Periodic Reporting for period 1 - EUB SuperHub (European Building Sustainability performance and energy certification Hub)
Período documentado: 2021-06-01 hasta 2022-11-30
The next generation of energy performance assessments and certificates ought to address the transformation into an era where an increasing amount data are available on the operational use of buildings, and the buildings can be observed with ever increasing details via a larger number of stakeholders. The EUB SuperHub project will support the evolvement of the certification process in the EU by development of a scalable methodology supported by an online platform to view, assess and monitor the buildings through their lifecycle in relation to an expanded set of indicators that go beyond the energy performance in the occupation stage (embedded energy, costs etc.). The EU Level(s) initiative is already leading a way of a new, holistic view of the buildings taking into account sustainability principles (e.g.: LCA, LCC). Energy performance assessments and certificates of buildings therefore need to evolve to reflect the technological development, the needs of the society, and within the EU, they must be consistent throughout Member States. Holistic view of buildings, social and technological shifts in the society require a change in the way we observe and handle the built environment helping incentives to yield in energy efficiency and investments.
EUB SuperHub project will tie the „distributed” systems, assessment schemes and certifications spread across MSs, based on common criteria (e.g. Level(s), SRIs, EVCS) through a one-stop shop platform. The EuB SuperHub platform will store, geo reference, display and organise the local public databases of Energy Performance Certificates, local sustainability and SRI ratings into a common digital E-passport. The passports will be connected to a virtual matchmaking market place, creating the conditions for demand driven market for energy, sustainable and smart buildings. The EUB SuperHub E-passport will be supported by a digital building logbook and will utilize latest cutting edge assessment techniques and criteria - smart readiness, materials logbook for circular economy, LCC, IAQ etc. - to boost the establishment of the transparency, reliability, comparable good quality of certifications.
EUB SuperHub project will tie the „distributed” systems, assessment schemes and certifications spread across MSs, based on common criteria (e.g. Level(s), SRIs, EVCS) through a one-stop shop platform. The EuB SuperHub platform will store, geo reference, display and organise the local public databases of Energy Performance Certificates, local sustainability and SRI ratings into a common digital E-passport. The passports will be connected to a virtual matchmaking market place, creating the conditions for demand driven market for energy, sustainable and smart buildings. The EUB SuperHub E-passport will be supported by a digital building logbook and will utilize latest cutting edge assessment techniques and criteria - smart readiness, materials logbook for circular economy, LCC, IAQ etc. - to boost the establishment of the transparency, reliability, comparable good quality of certifications.
In the first period of EUB SuperHub, the focus of the initial tasks was to draw a baseline on the current Energy Performance Certificate practices and have an understanding on the main development requirements in terms of future assessment and certification systems. Step 1 -baseline assessment and definitios specifically aimed to understand the state-of-the-art assessment techniques, the Member States’ EPC and sustainability certifications, the applicable legislation and policy background. The study showed that it might be now the time to shift the scope of the EPCs from covering energy aspects into a more holistic sustainability certification which look at buildings from an environmentally and end user conscious perspective where the building technology, the operation and end-of-life is considered equally for contributing to a more sustainable future.
Next to this activity, the stakeholders’ needs and interests were gathered in a coordinated manner (workshops, interviews, surveys). Collected expert opinions supported that EPCs do not give the end user a clear view about the state of the building envelope, technical system and their possible future maintenance requirement. Actions needed on transparency, reliability and usability of EPC scores and the synchronization of assessment values across the EU. Therefore, a next step was to intensively study the stakeholders’ needs and derive user case definitions for the design of the online platform and to understand development needs in terms of data sourcing, data processing and management, user functions.
For harmonization purposes, the action was to extensively review the past and ongoing projects and initiatives for KPIs and for the most useful indicators concerning the smartness of the buildings/districts. Ultimately, this work continues in the development of the EUB SuperHub "framework" where transnational indicators and a framework for an e-passport will be conceptualized. Consequently the consortium will be able to deliver a system (i.e. a methodology and platform) which can be deployed, tested and used across the EU Member States to respond to the demand towards transparency, quality and reliability of future – next gen. – assessment and certification schemes.
The stakeholders’ interaction and market actor studies of the project has the purpose of understanding the roles, drivers, etc. that lead to a better acceptance of the next generation of EPCs and certification schemes.
Next to this activity, the stakeholders’ needs and interests were gathered in a coordinated manner (workshops, interviews, surveys). Collected expert opinions supported that EPCs do not give the end user a clear view about the state of the building envelope, technical system and their possible future maintenance requirement. Actions needed on transparency, reliability and usability of EPC scores and the synchronization of assessment values across the EU. Therefore, a next step was to intensively study the stakeholders’ needs and derive user case definitions for the design of the online platform and to understand development needs in terms of data sourcing, data processing and management, user functions.
For harmonization purposes, the action was to extensively review the past and ongoing projects and initiatives for KPIs and for the most useful indicators concerning the smartness of the buildings/districts. Ultimately, this work continues in the development of the EUB SuperHub "framework" where transnational indicators and a framework for an e-passport will be conceptualized. Consequently the consortium will be able to deliver a system (i.e. a methodology and platform) which can be deployed, tested and used across the EU Member States to respond to the demand towards transparency, quality and reliability of future – next gen. – assessment and certification schemes.
The stakeholders’ interaction and market actor studies of the project has the purpose of understanding the roles, drivers, etc. that lead to a better acceptance of the next generation of EPCs and certification schemes.
Thanks to the productive analysis done in the EUB SuperHub project, the consortia has produced an updated overview of the national energy performance certificates (EPCs) and sustainability certification (SC) systems in terms of quality, visibility and usability within Austria, Croatia, France, Germany, Hungary, Ireland and Italy context (the participating countries of the project). The results of the cross analysis made in the first part of the deliverable, confirmed the initial assumption about the fragmented nature of EPCs and SCs in the EU, which is a clear and major obstacle facing the creation of harmonized and comparable EPC for the EU.
Concerning the key performance indicators the crucial end-result obtained in the project is an accurate list of potential indicators for evaluating the energy performance, sustainability and smartness of buildings in the next generation of Energy Performance Certificates. The indicators have been selected through a deep analysis of the most relevant existing transnational frameworks of sustainability indicators and in relation to the recommendations expressed in the “Proposal for a DIRECTIVE OF THE EUROPEAN PARLIAMENT AND OF THE COUNCIL on the energy performance of buildings (recast)” issued in December 2021.
Moreover a major objective was first to outline the functions and features of the EUB SuperHub platform main modules: E-passport cockpit (E-cockpit), Planning and Verification Tool (PVT) module, the Virtual Marketplace (VM) and the E-training module. The EUB SuperHub modules are intended to work together as interlocking system presenting an interactive cloud data hub for building energy and sustainability performance certificates. The team used the knowledge gained from the previous task(s) and complemented it with a number of online and in person workshops to refine the selection of the platform functions. The description of each function of the EUB SuperHub platform is described in a report in detail.
Concerning the key performance indicators the crucial end-result obtained in the project is an accurate list of potential indicators for evaluating the energy performance, sustainability and smartness of buildings in the next generation of Energy Performance Certificates. The indicators have been selected through a deep analysis of the most relevant existing transnational frameworks of sustainability indicators and in relation to the recommendations expressed in the “Proposal for a DIRECTIVE OF THE EUROPEAN PARLIAMENT AND OF THE COUNCIL on the energy performance of buildings (recast)” issued in December 2021.
Moreover a major objective was first to outline the functions and features of the EUB SuperHub platform main modules: E-passport cockpit (E-cockpit), Planning and Verification Tool (PVT) module, the Virtual Marketplace (VM) and the E-training module. The EUB SuperHub modules are intended to work together as interlocking system presenting an interactive cloud data hub for building energy and sustainability performance certificates. The team used the knowledge gained from the previous task(s) and complemented it with a number of online and in person workshops to refine the selection of the platform functions. The description of each function of the EUB SuperHub platform is described in a report in detail.