This project aims to provide for real-world implementations of Water Framework Directive (and other water related legislation), as well as the Circular Economy and EU Green Deal packages by showcasing and validating innovative next generation water resource solutions at pre-commercial demonstration scale. These solutions combine WATER management services with the recovery of value added renewable resources extracted/MINED from alternative water resources ("WATER-MINING"). The project will integrate selected innovative technologies that have reached proof of concept levels under previous EU projects. The value-added end-products (water, platform chemicals, energy, nutrients, minerals) are expected to provide regional resource supplies to fuel economic developments within a growing demand for resource security. Different layouts for urban wastewater treatment and seawater desalination are proposed, to demonstrate the wider practical potential to replicate the philosophy of approach in widening circles of water and resource management schemes. Innovative service-based business models (such as chemical leasing) will be introduced to stimulate progressive forms of collaboration between public and private actors and access to private investments, as well as policy measures to make the proposed water solutions relevant and accessible for rolling out commercial projects in the future. The goal is to enable costs for the recovery of the resources to become distributed across the whole value chain in a fair way, promoting business incentives for investments from both suppliers and end-users along the value chain. The demonstration case studies are to be first implemented in five EU countries (NL, ES, CY, PT, IT) where prior successful technical and social steps have already been accomplished. The broader project consortium representation will be an enabler to transferring trans-disciplinary project know-how to the partner countries while motivating and inspiring relevant innovations throughout Europe.

PUBLENEF’s overarching goal is to assist Member States in implementing effective and efficient sustainable energy policies (with the focus on energy efficiency ) and empower them to make use of the best practices and policy processes implemented in other MS at the national, regional and/or local level. The specific objectives of the project are to a) Assess and learn from existing Energy Efficiency policy implementation practices in EU member states, regions and cities, b) Strengthen networking opportunities for public agencies on the national, regional and local level, and c) Develop and adjust tools for public agencies to help them implement Energy Efficiency policies. The target audience of PUBLENEF consists of the following groups: National, regional and local authorities, Policy implementation bodies, networks of local and regional authorities, and Market actors and bodies participating in EE policies. The overall approach of the project in order to fulfill these objectives is to: a) Identify the needs from national, regional and local authorities for the implementation of EE policies, b) Collect the best practices and tools for overcoming these needs and replicate them to various MS, regions and municipal authorities, c) develop roadmaps and enhance the process of successful implementation of policies, and d) build and strengthen existing networks of policy makers enabling the knowledge exchange from national to regional to local level in EE policy. As PUBLENEF is a highly policy participatory project, it has ensured the involvement of key players in all energy efficiency policy making field throughout the EU. PUBLENEF has ensured a fine mix of energy agencies (and associations of cities and regions) involved in the formulation of energy efficiency policies on the national, regional and local level and building capacity.

RES4BUILD will develop renewable-eneRRES4BUILD develops renewable energy-based solutions for decarbonising the energy used in buildings. The approach of the project is flexible, so that the solutions are applicable to a wide variety of buildings, new or renovated, tailored to their size, their type and the climatic zones of their location. In the heart of the solution lies an innovative multi-source heat pump with a cascading configuration, including a magnetocaloric (bottom cycle) and a vapour compression heat pump (top cycle). The heat pump will be combined with other technologies in tailored made solutions that suit the specific needs of each building. These technologies will be selected on a case by case basis from a mix of standard equipment available in the market and from innovative components that will be specifically explored within the project. The innovative technologies include innovative collectors that integrate in one panel photovoltaic cells and solar thermal energy collectors (PV/T) and borehole thermal energy storage (BTES). For all solutions, advanced modelling and control approaches will be developed and will be integrated in a Building Energy Management System, allowing the users to select their objectives and to optimise the use of the system accordingly, allowing the activation of demand response and the exploitation of the full value of smart appliances and smart charging of electric vehicles. The project adopts a co-development methodology, where the end-users and other relevant stakeholders are engaged in an interactive process, where a RES$BUILD system is designed for their buildings with their active participation. In parallel, a full life cycle assessment and life cycle costing analysis will be carried out, showing from an early stage the real impact of each proposed design. The diverse consortium and the dedicated exploitation tasks will connect the project with the market, paving the way for wide application of the developed solutions.