Periodic Reporting for period 2 - SMARTBUILT4EU (The EU Smart Building Innovation Platform)
Reporting period: 2022-04-01 to 2023-03-31
Buildings are on the way to transform from passive isolated elements to smart buildings, able to adapt to occupants needs and behave as active nodes fully integrated to the energy grids and other infrastructures. Still, the market uptake and wide-scale roll-out of ICT and smart technology is slow due to challenges like engaging building occupants, connecting and managing various devices and systems, achieving optimal building operation, integrating buildings to energy markets, as well as the high fragmentation of the ecosystem. Therefore, the main objective of the European project SmartBuilt4EU is to consolidate and support the innovation ecosystem in the smart building value chain through concrete networking and communication actions, so as to establish the grounding of a future full-fledged smart buildings market in Europe.
The project is mapping and nurturing a European smart buildings community, with EU projects at its centre, while promoting key innovators and innovative solutions for smart buildings through its web platform (https://smartbuilt4eu.eu/) and by delivering dedicated brochures. Collaborative open Task Forces involving key stakeholders enable to identify barriers, opportunities and best practices for the take up of smart buildings. These findings will be translated into recommendations to policy makers and a Strategic R&I Agenda that will feed the design of future Horizon Europe calls. In addition, the project is coordinating contributions of the community to the Smart Readiness Indicator (SRI) promotion, experimentation and implementation.
The project is mapping and nurturing a European smart buildings community, with EU projects at its centre, while promoting key innovators and innovative solutions for smart buildings through its web platform (https://smartbuilt4eu.eu/) and by delivering dedicated brochures. Collaborative open Task Forces involving key stakeholders enable to identify barriers, opportunities and best practices for the take up of smart buildings. These findings will be translated into recommendations to policy makers and a Strategic R&I Agenda that will feed the design of future Horizon Europe calls. In addition, the project is coordinating contributions of the community to the Smart Readiness Indicator (SRI) promotion, experimentation and implementation.
The specific objectives, the progress towards the objective, the work carried out by beneficiaries and the potential deviations are described beelow. This summary provides a general view of the main activities implemented during RP1 and RP2 by the SmartBuilt4EU project partners.
• In order to map and nurture a European smart buildings community, key stakeholders, projects and initiatives were identified and invited to join the project’s “Smart Building Innovation Community” (SBIC), which counts 383 members. 101 of those relevant projects have been promoted in brochures, and others during events organised by SmartBuilt4EU (stand-alone webinars, webinars co-organised with BUILD UP and Leonardo Energy, …)) or through SmartBuilt4EU’s newly created website and social media accounts. To support such promotion and to increase the impact of our communication & dissemination activities, partnerships with specialised platforms have also been established (BUILD UP, Leonardo Energy, Construction 21).
• Collaborative open Task Forces, which bring together groups of interested stakeholders on key commonly defined topics, have been set up and launched. As a result of their discussions, those groups have written 12 White Papers, which discuss hot topics, trends, barriers, drivers and R&I gaps in different topics. Several workshops and webinars were organised to progress on those Task Forces and to promote their work (see detailed description below in the WP2 description).
• Actions aiming at promoting the SRI (Smart Readiness Indicator) and its implementation have been undertaken. A list of co-benefit indicators associated with smart buildings and adding to the SRI has been created, together with a set of smart building solution packages (with a performance assessment in terms of SRI and co-benefits). This, in addition to further modelling and simulation activities, served as a basis for the awareness workshops on the SRI and its practical testing (targeting key policy makers towards the implementation at national and local level). 4 workshops were organized throughout the project, targeting French, Spanish, Italian and Luxembourgers stakeholders respectively.
• Based on the previous work, 179 R&I gaps were identified and summarised in the list of 10 priorities, which was reviewed by the partners, the Expert Board and other stakeholders via an open consultation. These 10 priorities were translated into recommendations to policy makers and a Strategic R&I Agenda, whose aim is to feed the design of future Horizon Europe calls.
• In order to promote SmartBuilt4EU’s work but also other projects or initiatives, the project partners have published 122 articles, participated in 28 key events and 19 webinars/workshops/sessions throughout the project, in addition to the active management of the project website and social media accounts (1279 followers on Twitter and 633 on LinkedIn).
• In order to map and nurture a European smart buildings community, key stakeholders, projects and initiatives were identified and invited to join the project’s “Smart Building Innovation Community” (SBIC), which counts 383 members. 101 of those relevant projects have been promoted in brochures, and others during events organised by SmartBuilt4EU (stand-alone webinars, webinars co-organised with BUILD UP and Leonardo Energy, …)) or through SmartBuilt4EU’s newly created website and social media accounts. To support such promotion and to increase the impact of our communication & dissemination activities, partnerships with specialised platforms have also been established (BUILD UP, Leonardo Energy, Construction 21).
• Collaborative open Task Forces, which bring together groups of interested stakeholders on key commonly defined topics, have been set up and launched. As a result of their discussions, those groups have written 12 White Papers, which discuss hot topics, trends, barriers, drivers and R&I gaps in different topics. Several workshops and webinars were organised to progress on those Task Forces and to promote their work (see detailed description below in the WP2 description).
• Actions aiming at promoting the SRI (Smart Readiness Indicator) and its implementation have been undertaken. A list of co-benefit indicators associated with smart buildings and adding to the SRI has been created, together with a set of smart building solution packages (with a performance assessment in terms of SRI and co-benefits). This, in addition to further modelling and simulation activities, served as a basis for the awareness workshops on the SRI and its practical testing (targeting key policy makers towards the implementation at national and local level). 4 workshops were organized throughout the project, targeting French, Spanish, Italian and Luxembourgers stakeholders respectively.
• Based on the previous work, 179 R&I gaps were identified and summarised in the list of 10 priorities, which was reviewed by the partners, the Expert Board and other stakeholders via an open consultation. These 10 priorities were translated into recommendations to policy makers and a Strategic R&I Agenda, whose aim is to feed the design of future Horizon Europe calls.
• In order to promote SmartBuilt4EU’s work but also other projects or initiatives, the project partners have published 122 articles, participated in 28 key events and 19 webinars/workshops/sessions throughout the project, in addition to the active management of the project website and social media accounts (1279 followers on Twitter and 633 on LinkedIn).
SmartBuilt4EU is consolidating the Smart Building Innovation Community (SBIC) with, at its core, EU-funded projects, and provides it with a package of supporting activities with a two-fold objective:
- To facilitate the flow and exchange of information between EU-funded projects and national initiatives in the field of smart buildings and the related business, policy and media;
- To coordinate contributions of the Smart Building Innovation Community to the SRI promotion, experimentation and implementation in EU and the identification of R&I priorities to accelerate the roll out of smart building innovation, in line with the EPBD.
The key project outcomes are summarised below:
- Smart Building Innovation web portal and associated web channels
- Database of EU funded projects (web and print formats)
- Core network of active members resulting Task Forces
- White papers produced by the task forces on a set of topics of common interest
- Packaged success stories on smart buildings
- Smart Building factsheets describing technological solutions and “smartness scores” for a set of representative buildings
- Complementary indicators (co-benefits) to the SRI and related evaluation methods
- Awareness sessions material on SRI
- Strategic R&I agenda
- Policy recommendations
- Plan for the pursuit of the Smart Building Innovation community after project completion
- To facilitate the flow and exchange of information between EU-funded projects and national initiatives in the field of smart buildings and the related business, policy and media;
- To coordinate contributions of the Smart Building Innovation Community to the SRI promotion, experimentation and implementation in EU and the identification of R&I priorities to accelerate the roll out of smart building innovation, in line with the EPBD.
The key project outcomes are summarised below:
- Smart Building Innovation web portal and associated web channels
- Database of EU funded projects (web and print formats)
- Core network of active members resulting Task Forces
- White papers produced by the task forces on a set of topics of common interest
- Packaged success stories on smart buildings
- Smart Building factsheets describing technological solutions and “smartness scores” for a set of representative buildings
- Complementary indicators (co-benefits) to the SRI and related evaluation methods
- Awareness sessions material on SRI
- Strategic R&I agenda
- Policy recommendations
- Plan for the pursuit of the Smart Building Innovation community after project completion