In the first 18 months, the MULTICARE project has made notable progress toward enhancing the multi-hazard resilience of the built environment through six key workstreams:
• WS2: Performance Requirements and Multi-Hazard Approach
A comprehensive framework has been established to define physical, economic, environmental and social performance indicators for the MULTICARE physical and digital solutions. This phase generated a set of performance targets to guide development and demonstration activities, and defined the overall project concept, including the resilience assessment methodology and data management strategy.
• WS3: Resilience Assessment and Design
Resilience indices, decision-support frameworks, and digital tools - including plug-ins, parametric design tools, and databases of resilient components – have been developed to assess resilience and sustainability at multiple scales, from materials to urban environments. These tools will go on to steer the selection of cost-effective, multi-performance solutions for both new construction and retrofitting, enabling informed design and intervention strategies.
• WS4: Real-Time Monitoring and Response Systems
Real-time digital services have been designed to monitor the long-term performance of materials, components, buildings and urban areas. When implemented in the demo sites, these systems will support digital twinning and predictive maintenance, while also providing early warning and rapid response to enhance occupant safety during events such as floods, earthquakes and heatwaves.
• WS5: Plug & Play Low-Carbon Resilient Modules
Low-carbon resilient technologies - including multi-layer smart façade systems and reversible exoskeleton structures – have been designed to enable modular adaptable implementation. Ongoing prototype development and testing aim to demonstrate high performance across multiple criteria and adaptability to different building typologies and local contexts.
• WS6: Large-Scale Demonstrations
MULTICARE solutions will be deployed across real-life demonstration sites in Italy, the Netherlands and Romania, selected for their diverse climatic conditions, hazard profiles and building types. Baseline assessments have been completed, paving the way for implementation. These demonstrations will validate both the physical (e.g. exoskeletons) and digital (e.g. decision-support tools, monitoring systems) innovations in real-world scenarios, proving their scalability and resilience potential.
