InCUBE brings together 23 high-profile partners and two affiliated entities from 7 European countries, envisioning to unlock the EU renovation wave through cutting-edge standardized, lean integrated processes based on 4 key pillars of innovation: 1) Industrialization: Off-site manufactured solutions including the use of robots (e.g., demolition, telescopic cranes, drilling and waste sorting), so far applied only in industrial environments, offering novel services (e.g., anti-collision, area boundary, waste tracking); 2) Novel self-RES power producing and storage technologies, products and environmentally friendly materials (e.g. low GWP-refrigerant heat pumps); 3) Digitalization: Dynamic Digital Twins of both products and buildings, utilizing immersive capturing techniques (e.g., Laser 3D scanners and Drones), digitally merging innovative manufacturing processes with BIMs, and; 4) New market entrants, organized under novel business models, to allow for increased levels of collaboration and productivity. The InCUBE Suite, integrates digital tools across all 4 pillars, enables for seamless coordination of different renovation phases while leveraging data streaming from multiple interoperable sources to accommodate tenants’ comfort and render buildings active energy nodes in the synergetic energy networks paradigm of the future. Solutions will be validated in 3 large-scale demo sites (19,100 m2, >600 residents) in 3 countries (IT, ES, NL), including a cultural heritage building. Key expected outcomes include among others: Reduction of waste streams and time needed on-site by >35%, renovation cost reduction by >30%, reduction of working time with hazardous activities by >50%, energy savings >6GWh/y (78%), GHG reductions >1,980 tCO2eq/y, achieving an energy performance gap between as-built and as-designed 2,000 users; all while accounting for social inclusion, upskilling and enhancement of women’s role in the construction industry.

ETA4B (Energy Trusted Advisor for Buildings) project promotes the development of an embedded energy optimization system collaborating with existing devices, providing citizens with innovative applications and services in the field of energy efficiency of buildings, making home more smart. The solution includes a multi-protocol electronic unit to be easily installed in houses and small buildings, providing an open-framework web-based platform with energy-related data flow for supporting the decision making process for end users. Benefits for users are in terms of energy saving (cheaper bills), CO2 emissions reduction and, for the ones being “prosumers” (energy users that also produce energy in their buildings), low production costs and higher profits. For Tera Srl, the challenge is to enter in the energy efficiency market thus enhancing company’s profitability. The main customers will be “prosumers”, addressed through an innovative commercial approach, based on web applications managed by skilled companies selling a modular and scalable service, rather than a device that will be introduced in the energy efficiency market for small buildings. Strong innovation also lies in the combination of automatic SW updating capability at front-end (no needs for maintenance and ease of use) and powerful reasoning engines at back-end. These SW engines are based on energy-model calculations and big-data like algorithms, running both on private and public data-base (open-data), delivering “customized” performance indexes to the users. To demonstrate the feasibility of ETA4B, Phase 1 activities will focus on specific components such as target market, partner search, value proposition, compliance to cutting-edge standards and development platforms, financial sustainability and business model. ETA4B responds to EU challenges concerning the market uptake of a sustainable solution, a new system for energy efficiency in buildings, seizing the European and global markets.

SMARTeeSTORY will propose an integrated building automation and control systems for monitoring and optimizing building energy performance according to an innovative multi-domain approach (integrating SRI domains: HVAC, Dynamic Faade, Lighting, EV), incorporating historical building requirements as well as human requirements by envisaging real-time and active user engagement. SMARTeeSTORY system will automatically detect (interacting with users via specific technologies identified in project early stages, e.g. smart home systems) the building users archetypes (via DRL algorithms) therefore specific preferences (SMARTeeSTORY database of users archetypes and preferences in smart buildings energy demand, comfort, etc.) informing the optimization and control services. Such a system will encompass interoperable and cyber-secure software (cloud-based middleware provided with multiple services for: monitoring & digital twin, analysis and prediction, optimization and control, embedding physics and data-based models for forecasting building energy performance and using Digital Building Logbook as a Common Data Environment) and hardware (advanced edge computers, multi-protocols data gateways, smart and automated sun blinds, smart sensors and actuators for Technical Building Systems integrated control according to occupancy and energy efficiency needs, smart products for user engagement) solutions fully enabling the three functionalities required for a building to become smart: i) optimization of operation of technical building systems, ii) adapting to the external environment (including energy grids), changing condition in relation to demands from building occupants. The system will be deployed at TRL 8 in three demo sites (non-residential historic buildings) identified in Latvia, Spain and The Netherlands to demonstrate buildings improved energy performance in correlation to the increased smartness rating.

The main objective of REHOUSE is to develop and demonstrate 8 renovation packages of promising technology innovations until TRL7. The renovation packages are fully designed for a wide range of building renovation actions, including deep renovations, that overcome the main barriers that slow down the current EU renovation ratios, following circularity principles, including multi-functionality through active/passive elements integration, prefabrication and off-site construction of components and respect of buildings aesthetics, architectural and historic value. REHOUSE also implements an inclusive people-centric social engagement strategy to endow the renovation wave with a resident and owner perspective towards affordability, satisfaction and attractiveness of sustainable renovation. The renovation packages will be deployed across 4 locations serving as demonstrators located in Greece, Italy, France and Hungary. These buildings renovations include detailed design, pilot set-up, demonstration and evaluation to validate in operational conditions (social) the prototypes of the 8 renovation packages. REHOUSE proposes solutions that cover together a set of 5 renovation principles offering technically and economically affordable renovation solutions with enough flexibility to tackle almost 100 % of the building renovation challenges at EU level. The aim is to boost market uptake, scalability and replicability of REHOUSE renovation packages, linking its value proposition with critical economic, technical, social, regulatory and data security/protection aspects and barriers and propose practical recommendations on how to overcome them.