BUILD UP

To accelerate the success of energy efficiency projects, cooperation between public and private sectors needs to increase. Access to innovative financial schemes also needs to improve. These include public-private partnerships, energy performance contracting, crowdfunding and green loans.

The EU-funded project Buildings as Material Banks (BAMB), gathers 16 partners from 7 countries to foster a paradigm shift in which materials, components and buildings are evaluated and developed, taking into consideration the EU’s goal of achieving a circular economy.

The European construction industry is working towards producing high-quality materials from recycled waste, enhancing the sector’s sustainability and reducing its environmental impact. In the southern Belgian province of Namur, concrete and bricks from demolished buildings are being turned into eco-friendly road surfaces.

One of the key messages of a new IPCC report includes the warning that we are already seeing the consequences of 1°C of global warming through more extreme weather, rising sea levels and diminishing Arctic sea ice, among other changes.

Our portal is open for contributions and BUILD UP’s Editorial Board is ready to receive your discussion papers, news and articles.

Join the webinar to learn more from EuroACE about long-term renovation strategies and the related new requirements in the Energy Performance of Buildings Directive. The webinar will include a Q&A session.

The EU-funded iBRoad project works on developing an Individual Building Renovation Roadmap for single-family houses. This The tool provides a customised renovation plan over a long-term period of time (10-20 years).

The EU-funded H2020 project STUNNING, which promotes knowledge exchange and interaction in the field of energy-efficient building renovation, is conducting a survey on barriers for energy refurbishments to seek out answers and recommendations addressing the stagnant renovation rate in Europe.

The revised EPBD established that all new buildings have by the end of 2020 to reach the nZEB target set by the Member States. A report by the EU-funded CRAVEzero project outlines an approach and methodology for evaluating life-cycle costs, with a particular focus on nearly zero-energy buildings.

The desire to improve the energy efficiency of an existing building must be balanced with the need to preserve its structure and architectural features. Changes to the thermal and moisture properties of the building enclosure can have serious negative impacts, says a new report by the Building Research Information Knowledgebase (BRIK).

Lithuania has significantly improved the energy efficiency of housing over the previous decade to 2010, in part as a result of the JESSICA I funding programme. Case studies by the EU Energy Poverty Observatory highlight best practices that serve as models for the second edition of this programme.

The 2030 Palette is a free online platform that puts the principles and actions behind Zero Net Carbon and resilient built environments at the fingertips of designers, planners, and builders worldwide. It was developed by Architecture 2030, a non-profit organisation.

An Euronews video report about the EU-funded ECO-Binder project shows the process of manufacturing and installing prefabricated concrete products using traditional cement.

An EU-funded project seeks to measure the alignment of investment portfolios with climate related energy transition goals and address the general challenge of shifting capital towards sustainable energy and energy efficiency investments.

The EU-funded DR-BOB project aims to demonstrate the economic and environmental benefits of demand response in blocks of buildings for the different key actors required to bring it to market.

The EU-funded SISMA project has developed a tool to calculate the internal rate of return of investing in renovating hospitals, schools and other large public buildings. The aim is to provide confidence for private investors on a project’s performance and trigger long-term energy efficiency investments. The tool is available for download.

On Friday 28 September, the European Commission, in partnership with the UN Environment Finance Initiative, organised a webinar to illustrate the Investor’s Perspective in Financing Energy Efficiency 2018.

The World Energy Council’s Energy Trilemma Index tool, produced in partnership with Oliver Wyman, ranks countries on their ability to provide sustainable energy through energy security, energy equity and environmental sustainability.

SBE19 NL is the first conference of the 2019-2020 cycle of international conferences on Sustainable Built Environment, where innovation meets market.

Conference at the University of Architecture in Sofia where the results of the Horizon 2020 project Train-to-NZEB will be presented.

The Architects' Council of Europe (ACE) is organising on Friday 23 November in Leeuwarden a public conference on Adaptive Re-Use and Transition of the Built Heritage.

This conference will explore the growing support across Europe for Level(s), the European Commission’s new sustainable building reporting framework.