Buildings are responsible for approximately 40% of energy consumption and 36% of CO2 emissions in the EU. Deep Renovation of existing old buildings has the potential to lead to significant energy savings and a tremendous carbon footprint shrinkage. The current EU climate targets open an ample opportunity for exponential growth in the building thermal insulation materials market owing to the increasing number of new residential buildings and current deep renovation needs. The target is to support residential building´s construction performance extraordinary at all three hierarchical levels of construction parts simultaneously (building, component, material) by creating an amplified environmental impact and reducing additionally VOC emissions. BIO4EEB will apply non-hazardous bio-based material as e.g., Posidonia and various bio-based foams to develop and to proof the marketability of smart components for external and internal use as material application, pre-fab panels or windows. The efficiency and effectiveness is quite important to match with market demands and establish a unique selling proposition including a seven years RoI! BIO4EEB will close the increasing gap of insulation material shortage caused by the regular growing demand and the mismatch caused by lacking production potential and the outcome of the current energy crisis by boosting the use of available bio-based qualified materials as alternative solutions. The objective is to substitute using fossil resources for components and replace them at a comparable price value positioning. New business models utilizing the complete economic value chain open the market for bio-based BIO4EEB solutions and products uplifting the generic bio-based material use and qualifying their application at a circular economy approach for creating a much greener EU building and construction industry real estate stock.

In modern economy, digitalization is a major driver of productivity growth across industries and services. However, the construction sector is lagging behind, even behind agriculture. The construction sector is characterised by a high presence of SMEs, low capitalization, a low rate of higher educated employees, low investment in innovation, and a long supply chain. Moreover, in the EU market, different languages, taxation, and regulatory frameworks are obstacles to Union synergies. DigiPLACE will exploit EU added value. Several initiatives have been developed at national level to improve the innovation in this sector. At EU level, some projects were devoted to facilitating the exchange of information, practice and knowledge (e.g. CPR 305/2011 and Levels). DigiPLACE will create a common ecosystem of innovation, standardization and commerce with the aim to collect the achieved results and to increase the productivity of the sector and the quality of its end products (building&infrastructure). Could digitalization help the sector to solve these historical issues and future ones? What kind of digitalization, what kind of market, what kind of production and supply-chain we could imagine? What kind of consumers do we have for our products and services. How do these worlds work together? DigiPLACE aims to investigate all these themes with a strong analysis of markets, actors and barriers. It will define a Reference Architecture Framework (RAF) for digital construction platform based on an EU-wide consensus involving a large community of stakeholders and the expertise of selected key players, resulting in a strategic roadmap for successful implementation of this RAF. DigiPLACE will rely on a large set of partners, linked 3rd parties and an Advisory Board representing leading European entities, companies and/or associations of industry, builders, owners (private and public), architects, research institutes, and ICT firms (for digital production, services and knowledge).

Demographic trends in Europe are posing a challenge to the construction sector, which is facing labour shortage, and an aging existing workforce. This can be addressed through the integrated adoption of breakthrough technologies, e.g. autonomous vehicles, collaborative robotics, additive manufacturing, smart wearables, digital twin, and artificial intelligence, which can help to get construction tasks done with more efficacy, while at the same time making the sector more attractive to young people, and improving the safety, productivity, quality and environmental impact of construction projects. BEEYONDERS will take a leap forward in the design, development, and integration of these breakthrough technologies in real construction scenarios, bringing together the capabilities of European stakeholders, thus also demonstrating how the dependency on technology import from outside Europe can be reduced. Solutions will be developed for supporting the integration of autonomous and tele-operated, ground and aerial robotic platforms and heavy equipment in harsh environments. Innovative additive manufacturing solutions will be developed for resource optimization and for protection of biodiversity in maritime works. Safety, wellbeing, and training of workers will be improved through the development of exoskeletons, advanced wearables, and learning resources supported by XR technologies. A Digital Twin enriched with AI-based layers for decision-making will support seamless integration and management of all Project technologies. These will be tested and validated in 6 demonstration case studies covering different project typologies: tunnels, earthworks for road construction, buildings, maritime infrastructures, and road maintenance. BEEYONDERS impact will be evaluated both from the point of view of users? acceptance (e.g. benefits for aging workforce, attraction of young workers, contribution to gender balance in construction) and environment(e.g.LCA&LCC applied to all project).

BACKGROUND & CHALLENGESThe construction sector has been reporting lack of skills while at the same time the young generations did not appear very much attracted to it, despite the increased use of apprenticeships as a training path. One of the key challenges that was also identified and associated with these challenges, during CONDAP project, is that apprenticeship mentors in the construction sector frequently lack themselves modern digital skills required to match the sector’s and young workers’ expectations and requirements. Consequently, construction apprenticeship mentors have been reluctant to introduce new digital methods during their teaching practices. It has thus been essential to develop professional development opportunities of high quality, and to train workplace mentors on how to introduce new digital methods and innovative content during their teaching practices, to make training effective, address misalignments between VET offerings, skills demand & learners’ realities. OBJECTIVES CONDAP achievements: -Upskilled in-company mentors in construction apprenticeships with digital, sector-specific professional skills and competences and upgraded their training through the development of OERs - Enriched their teaching ability through the development of innovative pedagogical approaches - Formed a strategic partnership to continuously support the professional development of mentors in construction apprenticeships THE CONDAP PARTNERSHIPThe partnership comprised of five organisations from five EU counties with high capacity, qualifications, and complementary skills from the world of WBL, VET and the construction sector, to align mentors’ training with specific labour market needs and apprenticeship particularities. INSTRUCTUS contributed as a leader in the development of apprenticeship programmes. VSRC is a specialised VET provider in the construction sector. UPV carries specialised R&D related to digital opportunities in the construction industry and has expertise in OERs. EBC is the European umbrella professional organisation representing 18 national associations of construction crafts and SMEs EXELIA brought extensive experience in R&D and delivery of innovative ICT-based methodologies. ACTIVITIES & METHODOLOGYThe CONDAP partnership successfully analyzed the training requirements of workplace mentors in construction apprenticeships, developing learning outcomes for their professional development and their upskilling with digital skills and innovative teaching practices. Developed VET learning units for workplace mentors, focusing on sustainability & digitalization of construction, and innovative pedagogical orientations for teaching digital construction methods. Created pedagogical materials being offered as Open Education Resources. Developed, tested, and delivered learning materials and Vocational Open Online Course infrastructures on the digital skills & competences of in-company mentors involved in construction apprenticeships. Developed a systematic approach to support the enhancement of the digital skills of mentors in construction apprenticeships, and the integration of CONDAP learning outcomes into VET and finally shared and validated the outputs with multiplier events, inviting target groups to uptake CONDAP results and to act as further disseminators. RESULTS & IMPACT-The CONDAP consortium validated learning outcomes for training of workplace mentors in digital construction and created learning units & teaching methodology for in-company mentors in construction apprenticeships reaching almost 200 mentors-Developed pedagogical resources to support in-company mentors’ digital skills, offered as OERs and the CONDAP VOOC on digital construction methods addressed to more than 400 mentors and VET providers. Delivered 2 pilot sessions to validate CONDAP learning outcomes and additional pilot testing organized remotely reaching close to 200 mentors, VET providers & employers-Developed a roadmap for the systematic integration of CONDAP learning outcomes into VET and a MoC to support the enhancement of the digital skills of mentors in construction apprenticeships and to establish a relevant EU strategic partnership with 32 relevant stakeholders signing the MoC from all across Europe.-Organized 3 information days to promote project results and validate educational resources gathering 219 participants POST-PROJECT SUSTAINABILITYThe partners managed to promote the use of CONDAP learning materials, OERs and VOOC, and the methodology for teaching digital construction methods by an increased number of in-company mentors involved in construction apprenticeships Discussed the uptake of project materials and OERs from relevant VET providers and construction companies across the EU and finally managed to expand the EU strategic partnership supporting digital skills of mentors in construction apprenticeships and increased the initiatives targeting quality of in-company mentors VET

If BIM is key to address the construction sector growing technical complexity, to overcome construction processes fragmentation and communication problems between stakeholders, to reduce on-site time and improve quality and affordability, its uptake for the renovation of the EU existing building stock is yet to come and already late. To face this BIM4REN starts from 3 workflows adapted to the construction sector segmentation (90% of companies are SMEs) presenting particular technical and organisational requirements and has adapted the project and consortium to provide adequate and innovative processes, methodologies, software and hardware tools & BIM developments for each one of them, backboned by state of the art BIM technologies like worldwide used BIM Server (open-source) and BIM Bots by TNO among many others. BIM4REN gathers together top European RTOs active in the Built Environment domain (Nobatek, CSTB, Tecnalia, TNO, Fraunhofer ISE) alongside key industrial actors (EDF, CMB Carpi & ATI Project (leading BIM implementers in the EU market) with 2 Universities (RWTH & Vilnius Gedimas) and up to 11 SMEs: R&D performing (R2M, Ekodenge), SME contractors (Kursaal) and technology providers (IES, EnerBIM, WiseBIM, VRM, AEC3, etc.) with the European Builders Confederation, the Green Building Council Italy and a large French Social Housing Organisation (Logirep) representing the whole residential renovation value chain. B4R digital ecosystem will be accessible via a web based One Stop Access Platform, where depending on each user profile and needs, orientation, best practice examples from a dedicated database and links to the different tools and services (from Top-grade to Entry-level) will be provided on differentiated access schemes underpinned by different business models. Inspired by the Open Innovation 2.0 paradigm the project will setup a demonstration campaign with “pilots as Living Labs” integrating all stakeholders in 3 cities (Paris, San Sebastian and Venice).