Periodic Reporting for period 3 - syn.ikia (Sustainable Plus Energy Neighbourhoods)
Berichtszeitraum: 2023-01-01 bis 2025-03-31
As the global conversation on climate change intensifies, the transition to a low-carbon, energy-efficient built environment remains crucial for reducing greenhouse gas emissions. The syn.ikia innovation project, part of the EU Horizon 2020 framework, brought together 15 partners from seven countries with the aim of accelerating the development of sustainable plus energy neighbourhoods across diverse climates, contexts, and markets in Europe.
Throughout the project, four real-life plus-energy demonstration neighbourhoods, tailored to distinct climatic zones, were designed, constructed, optimized, and monitored. These projects showcased the feasibility of plus-energy neighbourhoods across Europe, covering both new construction and renovation efforts. By delivering a blueprint for sustainable plus energy buildings and neighbourhoods—the SPEN Compass—syn.ikia paved the way for the broader adoption of plus energy districts and cities.
In addition, syn.ikia provided recommendations and guidelines for policymakers to facilitate the uptake of sustainable plus energy neighbourhoods, influencing future innovative policymaking. It supported the development of business models, financing approaches, and commercialization strategies to engage relevant market actors, while also establishing effective methods for replication, market scaling, and investment risk mitigation to drive widespread adoption. Beyond research and implementation, the project focused on communicating and disseminating key insights while defining pathways for exploiting innovations, ensuring a lasting impact on the built environment and energy landscape.
Throughout the project, four real-life plus-energy demonstration neighbourhoods, tailored to distinct climatic zones, were designed, constructed, optimized, and monitored. These projects showcased the feasibility of plus-energy neighbourhoods across Europe, covering both new construction and renovation efforts. By delivering a blueprint for sustainable plus energy buildings and neighbourhoods—the SPEN Compass—syn.ikia paved the way for the broader adoption of plus energy districts and cities.
In addition, syn.ikia provided recommendations and guidelines for policymakers to facilitate the uptake of sustainable plus energy neighbourhoods, influencing future innovative policymaking. It supported the development of business models, financing approaches, and commercialization strategies to engage relevant market actors, while also establishing effective methods for replication, market scaling, and investment risk mitigation to drive widespread adoption. Beyond research and implementation, the project focused on communicating and disseminating key insights while defining pathways for exploiting innovations, ensuring a lasting impact on the built environment and energy landscape.
From the start of the action to the end of the third reporting period, the syn.ikia project has progressed smoothly, with strong collaboration established among partners. During the last reporting period, a broad range of activities was executed efficiently, ensuring all deliverables were submitted as planned (WP1).
The four demonstration projects are designed to achieve syn.ikia's ambitious goals in energy performance, indoor environment quality, cost efficiency, and social sustainability. WP2 focuses on the design, construction, monitoring, and evaluation of SPENs across four European climates. Continuous monitoring has provided valuable insights into their real-world performance, validating technical specifications, innovative solutions, and integrated energy design processes at the neighborhood scale. The data collected confirms that all demonstration projects are on track to achieve the plus energy balance according to the syn.ikia definition, reinforcing the feasibility and impact of these sustainable neighborhoods.
The evaluation framework for Plus Energy Buildings (PEB) and its extension to Sustainable Plus Energy Neighbourhoods (SPEN) has been comprehensively developed, incorporating five categories of indicators covering energy, environmental, economic, social, and governance aspects. Additionally, flexibility indicators have been introduced to assess the potential for energy savings through the management of flexible assets in buildings, using simulation techniques. The ICT technology architecture, ontology, and scalable solutions for effective flexibility management across the four demonstrations have been defined and implemented in the syn.ikia cloud hub. The fine-tuning of grey-box models for these demonstrations has enabled the assessment of their flexibility index and thermal dynamics.
The consortium has conducted a thorough analysis of the current policy landscape related to sustainable plus energy buildings and neighborhoods. The completed policy inventory, coupled with a gap analysis of the regulatory framework, provides a strong foundation for ongoing efforts to develop integrated strategies for deep decarbonization in the building sector. Key activities under WP5 include analyzing policy developments at EU, national, regional, and municipal levels through desk research and stakeholder interviews, alongside developing a final version of the multiple benefits methodology, quantification tool, and user guidance, based on stakeholder feedback and comprehensive research on valuing and capturing multiple benefits of SPENs.
Under WP6, the syn.ikia innovation dashboard has been launched, along with a structured process for updating and reporting ongoing innovations by all result owners. An exploitation strategy has been established for syn.ikia partners and neighborhood-scale innovations across four markets and beyond, leveraging an exploitation pathways framework. A market analysis has also been conducted, evaluating the housing and energy markets in each of the four demonstration contexts, alongside a review of political, economic, social, technological, legal, and environmental conditions to support SPEN adoption. The project's communication, dissemination, and stakeholder engagement strategy (WP7) has been refined and consolidated. Syn.ikia’s digital presence has been strengthened with new audio-visual materials, including video interviews, flyers, podcasts, and social media campaigns. Stakeholder engagement and dissemination activities have significantly increased through live events. Additionally, notable progress has been made in developing a user engagement system, including a mobile app.
The syn.ikia project successfully concluded with a high-profile conference in Brussels, bringing together stakeholders to discuss key findings and future directions for sustainable plus energy neighbourhoods. Additionally, the project delivered the syn.ikia Compass, a comprehensive tool designed to support stakeholders in scaling up SPENs by providing strategic guidance and actionable insights.
We have produced three videos (Haustechnik, Baurecht, Pufferspeicher)
Project website for planners: https://linktr.ee/gnice_salzburg(öffnet in neuem Fenster)
• Project website for users: https://www.gneisfeldstrasse.at/(öffnet in neuem Fenster)
• Youtube Channel of Heimat Österreich:
o Video « Haustechnik » (plus-energy-concept):
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=t89nFKNnbsw(öffnet in neuem Fenster)
o Video « Baurecht » (explanation of the right to build a house on land that is rented):
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KvMFYg3tv8s(öffnet in neuem Fenster)
o Video « Pufferspeicher » (thermal puffer tank):
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mP29RuVkPTE(öffnet in neuem Fenster)
The four demonstration projects are designed to achieve syn.ikia's ambitious goals in energy performance, indoor environment quality, cost efficiency, and social sustainability. WP2 focuses on the design, construction, monitoring, and evaluation of SPENs across four European climates. Continuous monitoring has provided valuable insights into their real-world performance, validating technical specifications, innovative solutions, and integrated energy design processes at the neighborhood scale. The data collected confirms that all demonstration projects are on track to achieve the plus energy balance according to the syn.ikia definition, reinforcing the feasibility and impact of these sustainable neighborhoods.
The evaluation framework for Plus Energy Buildings (PEB) and its extension to Sustainable Plus Energy Neighbourhoods (SPEN) has been comprehensively developed, incorporating five categories of indicators covering energy, environmental, economic, social, and governance aspects. Additionally, flexibility indicators have been introduced to assess the potential for energy savings through the management of flexible assets in buildings, using simulation techniques. The ICT technology architecture, ontology, and scalable solutions for effective flexibility management across the four demonstrations have been defined and implemented in the syn.ikia cloud hub. The fine-tuning of grey-box models for these demonstrations has enabled the assessment of their flexibility index and thermal dynamics.
The consortium has conducted a thorough analysis of the current policy landscape related to sustainable plus energy buildings and neighborhoods. The completed policy inventory, coupled with a gap analysis of the regulatory framework, provides a strong foundation for ongoing efforts to develop integrated strategies for deep decarbonization in the building sector. Key activities under WP5 include analyzing policy developments at EU, national, regional, and municipal levels through desk research and stakeholder interviews, alongside developing a final version of the multiple benefits methodology, quantification tool, and user guidance, based on stakeholder feedback and comprehensive research on valuing and capturing multiple benefits of SPENs.
Under WP6, the syn.ikia innovation dashboard has been launched, along with a structured process for updating and reporting ongoing innovations by all result owners. An exploitation strategy has been established for syn.ikia partners and neighborhood-scale innovations across four markets and beyond, leveraging an exploitation pathways framework. A market analysis has also been conducted, evaluating the housing and energy markets in each of the four demonstration contexts, alongside a review of political, economic, social, technological, legal, and environmental conditions to support SPEN adoption. The project's communication, dissemination, and stakeholder engagement strategy (WP7) has been refined and consolidated. Syn.ikia’s digital presence has been strengthened with new audio-visual materials, including video interviews, flyers, podcasts, and social media campaigns. Stakeholder engagement and dissemination activities have significantly increased through live events. Additionally, notable progress has been made in developing a user engagement system, including a mobile app.
The syn.ikia project successfully concluded with a high-profile conference in Brussels, bringing together stakeholders to discuss key findings and future directions for sustainable plus energy neighbourhoods. Additionally, the project delivered the syn.ikia Compass, a comprehensive tool designed to support stakeholders in scaling up SPENs by providing strategic guidance and actionable insights.
We have produced three videos (Haustechnik, Baurecht, Pufferspeicher)
Project website for planners: https://linktr.ee/gnice_salzburg(öffnet in neuem Fenster)
• Project website for users: https://www.gneisfeldstrasse.at/(öffnet in neuem Fenster)
• Youtube Channel of Heimat Österreich:
o Video « Haustechnik » (plus-energy-concept):
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=t89nFKNnbsw(öffnet in neuem Fenster)
o Video « Baurecht » (explanation of the right to build a house on land that is rented):
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KvMFYg3tv8s(öffnet in neuem Fenster)
o Video « Pufferspeicher » (thermal puffer tank):
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mP29RuVkPTE(öffnet in neuem Fenster)
The expected results go beyond the state of the art, showcasing scalable solutions for sustainable plus energy neighbourhoods across various climates and contexts. These achievements are demonstrated through the integrated design, construction, monitoring, and evaluation of four real-life projects, highlighting the numerous benefits of such neighbourhoods. The findings serve as a foundation for design guidelines that promote sustainable plus energy neighbourhoods, while also informing revisions to codes and regulations across the EU. Additionally, a comprehensive set of policy recommendations is provided at the four demonstration sites, encompassing local, regional, and national policies, as well as EU-level frameworks, including updates to the EPBD, REDII, EED, and EMD. To further support the widespread adoption of SPENs, a calculation tool has been developed to assist political, financial, and built environment stakeholders in evaluating business cases and making informed investment decisions. Furthermore, strategies are outlined to align energy-positive measures with targeted financing opportunities, alongside suitable business models that facilitate market uptake.