Energy renovation solutions - Making buildings’ renovation faster, deeper, affordable, smarter, service- and data-driven

Expected Impact:Proposals submitted under this topic should present the concrete results which will be delivered by the activities and demonstrate how these results will contribute to the topic-specific impacts. This demonstration should include a detailed analysis of the starting point and a set of well-substantiated assumptions and establish clear causality links between the results and the expected impact.

Proposals should quantify their results and impacts using the indicators provided for the topic, when they are relevant for the proposed activities. They should also propose indicators which are specific to the proposed activities. Proposals are not expected to address all the listed impacts and indicators. The results and impacts should be quantified for the end of the project and for 5 years after the end of the project.

For Scope A:

Proposals submitted under Scope A should demonstrate how they will contribute to the following impacts, depending on the area addressed:

• Increased demand for energy renovation and increased energy renovation rates.
• Implementation of demand aggregation strategies.
• Viable business models for renovations with reduced costs and time, replicable at large scale.
• Improved capacity of companies in the supply side of renovation works to deliver high quality renovations with guarantees reducing costs and time.

The indicators for Scope A include:

• Increased number of renovations and/or renovation rates.
• Increased number of deep renovations and/or deep renovation rates.
• Reduction of renovation costs.
• Investments in building energy renovation triggered.
• Number of companies with improved capacity in relation to new products, materials and processes under the scope of the topic.
• Number of companies integrating new products, materials and processes under the scope of the topic into their practices.

For Scope B:

Proposals submitted under Scope B should demonstrate how they will contribute to the following impacts:

• Improved reliability and consistency of Energy Performance Certificates; increased up-take of EPCs in the market, including stronger consideration in the valorisation of buildings and buildings portfolios.
• Improved availability, quality and accuracy of buildings and energy performance-related data; improved use of buildings performance data by financial institutions, service providers and building owners/operators, e.g. to deploy innovative financing schemes and/ or dedicated financial products.
• Better quality and cost-effectiveness of inspections and of the assessment procedures carried out for the Energy Performance Certificate, Building Renovation Passport and Smart Readiness Indicator.
• Up-take of improved methodologies to measure and monetise primary benefits and co-benefits of energy renovation services, such as environmental and health externalities.

The indicators for Scope B include:

• Number of references evidencing the use of more accurate and reliable Energy Performance Certificates by public and/or market stakeholders, including financial institutions.
• Number of more accurate and reliable Energy Performance Certificate-schemes and assessment procedures/ tools tested and/or deployed.
• Number of innovative assessment and inspection procedures and tools developed, tested and/or deployed.
• Number of references evidencing the use of improved buildings and energy performance data by public/policy-relevant stakeholders and market stakeholders, including financial institutions and energy service companies.

Proposals under Scopes A and B should also quantify their impacts related to the following common indicators for the LIFE Clean Energy Transition sub-programme:

• Primary energy savings triggered by the project in GWh/year.
• Final energy savings triggered by the project in GWh/year.
• Renewable energy generation triggered by the project (in GWh/year).
• Reduction of greenhouse gas emissions (in tCO2-eq/year).
• Investments in sustainable energy (energy efficiency and renewable energy) triggered by the project (cumulative, in million Euro).

Funding rate

Other Action Grants (OAGs) — 95%

Objective:This topic contributes to the goals of the EU Renovation Wave strategy[1] and aims to help implement current and future building policies, notably in view of the revised Energy Performance of Buildings Directive (EPBD) but also considering aspects of the New European Bauhaus initiative[2].

This topic addresses several areas that are key for the achievement of the ambitious EU targets for the decarbonisation of buildings. It aims to develop and deploy approaches that bring actors, markets, frameworks and innovative solutions together to increase the attractiveness and cost-effectiveness of building performance up-grades and to reduce the administrative, logistic and financial burden that still goes along with buildings’ retrofitting. The topic also aims to address the need for qualitative data to make building policy and information instruments more reliable and meaningful, to increase the public acceptance/demand and support robust verification and financing of building renovation and up-grade. Proposals should, where appropriate, explore synergies, while linking to, building on, complementing or promoting the market uptake of results from projects funded under other EU programmes, notably Horizon 2020 and Horizon Europe.

Scope:Proposals are expected to focus on one of the two scopes (A or B) established below. In their introduction, proposals should clearly identify the scope against which the proposal will be evaluated. In case a proposal addresses elements of more than one scope, this should be duly justified.

Since the topic aims to trigger transnational actions and mutual learning, the implementation of activities is expected to happen in more than one eligible country.

Scope A: Fostering energy renovations and competitiveness

Under Scope A, actions should address one of the following areas/aspects:

• Increase renovation rates and deliver progress towards achieving a fully decarbonised, zero emission building stock by 2050, as defined in the Energy Performance of Buildings Directive.

Proposals should focus on removing market barriers, stimulating demand and scaling up energy renovations. Proposals should deploy strategies and business models for renovation that can be replicated across multiple buildings, increasing current renovation rates, and on aggregating demand to facilitate more cost-effective, affordable, simple and efficient renovations. Proposals should support the large-scale roll out of solutions, models and approaches that lead to high quality renovations with energy performance guarantees, driving market confidence and stimulating investments. Proposals should take into account all actors in the renovation value chain as relevant (e.g. demand, building owners and investors, occupants, public and decision-making authorities, financial institutions, construction sector representatives, etc.).

In line with the 2050 vision for the building stock, besides improving energy performance, indoor environmental quality and decarbonising energy use in buildings, proposals can go beyond and consider reduction of whole lifecycle emissions (addressing materials) or increased resilience against climate risks in renovations.

2. Improve capacity and productivity of companies in the construction sector to deliver the ambition towards a decarbonised building stock.

Proposals should support actors and companies in the supply chain of the construction sector, notably SMEs, to deliver energy renovations faster, with high quality and reduced costs. This may require the integration of new products, materials and processes with respect to current companies’ practice. Proposals should support companies move towards more industrialised processes and optimised ways of working, standardising projects and solutions (including modular and prefabricated solutions where relevant) and facilitating the uptake of digital solutions, including to increase labour productivity in the sector. Proposals can address different stages of the renovation process, including design, planning, management or execution of works, ensuring better access to information and decision making. Proposals can also facilitate the coordination of the different actors in the supply chain to reduce inefficiencies, errors and delays. Where relevant, activities to facilitate the market uptake of circular and low carbon solutions and materials in renovations can also be considered.

Proposals should ensure uptake of their activities in the sector, for example through the involvement of professional organisations/associations and/or other relevant stakeholders.

Proposals should explain and adapt the proposed activities to the context and maturity of the markets and/or countries addressed. Proposals should coordinate with existing support, funding schemes, one stop shops or existing renovation facilitation services in their area of action.

Scope B: Building instruments, data and services

Actions are expected to improve the availability, quality and accuracy of buildings data, in particular in view of enhancing the reliability and consistency of key policy instruments and information tools, such as Energy Performance Certificates (EPC), Renovation Passports (RP) and the Smart Readiness Indicator (SRI). Actions may moreover help explore and foster the use of buildings data, and in particular energy consumption data, for the development and financing of services that enhance the energy performance and comfort of buildings and the efficiency of the system.

Technological, including innovative, solutions may be employed as enablers but must not be at the centre of the action.

Actions should address for example one or more of the following areas/aspects:

• Develop, implement and roll-out approaches that improve the availability, quality and consistency of data for Energy Performance Certificates, including by using new or different assessment methods and different integrated data sources, towards improving the accuracy and reliability of EPCs, their indicators and recommendations.
• Improve the reliability and usefulness of Energy Performance Certificates and Renovation Passports and increase the transparency of building performance and renovation needs towards enhancing the market value of energy performance and comfort and to guard against energy poverty; this includes for example actions that help link the rating of EPCs and the improvement of the rating to the value of a building in view of potential investments; this also includes methods to facilitate comparisons of energy costs, indoor environmental quality and other relevant parameters.
• Support the roll-out of Renovation Passports (RP) for buildings as introduced by the revised EPBD to provide building owners planning a staged renovation with a clear strategy for the best timing, sequencing and scope of their interventions. This could include actions to improve the practical market implementation aspects as well as measures to create demand and promote the use of RPs. The proposed actions need to be compatible with the Renovation Passport scheme that Member States are required to put in place and thus need to follow the policy evolutions and frameworks as appropriate; they should moreover consider the interrelation with other building related instruments, notably EPCs, SRI and digital building logbooks. Proposals should also take into account existing support and funding schemes as well as relevant renovation support services, including one-stop-shops.
• Promote and support the use of digital tools for the assessment of the energy performance of buildings and inspections, notably following constructions, renovations and implementation of single renovation measures; help coordinate the assessments for Energy Performance Certificates, Renovation Passports (RP) and Smart Readiness Indicator; support the testing of combined issuing of EPCs and RPs, in line with the respective national frameworks.
• Develop methodologies that make the collection, structuring and integration of data more robust with the aim to measure and/or estimate and/or calculate and/or document energy performance, energy savings, comfort and other wider benefits, towards facilitating financing of energy renovations and roll-out of energy services.

Proposals must be submitted by at least 3 applicants (beneficiaries; not affiliated entities) from 3 different eligible countries.

The Commission considers that proposals requesting a contribution from the EU of up to EUR 2 million would allow the specific objectives to be addressed appropriately. Nonetheless, this does not preclude submission and selection of proposals requesting other amounts.

[1] Communication A Renovation Wave for Europe - greening our buildings, creating jobs, improving lives, COM(2020) 662 final.

[2] https://new-european-bauhaus.europa.eu/about/about-initiative_en