established IAM community.

The WeForming project aims to change the paradigm of efficiently managing energy in buildings, paying special attention to their interaction with the energy ecosystem (energy networks and markets) by developing, deploying and demonstrating innovative solutions addressing (i) digital operation, management and maintenance and (ii) efficient and interactive energy processing for Intelligent Grid-interactive Efficient Buildings (iGEBs), able to operate intelligently in a multi-energy, multi-user, multi-sector, multi-market, and multi-objective environment, without forgetting quality, comfort, health and acceptation. The WeForming Framework will deploy an umbrella framework covering all aspects around the establishment and adoption of iGEBs in cities, which consists of (i) a Building Operational Pillar encompassing all assets of iGEBs, including the energy management systems and the different platforms, aiming towards the building operational optimization, the actors and the actual flexibility resources, generation and storage components; (ii) a novel Interoperability Assurance Pillar which leverages on, adapts, evolves, and specifically validates leading-edge interoperable architectures; (iii) a Business Pillar including all necessary processes to bring the proposed solutions to the market, through the design and validation of sustainable and competitive business models, ensuring the economic viability of the investments needed for the establishment of smart cities featuring new and refurbished iGEBs; (iv) a Smart-city enabling Pillar integrating iGEBs as modular units addressing all different non-technical barriers and limitations for the widespread deployment of the proposed solutions that will create a stock of active buildings acting as active utility nodes within cities.