Last May, iEPB proudly participated in the Cross-programme Clustering Meeting organised by the European Climate, Infrastructure, and Environment Executive Agency (CINEA) in Brussels. This significant event brought together stakeholders from the building sector to address critical areas of action, including deep renovation, smart buildings and services, and building rating instruments.

The meeting featured representatives from a total of 46 projects spanning three major EU programmes: Horizon 2020, LIFE Clean Energy Transition, and Horizon Europe. With 70 participants, including project members and European Commission representatives, the event facilitated robust discussions and knowledge exchange.

Leticia Ortega (Instituto Valenciano de la Edificacion) represented iEPB during a panel session, while iEPB’s partner Andrei Vladimir Litiu (EPB center) appeared in the official video of the event talking about the importance of sharing good practices among projects and identifying synergetic collaboration for supporting the implementation of the EPBD at national level.

Don’t miss the wrap-up of the event in the official video available on BuildUP platform and here.

The projects presentations are also available for downloading here.

Picture by Headway-Unsplash

Welcome to the first newsletter of iEPB!

We’re thrilled to introduce you to iEPB, a groundbreaking LIFE project dedicated to transforming the energy performance of buildings across the EU.

The mission at iEPB is to enhance the energy efficiency of the EU’s building stock by improving the synchronization between various Energy Performance Building (EPB) assessments. By aligning existing Energy Performance Certifications (EPC) with complementary tools such as the Smart Readiness Indicator (SRI) and energy renovation recommendations, iEPB aims to streamline and elevate the standards of sustainable building practices.

In this newsletter readers will find a comprehensive overview of the project, specifically to its actions, news and materials produced.

For example, over the past few months, a survey has been carried out to understand the needs of all parties involved in building energy performance evaluations. By involving EPBD implementing bodies, energy certifiers, product manufacturers and suppliers, and end-users from the three pilot ecosystems, the survey examined barriers to energy certification and explored potential solutions, finding out that common challenges such as lack of awareness, regulatory complexity, financial constraints, and a shortage of qualified personnel often hinder progress in energy certification an evaluation.

Read the whole newsletter here and find the survey here: iEPB_Survey report

Featured image by Soliman Cifuentes-Unsplash

iEPB will participate in the 12th annual edition of Sustainable Places (SP2024), Europe’s premier event for EU research collaboration and market opportunities. It is a hybrid even which will feature also in-person sessions in Luxembourg. taking place from September 23rd to 25th, 2024,

Sustainable Places is renowned for showcasing groundbreaking results from the EU Horizon 2020 and EU Horizon Europe Framework Programmes. It focuses on the sustainable design, construction, and retrofitting of buildings and urban environments. The conference addresses crucial sustainability targets and climate change objectives by encompassing the built environment at various scales, including buildings, districts, and urban areas, as well as transport and energy infrastructures.

Each year, Sustainable Places covers topics that shape our understanding of cities and the built environment, aligning with European Commission Societal Challenges and the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals. This year’s themes include:

– Energy Communities, Smart Cities, and Urban Transition
– Renewable Energy Technologies
– Sustainable Construction & Renovation
– Decarbonization & Circularity
– Climate Change Mitigation and Adaptation
– Facilitating the Energy Transition: Policy, Finance, Training
– Sustainable Urban Renewal & Cultural Transformation
– Digital Twins, Smartness & AI for Sustainability
– Resilience and Energy Security

iEPB will participate to the event with two workshops: one featuring the SRI2 cluster on September 24th in the morning, and one featuring the Next Gen EPC 2 cluster on the same day in the afternoon.

You can find more information here and the full programme here.

Picture by Cedric Letsch-Unsplash

The European Sustainable Energy Week is back from June 11th to 13th, blending in-person and online experiences in Brussels and virtually, with a focus on ‘Net-zero energy solutions for a competitive Europe’.

ICONS has created a social media campaign that aims to spotlight efforts fast-tracking decarbonization using eco-friendly technologies, ensuring an equitable transition for all and fostering competitiveness among businesses. Moreover, the campaign encourages active participation, urging individuals to demonstrate their dedication to a carbon-neutral future.

For iEPB, Dirk De Wit of ISSO has joined the campaign by answering to this question: “What is iEPB working on to promote a European net-zero energy future?”

“iEPB promotes the net-zero energy future by establishing a common building data model that gives a common language to register the properties and energy performance of buildings and opens the way for data sharing among stakeholders.”

Follow the hashtags #Energy4NetZero and #EUSEW2024, and learn more about the campaign here.

iEPB is proud to announce the launch of its innovative video, representing the leap forward in energy certifications that the project strives for. This video unveils the project’s mission to revolutionise Energy Performance Buildings (EPBs) for a sustainable tomorrow.

In a world of pressing environmental challenges, iEPB commits to enhancing energy performance and reducing carbon footprints. Through innovative research and collaborative efforts, the project aims to redefine the standards of energy certifications, paving the way for a greener future. By harnessing the power of innovation and technology, the project endeavours to empower communities and stakeholders with the tools and knowledge needed to make informed decisions about energy consumption.

Throughout iEPB’s own colour palette based on its visual identity, and a narration highlighting the potential of the project, the video marks a significant milestone in the project’s journey towards a more sustainable built environment.

Watch the video here.

iEPB will be present at EUSEW Energy Fair 2024 in Brussels (from 11th to 13th June) together with the SRI support team,  to showcase the importance of decarbonisation of buildings and to offer opportunities to forge connections.

The focus of this year is “Net-zero energy solutions for a competitive Europe”.

The SRI support team will exhibit at the Smart Buildings and Smart Readiness Indicator stand C-7, together with several research and innovation projects co-funded by Horizon Europe and LIFE: SRI2MARKET, Smart Square, EasySRI, SRI-ENACT, SMARTER EPC, tunES, BuildON, Demo-BLog, and Smart2B.

You can find more information here.

Programme and registration are available here.

EUSEW2024_Event Description

The Next Generation Energy Performance conference will be held on 23 May in Brussels, at Mundo Madou, and online, all day long (9-17.30 CEST)

The NextGen Cluster Horizon 2020 projects feature crossCert, EPC RECAST, EUB SuperHub & iBRoad2EPC, and will also see the participation of new LIFE projects started in 2023, among which iEPB.

The rich agenda include multiple insights from each project, and a deep dive into their Key Exploitable Results. There will be interventions involving members of the EC and CINEA, as well as integrations from several experts in the field of energy certifications and procedures.

The event is timed to be also conveniently combined with other relevant activities in Brussels within the same week, including the tunES “Tuning EPC and SRI” event on 22 May.

The event is free upon registration: you can register here.

Find the agenda here and the official roll-up for the event here.

According to data from Eurostat energy balances and the EEA Greenhouse Gas Inventory, 85% of buildings in the EU were constructed before the year 2000. Among these older buildings, 75% exhibit poor energy performance. This highlights the critical importance of improving the energy efficiency of buildings as a means to conserve energy and work towards achieving a zero-emission and fully decarbonized building stock by 2050.

The EU has put in place a legislative framework to enhance the energy efficiency of buildings and achieve a highly energy-efficient and decarbonized building stock by 2050. This framework consists of two directives, namely the Energy Performance of Buildings Directive (EU/2024/1275) and the Energy Efficiency Directive (EU/2023/1791), both revised in 2023.

These directives aim to provide a stable environment for investment decisions in the sector and empower consumers and businesses with information to make choices that save both energy and money.

Particularly, the revised EPBD include measures about the reduction of primary energy use, the introduction of minimum energy performance standards, enhanced long-term renovation strategies, increased reliability of EPCs and a gradual modernisation of building’s energy system integration.

iEPB has just turned the six month mark and the whole consortium has virtually met for the first General Assembly.  The consortium joined for a 2 days online meeting, the second occasion for everybody to meet since the kick-off meeting last October. This meeting was an insightful discussion about the project’s start and development, and a moment of exchange, updates, and explanations.

During the assembly partners engaged in dynamic discussions about the ongoing work of the EPBD recast, the policy recommendations, the advancements in the software implementation, and the potential for exploitation and replicability of the projects results.

iEPB is also part of two important fellowships: the Next Gen EPC Cluster and the SRI cluster.

Task leaders presented the advancements and challenges of their work and allowed for questions and clarifications. A point was made about the recent Milestones achieved and Deliverables  submitted,  and the participation level was high.

This assembly was a chance for the consortium to collaboratively explore advancements and cooperation, and to set the basis towards the next steps.

This meeting represents the 4th Plenary Meeting of the SRI Platform, in the framework of SRI and EPB assessments. It will provide EU policy updates and showcase SRI support team activities through presentations, talks and discussions.

The experience will be enriched by a panel of Expert Talks and Discussion on SRI assessments, and by an exhibition of SRI projects funded by EU LIFE and Horizon programs. iEPB project will be represented by EPB Center in the roundtable discussion.

The event will take place in Comet Meetings Louise, Brussels, Belgium, and in a hybrid mode: you can register to book your seat or to watch the live-streaming of the event here.

You can find more information about the event and the Agenda here.