Periodic Reporting for period 2 - AMANAC (Advanced Material And NAnotechnology Cluster)
Reporting period: 2016-01-01 to 2016-12-31
AMANAC (Advanced Material and Nanotechnology Cluster) targets to create an effective and long lasting collaboration and coordination platform within the EeB-PPP Advanced Materials and Nanotechnology projects, whose activities address development of materials, components and systems for the improvement of energy efficiency in buildings. The AMANAC-CSA is one of the four EeB-PPP CSAs funded within H2020. The AMANAC-CSA aims to maximize the impact of the participating projects towards the European Industry and Society and support the objectives established by the EC and the EeB-PPP, in terms of Energy Efficiency in buildings.
The AMANAC-CSA represents 29 projects grouped in six thematic areas (1) Insulation & HVAC, 2) Materials with reduced embodied energy, 3) Smart windows, 4) Multifunctional lightweight, 5) Healthier Indoor environment and 6) Pilot production.
The Core Objectives and the CSA Action Plan develop around four pillars:
• Collaboration Activities aiming to i) support the achievement of Cluster-project technical and non-technical goals; ii) enhance the impact of such developments during and beyond the project life-time;
• Awareness-raising and Networking: Increase the visibility and impact of the Cluster projects and their related research achievements towards industry, construction stakeholders and relevant EU contractual bodies, such as the ECTP, the E2BA, etc., establishing appropriate network and alliances with such organizations.
• Exploitation: Strengthen the role of involved industrial partners, especially SMEs, for speeding up the exploitation of the research results coming from the Cluster projects. Support the identification of new technology and market needs and trends.
• Coordination and Support services: Create Cluster committees and bodies and publicity material to ensure continuation of activities after the end of the CSA and will attract future H2020 projects.
The AMANAC-CSA has managed to identify and review common needs of the involved projects and to optimize the use of resources that can be shared among participating projects. These actions have accelerated the implementation of sustainable solutions and exploitation activities and have maximized the impact of the AMANAC-Cluster projects for the benefit of the European Industry and Society. The AMANAC has been and is open to all AMANAC projects, FP7, current or future H2020.
The AMANAC-CSA represents 29 projects grouped in six thematic areas (1) Insulation & HVAC, 2) Materials with reduced embodied energy, 3) Smart windows, 4) Multifunctional lightweight, 5) Healthier Indoor environment and 6) Pilot production.
The Core Objectives and the CSA Action Plan develop around four pillars:
• Collaboration Activities aiming to i) support the achievement of Cluster-project technical and non-technical goals; ii) enhance the impact of such developments during and beyond the project life-time;
• Awareness-raising and Networking: Increase the visibility and impact of the Cluster projects and their related research achievements towards industry, construction stakeholders and relevant EU contractual bodies, such as the ECTP, the E2BA, etc., establishing appropriate network and alliances with such organizations.
• Exploitation: Strengthen the role of involved industrial partners, especially SMEs, for speeding up the exploitation of the research results coming from the Cluster projects. Support the identification of new technology and market needs and trends.
• Coordination and Support services: Create Cluster committees and bodies and publicity material to ensure continuation of activities after the end of the CSA and will attract future H2020 projects.
The AMANAC-CSA has managed to identify and review common needs of the involved projects and to optimize the use of resources that can be shared among participating projects. These actions have accelerated the implementation of sustainable solutions and exploitation activities and have maximized the impact of the AMANAC-Cluster projects for the benefit of the European Industry and Society. The AMANAC has been and is open to all AMANAC projects, FP7, current or future H2020.
Several actions have been performed during the 24 month duration of the CSA that resulted in the accomplishment of the objectives and in maximizing the impact of the cluster projects:
− Creation of an active and well visited website platform (http://amanac.eu/). The web page received more than 20000 visits during the 24 months of the project;
− Development of a Wiki to collect the foreground generated within the participating projects. A Material and Product Gallery page has been dedicated to the new products developed including further technical information (http://amanac.eu/wiki/amanac-wiki/);
− Joint Action Plan (JAP) as a guide document mapping all technical and non-technical project priorities to identify possibilities of interlinking, creation and sharing of material databases for LCA, LCC, etc., in order to avoid duplications;
− Thematic workshops on Fire Safety, Standardization procedures for innovative materials and systems, Financial Opportunities, LCA/LCC, IEQ and Low Embodied Energy Workshops;
− Organization of 2 open info days (EUSEW2016 and ECTP Conference 2016); one Industrial Advisory board Workshop; Participation in the EeB-PPP Impact Workshop;
− Dissemination material (project poster/leaflet, four e-newsletters, thematic area leaflets/posters, two video, one market flyer, two press releases).
− Creation of an active and well visited website platform (http://amanac.eu/). The web page received more than 20000 visits during the 24 months of the project;
− Development of a Wiki to collect the foreground generated within the participating projects. A Material and Product Gallery page has been dedicated to the new products developed including further technical information (http://amanac.eu/wiki/amanac-wiki/);
− Joint Action Plan (JAP) as a guide document mapping all technical and non-technical project priorities to identify possibilities of interlinking, creation and sharing of material databases for LCA, LCC, etc., in order to avoid duplications;
− Thematic workshops on Fire Safety, Standardization procedures for innovative materials and systems, Financial Opportunities, LCA/LCC, IEQ and Low Embodied Energy Workshops;
− Organization of 2 open info days (EUSEW2016 and ECTP Conference 2016); one Industrial Advisory board Workshop; Participation in the EeB-PPP Impact Workshop;
− Dissemination material (project poster/leaflet, four e-newsletters, thematic area leaflets/posters, two video, one market flyer, two press releases).
The construction industry is an important industrial sector in the EU economy, providing 18 million direct jobs and contributing to approximately 10% of the EU's GDP. In addition to jobs and economic health, the buildings and construction industries also is part of the social, climate and energy challenges faced by Europe, with buildings using 40% of total EU energy consumption and generating 36% of greenhouse gases in Europe. The goal of the European Commission is to help the sector become more competitive, resource efficient and sustainable and the construction sector is today on a critical path to help decarbonise the European economy by 2050. Novel breakthrough innovations (materials, components, and system-level solutions) need to be implemented across Europe at both the building level and the district level in order for the investment in research and development to bear fruition, paving the road towards a more sustainable and robust construction sector. However, economic and social benefits from investments in advanced material research are not yet so apparent, as it would have been expected.
AMANAC successfully identified and addressed the main bottlenecks that slow down the impact and market penetration of New and Advanced Materials for energy efficiency in buildings. Market adoption of the novel technologies and solutions developed within the AMANAC projects face a number of barriers but finding early adopters and market channels that will leverage the total lifecycle costs rather than focusing on up-front costs is a common theme for all projects, no matter what the underpinning technology innovation. In addition to lifecycle cost benefits, regulatory needs and standards/certifications can provide both a barrier but also an opportunity if it is possible to leverage the testing undertaken during the project. IPR issues and upscaling & manufacturing readiness at the end of typical projects, especially FP7 projects, was highlighted as a common challenge which can prevent taking the positive project results to the market.
AMANAC created a new communication paradigm among projects with common research goals. This new spirit of collaboration and sharing has the potential to impact and improve the level of EU research in Advanced Materials for EeB. The 29 participating projects were categorized in 6 thematic areas and each thematic area identified clustering needs and priorities and developed an Action Plan that included proposed implementation actions, responsible partners for the follow up and coordination of the planned activities, time schedule. Thematic area leaflets and poster were developed that were updated to include the latest project results. This horizontal cooperation between the participating projects managed to monitor progress in each project and to raise awareness on the foreground generated by project in different thematic areas leading to possible synergies between partners or future cooperation. The wiki and the product gallery created a first time opportunity for experts to exchange practical, reliable and up-to-date technical information emerging from relevant FP7 and H2020 projects. It gave access to more than 3,000 visitors and directly increased the visibility of AMANAC project scientific and technical developments.
AMANAC successfully identified and addressed the main bottlenecks that slow down the impact and market penetration of New and Advanced Materials for energy efficiency in buildings. Market adoption of the novel technologies and solutions developed within the AMANAC projects face a number of barriers but finding early adopters and market channels that will leverage the total lifecycle costs rather than focusing on up-front costs is a common theme for all projects, no matter what the underpinning technology innovation. In addition to lifecycle cost benefits, regulatory needs and standards/certifications can provide both a barrier but also an opportunity if it is possible to leverage the testing undertaken during the project. IPR issues and upscaling & manufacturing readiness at the end of typical projects, especially FP7 projects, was highlighted as a common challenge which can prevent taking the positive project results to the market.
AMANAC created a new communication paradigm among projects with common research goals. This new spirit of collaboration and sharing has the potential to impact and improve the level of EU research in Advanced Materials for EeB. The 29 participating projects were categorized in 6 thematic areas and each thematic area identified clustering needs and priorities and developed an Action Plan that included proposed implementation actions, responsible partners for the follow up and coordination of the planned activities, time schedule. Thematic area leaflets and poster were developed that were updated to include the latest project results. This horizontal cooperation between the participating projects managed to monitor progress in each project and to raise awareness on the foreground generated by project in different thematic areas leading to possible synergies between partners or future cooperation. The wiki and the product gallery created a first time opportunity for experts to exchange practical, reliable and up-to-date technical information emerging from relevant FP7 and H2020 projects. It gave access to more than 3,000 visitors and directly increased the visibility of AMANAC project scientific and technical developments.