Periodic Reporting for period 1 - ARV (Climate Positive Circular Communities)
Reporting period: 2022-01-01 to 2023-06-30
The overall aim of the EU-funded ARV project is to demonstrate and validate attractive, resilient, and affordable solutions that will significantly speed up deep energy renovations and deployment of energy and climate measures in the construction and energy industries. The project will work towards implementation of climate-positive circular communities in Europe, focusing on net zero-emission buildings and neighbourhoods. ARV will provide guidelines and policy framework for future energy-efficient, circular, and digital solutions in the construction industry. The project will conduct six large-scale demonstration projects of climate positive circular communities in six European cities, showcasing a range of innovations related to the whole value chain of the industry.
The vision of the ARV project is to contribute to speedy wide scale implementation of Climate Positive Circular Communities (CPCC) where people can thrive and prosper for generations to come.
The overall aim is to demonstrate and validate attractive, resilient, and affordable solutions for CPCC that will significantly speed up the deep energy renovations and the deployment of energy and climate measures in the construction and energy industries.
To achieve this, the ARV project will employ a novel concept relying on a combination of 3 conceptual pillars, 6 demonstration projects, and 9 thematic focus areas.
The 3 conceptual pillars are integration, circularity and simplicity. Integration in ARV means the coupling of people, buildings, and energy systems, through multi-stakeholder co-creation and use of innovative digital tools. Circularity in ARV means a systematic way of addressing circular economy through automated use of LCA, digital logbooks and material banks. Simplicity in ARV means to make the solutions easy to understand and use for all stakeholders, from manufacturers to end-users.
The 6 demos are urban regeneration projects in 6 locations around Europe. They have been carefully selected to represent the different European climates and contexts, and due to their high ambitions in environmental, social and economic sustainability. Renovation of social housing and public buildings are specifically focused. Together, they will demonstrate more than 50 innovations in more than 150,00 m2 of buildings.
The 9 thematic focus areas are 1) Effective planning and implementation of CPCCs, 2) Citizen engagement, environment and well-being, 3) Sustainable building re(design) 4) Resource efficient manufacturing and construction workflows, 5) Integrated renewables and storage, 6) Energy management and flexibility, 7) Monitoring and evaluation, 8) Business models, financial mechanisms, policy and exploitation, 9) Communication, dissemination, and stakeholder outreach.
The overall objectives of the ARV project are:
Objective 1: Deliver a blueprint for effective planning, design, construction, operation, and use of CPCCs (involves all WPs and demo projects, managed, and delivered through WP10).
Objective 2: Demonstrate a replicable planning framework for efficient design and successful implementation of CPCC (WP2).
Objective 3: Demonstrate community engagement platforms for awareness raising, occupant insight and well-being, and co-creation (WP3).
Objective 4: Design and demonstrate integrated circular buildings for high energy performance, low emissions, low cost, good indoor climate, and high architectural quality (WP4).
Objective 5: Demonstrate seamless construction/renovation processes for quick, simple, and efficient workflows (WP5).
Objective 6: Demonstrate innovative on-site energy generation and storage for renewable, local, and clean energy supply (WP6).
Objective 7: Demonstrate smart and flexible operation of buildings and energy systems for secure, user-oriented, and cost-efficient energy performance (WP7).
Objective 8: Monitor and validate the ARV solutions through secure and continuous measurements and evaluations of the demonstration activities (WP8).
Objective 9: Facilitate speedy scale up of ARV innovations by addressing key policy incentives and regulations, and creating innovative and effective financing mechanisms, and business models (WP9).
The vision of the ARV project is to contribute to speedy wide scale implementation of Climate Positive Circular Communities (CPCC) where people can thrive and prosper for generations to come.
The overall aim is to demonstrate and validate attractive, resilient, and affordable solutions for CPCC that will significantly speed up the deep energy renovations and the deployment of energy and climate measures in the construction and energy industries.
To achieve this, the ARV project will employ a novel concept relying on a combination of 3 conceptual pillars, 6 demonstration projects, and 9 thematic focus areas.
The 3 conceptual pillars are integration, circularity and simplicity. Integration in ARV means the coupling of people, buildings, and energy systems, through multi-stakeholder co-creation and use of innovative digital tools. Circularity in ARV means a systematic way of addressing circular economy through automated use of LCA, digital logbooks and material banks. Simplicity in ARV means to make the solutions easy to understand and use for all stakeholders, from manufacturers to end-users.
The 6 demos are urban regeneration projects in 6 locations around Europe. They have been carefully selected to represent the different European climates and contexts, and due to their high ambitions in environmental, social and economic sustainability. Renovation of social housing and public buildings are specifically focused. Together, they will demonstrate more than 50 innovations in more than 150,00 m2 of buildings.
The 9 thematic focus areas are 1) Effective planning and implementation of CPCCs, 2) Citizen engagement, environment and well-being, 3) Sustainable building re(design) 4) Resource efficient manufacturing and construction workflows, 5) Integrated renewables and storage, 6) Energy management and flexibility, 7) Monitoring and evaluation, 8) Business models, financial mechanisms, policy and exploitation, 9) Communication, dissemination, and stakeholder outreach.
The overall objectives of the ARV project are:
Objective 1: Deliver a blueprint for effective planning, design, construction, operation, and use of CPCCs (involves all WPs and demo projects, managed, and delivered through WP10).
Objective 2: Demonstrate a replicable planning framework for efficient design and successful implementation of CPCC (WP2).
Objective 3: Demonstrate community engagement platforms for awareness raising, occupant insight and well-being, and co-creation (WP3).
Objective 4: Design and demonstrate integrated circular buildings for high energy performance, low emissions, low cost, good indoor climate, and high architectural quality (WP4).
Objective 5: Demonstrate seamless construction/renovation processes for quick, simple, and efficient workflows (WP5).
Objective 6: Demonstrate innovative on-site energy generation and storage for renewable, local, and clean energy supply (WP6).
Objective 7: Demonstrate smart and flexible operation of buildings and energy systems for secure, user-oriented, and cost-efficient energy performance (WP7).
Objective 8: Monitor and validate the ARV solutions through secure and continuous measurements and evaluations of the demonstration activities (WP8).
Objective 9: Facilitate speedy scale up of ARV innovations by addressing key policy incentives and regulations, and creating innovative and effective financing mechanisms, and business models (WP9).
During the first 18 months of the project, the following results have been achieved:
- A Blueprint for effective planning, design, construction, operation, and use of Climate Positive Circular Communities (CPCCs) has been delivered.
- An assessment framework to support the implementation of CPCCs has been delivered. It defines the main KPIs within the categories of energy, environment, social sustainability, architecture, circularity, and economic.
- Innovative methods and tools for large-scale retrofitting and planning of CPCCs have been described.
- An overall methodology for establishing CPCC living labs have been developed and described.
- Guidelines on the design for the ARV demonstration projects have been produced.
- Resource-efficient (pre)manufacturing and construction methods and workflows have been tested in the ARV demo projects.
- On-site renewable energy generation and storage systems have been designed for the demo projects.
- A first version of a digital hub for smart buildings and district has been developed.
- A first version of city fine resolution weather forecasting model for the ARV demo sites have been developed.
- A guideline for monitoring, evaluation, and impact assessment for the ARV CPCCs has been delivered.
- A global mapping of existing scalable business models and financial instruments adaptable to the EU has been produced.
- An innovation Intel for Impact report has been delivered for the ARV innovations.
- An ARV cooperate identity for ARV has been developed.
- A communication plan for the ARV project has been developed.
- Tailor-made dissemination and communication strategies for the CPCC Living Labs have been developed.
- A project website has been developed, and is being continuously updated.
- 3 social media channels (LinkedIn, X/Twitter, and YouTube) have been established and are constantly updated with news from the project.
- A range of communication material have been developed, including newsletters, leaflets, posters, and a roll-up.
- A framework for an e-marketplace including CPCC innovations has been established.
- Several workshops and seminars have been arranged with other EU projects and EU events
- A Blueprint for effective planning, design, construction, operation, and use of Climate Positive Circular Communities (CPCCs) has been delivered.
- An assessment framework to support the implementation of CPCCs has been delivered. It defines the main KPIs within the categories of energy, environment, social sustainability, architecture, circularity, and economic.
- Innovative methods and tools for large-scale retrofitting and planning of CPCCs have been described.
- An overall methodology for establishing CPCC living labs have been developed and described.
- Guidelines on the design for the ARV demonstration projects have been produced.
- Resource-efficient (pre)manufacturing and construction methods and workflows have been tested in the ARV demo projects.
- On-site renewable energy generation and storage systems have been designed for the demo projects.
- A first version of a digital hub for smart buildings and district has been developed.
- A first version of city fine resolution weather forecasting model for the ARV demo sites have been developed.
- A guideline for monitoring, evaluation, and impact assessment for the ARV CPCCs has been delivered.
- A global mapping of existing scalable business models and financial instruments adaptable to the EU has been produced.
- An innovation Intel for Impact report has been delivered for the ARV innovations.
- An ARV cooperate identity for ARV has been developed.
- A communication plan for the ARV project has been developed.
- Tailor-made dissemination and communication strategies for the CPCC Living Labs have been developed.
- A project website has been developed, and is being continuously updated.
- 3 social media channels (LinkedIn, X/Twitter, and YouTube) have been established and are constantly updated with news from the project.
- A range of communication material have been developed, including newsletters, leaflets, posters, and a roll-up.
- A framework for an e-marketplace including CPCC innovations has been established.
- Several workshops and seminars have been arranged with other EU projects and EU events
ARV goes beyond the state-of-the-art by taking a life cycle perspective on energy and emissions, as well as a strong focus on people’s well-being and awareness, cost-effectiveness, and architectural qualities. This will provide input to design, construction, and operation of CPCC, including codes, regulations, financial instruments, business models, and policy.