BUILD UP

3D printing, also referred to as additive manufacturing (AM), is a major element of the Fourth Industrial Revolution and has the potential to transform the construction sector by introducing robotisation into it. 3D printing is the process of creating an object by solidifying a raw material (e.g. plastic, metal, wood or concrete) by using computer aided design (CAD) and computer aided manufacturing (CAM) interfaces to guide the 3D printer nozzle.

Every month, BUILD UP highlights publications covering a specific topic. February’s Topic of the Month is ‘Building operation and smart buildings’. The website is already available for contributions and BUILD UP’s editorial board is eager to receive your discussion papers, news and articles.

This edition of BUILD UP Expert Talks hosts Myriam Olivier, PhD in civil engineering and mission head at ASTUS-construction, France. She has worked in the energy efficiency and building information management and modelling sectors for several years and has coordinated and worked on several international research projects, including the recently completed H2020 BIMplement project.

Surface area is an important but limited resource in cities that are aiming to become climate neutral. It can be used, for example, to generate heat or electricity through active solar systems, improve air quality via greening, or provide cooling thanks to highly reflective and emissive materials. Scientists at the Italian institute EURAC have now developed a multi-factor approach to studying the synergies and conflicts that arise from using ground, facade and roof space in urban communities.

Retrofitting Europe’s buildings for energy efficiency is not enough to slash the carbon footprint of the construction sector and cut emissions in time to meet the Paris climate agreement goals, according to Dr Catherine De Wolf, assistant professor of design and construction management at the University of Technology Delft in the Netherlands.

CO2 emissions increased to 9.95 GtCO2 in 2019. The sector accounts for 38 % of all energy-related CO emissions when adding together building and construction industry emissions. Direct building CO2 emissions must be halved by 2030 to get us on track for net-zero-carbon building stock by 2050. Governments must prioritise low-carbon buildings in pandemic stimulus packages and updated climate pledges.

An important goal for public policy to stimulate transition to a sustainable energy system is to improve energy efficiency –a target clearly set out in the UN’s Sustainable Development Goal 7. Indeed, improving energy efficiency is one of the most cost-effective options for meeting growing energy demand, ensuring more rational use of energy, securing economic well-being and an improved quality of life, and contributing to a better environment and to energy security in most countries.

This study provides the basis for the development of a European Union framework for Digital Building Logbooks. The definition of such logbooks has been created as part of this work, based on a thorough stakeholder consultation, interviews with experts, and detailed analysis of 40 existing building logbook initiatives across Europe and beyond.

The Kohlerhaus, a building dating back to the 14th century in Innichen, San Candido, Italy, was renovated to accommodate 10 apartments offering high standards of comfort and efficiency. The historical research carried out by the architect revealed the building’s rich past, previously serving as a priest house, hotel and guest house.

The Charles de Gaulle is a pre- and elementary school building located in Tourcoing, France. It is a certified passive house new build responding to the primary energy requirement of 79 kWh/(m2a) on heating installation, domestic hot water, household electricity and auxiliary electricity, calculated according to the Passive House Planning Package (PHPP).

The methodology and tools provided by the project will facilitate the necessary market uptake of novel and highly efficient solutions for nZEB. This will accelerate the current retrofitting rate and support the transformation of the European building stock into a highly efficient and technologically advanced built environment.

The acceleration of digitalisation in lean building/infrastructure construction will facilitate the industrialisation of the construction sector. The EU-funded COGITO project proposes to materialise the benefits of digitalisation through a digital Construction 4.0 toolbox that harmonises digital twins with the Building Information Model concept.

The EU-funded INFINITE project will pave the way for the decarbonisation of the EU building stock by facilitating the market uptake of all-in-one industrialised envelope technologies. INFINITE's approach to the deep renovation of buildings will reduce both cost and time, with attention being paid to the life-cycle perspective and design for assembly and disassembly, including end-of-life residual value and construction and demolition waste.

Digitalisation of the energy sector enables higher levels of operational excellence with the adoption of disrupting technologies. The EU-funded PLATOON project provides a methodology that deploys distributed/edge processing and data-analytics technologies for optimised real-time energy system management in a simple way for energy sector experts.

This 9th webinar focused on whole-building energy-performance calculations for residential buildings. During this webinar, we demonstrated how the EPB standards enable identification of the impact of building and system design (insulated/non-insulated, system technology choice, renewables inclusion), outdoor climate (cold to hot) and assumed use patterns (such as occupancy and comfort schedules) on overall energy performance.

This webinar presented three major European databases (in the UK, Flanders, and France) and focused on comparing their structures and measurement data-acquisition protocols. The weaknesses and strengths in the different aspects of the existing database set-ups were also identified.

Reaching energy and climate goals requires helping building users to understand what energy savings can be achieved through changes in their behaviour. Green lease contracts (GLCs) provide a model with a structural platform for cooperation between building owners and tenants.

This provides insights into the legislation framework in the EU and in each participating country, alongside support schemes, tools and guidelines. The documents give information about photovoltaic market trends and costs, including installed capacity trends, price trends for modules and installation, and PV technology and its efficiency trends, both globally and in each country.

Energy Evaluation Europe 2021 will be more than online presentations. It will be an engaging and inspiring event, as Energy Evaluation conferences (previously IEPPEC) have always been where you will be able to chat and network with your peers. The theme of the conference is ‘Accelerating the energy transition for all: evaluation’s role in effective policy making’.

The primary goal of the conference is to promote research and developmental activities in clean and green energy. It also aims to promote scientific information interchange between researchers, developers, engineers, students, and practitioners working in Barcelona and abroad.

BauZ! 2021, the 18th Vienna Congress for Sustainable Building, is joining the industry’s fresh start in 2021. Following on from the Advantage Austria B2B matchmaking event ‘Future of Building’, over two days, forward-looking solutions and concepts will be presented and discussions held with both a domestic and international audience.

In 2021, this conference – which attracts over 600 participants from over 60 countries each year – shows how we can make the green recovery happen in practice and how the energy transition can become an investment engine in the deep transformation needed to respond to Europe’s ambitious goal of becoming the first climate-neutral continent by 2050.