Periodic Reporting for period 1 - ZEBAI (Innovative methodologies for the design of Zero-Emission and cost-effective Buildings enhanced by Artificial Intelligence)
Reporting period: 2024-01-01 to 2025-03-31
The ZEBAI project (Zero Emission Buildings through Artificial Intelligence) was conceived in response to the urgent need for transformative solutions in the building sector to meet the European Union’s climate neutrality goals. Buildings are responsible for approximately 40% of energy consumption and 36% of CO2 emissions in the EU, making them a critical focus area for achieving sustainability targets. Despite advances in individual areas such as energy modelling, life-cycle assessment, and material innovation, these solutions are often fragmented and fail to address the interdependencies among key design parameters. ZEBAI aims to overcome this limitation by developing a holistic methodology and AI-powered decision-support tool that enables the integrated design of zero-emission buildings (ZEBs).
The core objective of ZEBAI is to create an AI-assisted platform that optimizes building design by simultaneously evaluating multiple criteria: energy performance, environmental impact, cost-efficiency, circularity, and indoor environmental quality. This will be achieved through the integration of advanced simulation engines, a comprehensive materials database, and a robust optimization layer capable of handling complex trade-offs. The project is also closely aligned with EU strategies such as the European Green Deal and the Renovation Wave initiative, which emphasize the need for digital and sustainable transformation in the construction sector.
ZEBAI follows a clear pathway to impact by coupling technical development with real-world validation. A series of demonstrator buildings across different European climates and typologies will serve as testing grounds to apply and refine the methodology. These use cases will validate the AI tool’s capability to support decision-making and optimize performance under real conditions. In parallel, the project promotes standardization and interoperability with existing design workflows, ensuring the tool can be adopted widely across the sector.
Ultimately, ZEBAI is expected to deliver substantial and scalable impact by making high-performance, low-emission building design more accessible and efficient. By reducing the complexity and cost of integrated design, the project will help accelerate the adoption of ZEBs across Europe, contributing directly to the decarbonization of the built environment and supporting EU policy goals on climate, innovation, and digitalization.
The core objective of ZEBAI is to create an AI-assisted platform that optimizes building design by simultaneously evaluating multiple criteria: energy performance, environmental impact, cost-efficiency, circularity, and indoor environmental quality. This will be achieved through the integration of advanced simulation engines, a comprehensive materials database, and a robust optimization layer capable of handling complex trade-offs. The project is also closely aligned with EU strategies such as the European Green Deal and the Renovation Wave initiative, which emphasize the need for digital and sustainable transformation in the construction sector.
ZEBAI follows a clear pathway to impact by coupling technical development with real-world validation. A series of demonstrator buildings across different European climates and typologies will serve as testing grounds to apply and refine the methodology. These use cases will validate the AI tool’s capability to support decision-making and optimize performance under real conditions. In parallel, the project promotes standardization and interoperability with existing design workflows, ensuring the tool can be adopted widely across the sector.
Ultimately, ZEBAI is expected to deliver substantial and scalable impact by making high-performance, low-emission building design more accessible and efficient. By reducing the complexity and cost of integrated design, the project will help accelerate the adoption of ZEBs across Europe, contributing directly to the decarbonization of the built environment and supporting EU policy goals on climate, innovation, and digitalization.
The following paragraphs describe the work carried out and the results obtained. They are structured by Work Package, focusing on those with technical and scientifc content, thus leaving outside Work Package 1 (management and coordination) and 7 (communication and dissemination).
Work Package 2: Requirements Definition
Focus: Define project requirements, extract regulations, develop workflows, and gather reference data to guide technical work in WP3–WP5.
Tasks Completed (100%):
* Defined technical requirements for AI-based tool.
* Designed user interface.
* Extracted regulations for each demonstrator.
* Identified variables and constraints for WP4 analyses.
* Analysed material catalogues.
* Collected building databases.
Work Package 3: Material Catalogue Development
Focus: Develop an open-access catalogue of construction materials, collecting data from local producers and validating parameters through testing.
Tasks Completed/In progress:
* Defined procedures to characterize materials (10%).
* Contacted over 70 local manufacturers (Goal 3, 100%).
* Established catalogue structure and data format (Goal 4, 2%).
Pending:
* Conduct full material characterization.
* Develop manufacturer guidelines for cataloguing (Goal 2, 0%).
Work Package 4: Simulation-Based Assessment
Focus: Develop simulation models to assess ZEB designs based on energy, environmental, circularity, cost, IEQ, and resilience metrics.
Progress by Objective:
* Construction systems modelling: 55%
* Energy performance optimization: 75%
* HVAC system simulation: 75%
* Renewable energy systems: 75%
* Life Cycle Assessment: Ongoing
* Occupant comfort modelling: 75%
* Cost estimation: Ongoing
* User behaviour modelling: 95%
* Climate resilience assessment: 100%
Work Package 5: AI-Based Design Optimization Tool
Focus: Integrate analyses from WP3–WP4 into a holistic AI-driven optimization tool with BIM compatibility.
Tasks Completed/In Progress:
* Defined ZEBAI methodology (100%).
* Tool development (30%) with module integration underway.
* Developed two models to predict errors between simulated and real performance (50%).
Work Package 6: Demonstrator Validation
Focus: Apply and validate the ZEBAI methodology in four real-world building projects in Ukraine, Spain, the UK, and the Netherlands.
Progress:
* WP6 not yet started.
* Amendments and updates to demonstrator plans prepared.
Work Package 2: Requirements Definition
Focus: Define project requirements, extract regulations, develop workflows, and gather reference data to guide technical work in WP3–WP5.
Tasks Completed (100%):
* Defined technical requirements for AI-based tool.
* Designed user interface.
* Extracted regulations for each demonstrator.
* Identified variables and constraints for WP4 analyses.
* Analysed material catalogues.
* Collected building databases.
Work Package 3: Material Catalogue Development
Focus: Develop an open-access catalogue of construction materials, collecting data from local producers and validating parameters through testing.
Tasks Completed/In progress:
* Defined procedures to characterize materials (10%).
* Contacted over 70 local manufacturers (Goal 3, 100%).
* Established catalogue structure and data format (Goal 4, 2%).
Pending:
* Conduct full material characterization.
* Develop manufacturer guidelines for cataloguing (Goal 2, 0%).
Work Package 4: Simulation-Based Assessment
Focus: Develop simulation models to assess ZEB designs based on energy, environmental, circularity, cost, IEQ, and resilience metrics.
Progress by Objective:
* Construction systems modelling: 55%
* Energy performance optimization: 75%
* HVAC system simulation: 75%
* Renewable energy systems: 75%
* Life Cycle Assessment: Ongoing
* Occupant comfort modelling: 75%
* Cost estimation: Ongoing
* User behaviour modelling: 95%
* Climate resilience assessment: 100%
Work Package 5: AI-Based Design Optimization Tool
Focus: Integrate analyses from WP3–WP4 into a holistic AI-driven optimization tool with BIM compatibility.
Tasks Completed/In Progress:
* Defined ZEBAI methodology (100%).
* Tool development (30%) with module integration underway.
* Developed two models to predict errors between simulated and real performance (50%).
Work Package 6: Demonstrator Validation
Focus: Apply and validate the ZEBAI methodology in four real-world building projects in Ukraine, Spain, the UK, and the Netherlands.
Progress:
* WP6 not yet started.
* Amendments and updates to demonstrator plans prepared.
The AI-based technology developed within the ZEBAI project is still under active development. While the core methodology has been defined and several modules of the tool are already in progress, the integration of the full system and its optimization capabilities is ongoing. Similarly, the material catalogue—essential for feeding reliable data into the simulations—is still being defined and expanded. As a result, it is currently too early to assess the full impact of the technology on the design and performance of zero-emission buildings.
Moreover, the real-world demonstrators, which are key to validating the methodology and tools developed, have not yet entered the execution phase. These pilot projects will provide crucial data on the practical application and effectiveness of the ZEBAI approach. Until construction and monitoring begin, it remains premature to evaluate the real-life impact of the proposed solutions.
Moreover, the real-world demonstrators, which are key to validating the methodology and tools developed, have not yet entered the execution phase. These pilot projects will provide crucial data on the practical application and effectiveness of the ZEBAI approach. Until construction and monitoring begin, it remains premature to evaluate the real-life impact of the proposed solutions.