Periodic Reporting for period 2 - syn.ikia (Sustainable Plus Energy Neighbourhoods)
Período documentado: 2021-07-01 hasta 2022-12-31
As the world debates actions to combat climate change, the success of reducing greenhouse gas emissions GHG relies largely on the transition to a low carbon and energy-efficient built environment.
The syn.ikia innovation project within the EU Horizon 2020 framework involves 13 partners from seven countries and aims to enable the development of sustainable plus energy neighbourhoods (SPEN) in different climates, contexts and markets in Europe.
Over the course of the project, four real-life plus-energy demo neighbourhood projects tailored to four different climatic zones will be developed, analysed, optimized and monitored, demonstrating the functionality of the plus-energy neighbourhood concept for the rest of Europe. Both new construction and renovation projects will be targeted.
The syn.ikia project will deliver a blueprint for sustainable plus energy buildings and neighbourhoods, leading the way to plus energy districts and cities.
The overall objectives can be summarized as:
• Implement the syn.ikia solutions in real-life demonstration projects of SPEN at four climatic types in Europe;
• Monitor and evaluate the impact of the demonstrations and the overall project;
• Deliver guidelines to key stakeholders involved in the design, construction, operation, and management of sustainable plus energy buildings and neighbourhoods;
• Provide strategies and tools for connecting the building components and energy systems with neighbourhood energy systems to unlock the flexibility potential;
• Present strategies and tools to maximize the utilization of renewable energy by real-time matching of energy demand and production through flexibility optimization, data intelligence, and IoT devices in integrated systems;
• Give recommendations and guidelines to policy makers aiming to increase the uptake of sustainable plus energy neighbourhoods and have a direct impact on future innovative policymaking;
• Facilitate new business models, approaches, and services for financing of plus energy neighbourhoods and to enable commercialization with engagement of relevant market actors;
• Develop effective strategies to perform replication, exploitation, market upscaling, and reduced investment risk of the plus energy neighbourhoods;
• Communicate and disseminate activities carried out in syn.ikia and provide plans for exploiting innovations.
The syn.ikia innovation project within the EU Horizon 2020 framework involves 13 partners from seven countries and aims to enable the development of sustainable plus energy neighbourhoods (SPEN) in different climates, contexts and markets in Europe.
Over the course of the project, four real-life plus-energy demo neighbourhood projects tailored to four different climatic zones will be developed, analysed, optimized and monitored, demonstrating the functionality of the plus-energy neighbourhood concept for the rest of Europe. Both new construction and renovation projects will be targeted.
The syn.ikia project will deliver a blueprint for sustainable plus energy buildings and neighbourhoods, leading the way to plus energy districts and cities.
The overall objectives can be summarized as:
• Implement the syn.ikia solutions in real-life demonstration projects of SPEN at four climatic types in Europe;
• Monitor and evaluate the impact of the demonstrations and the overall project;
• Deliver guidelines to key stakeholders involved in the design, construction, operation, and management of sustainable plus energy buildings and neighbourhoods;
• Provide strategies and tools for connecting the building components and energy systems with neighbourhood energy systems to unlock the flexibility potential;
• Present strategies and tools to maximize the utilization of renewable energy by real-time matching of energy demand and production through flexibility optimization, data intelligence, and IoT devices in integrated systems;
• Give recommendations and guidelines to policy makers aiming to increase the uptake of sustainable plus energy neighbourhoods and have a direct impact on future innovative policymaking;
• Facilitate new business models, approaches, and services for financing of plus energy neighbourhoods and to enable commercialization with engagement of relevant market actors;
• Develop effective strategies to perform replication, exploitation, market upscaling, and reduced investment risk of the plus energy neighbourhoods;
• Communicate and disseminate activities carried out in syn.ikia and provide plans for exploiting innovations.
From the beginning of the action to the end of the second reporting period, the syn.ikia project is being implemented smoothly. An effective cooperation between the partners has been established. During the second reporting period a broad list of activities was executed in a timely manner and all the deliverables were submitted as planned (WP1).
The four demonstration projects are designed to meet syn.ikia's ambitious goals with respect to energy performance, indoor environment, costs and social sustainability. WP2 includes the design, construction, and evaluation of SPENs in four European climates. The main results so far involve the integrated design of the demonstration projects, including technical specifications of innovative solutions, performance evaluation, and integrated energy design processes at the neighbourhood scale. The performance predictions indicate that all demonstration projects may achieve the plus energy balance according to the syn.ikia definition.
The evaluation framework for Plus Energy Buildings (PEB) and its extension to Sustainable Plus Energy Neighbourhoods (SPEN) have been defined in a multidimensional way by the specification of five categories of indicators covering from energy to social aspects. Flexibility indicators have been developed to evaluate the potential of savings through the management of flexible assets in the buildings by means of simulation. The ICT technology architecture, ontology and scalable solutions for the effective implementation of the flexibility management in the four demos of the project is defined and implemented in the syn.ikia cloud hub. The fine tuning of the grey-box models of the different demos was applied for evaluating the flexibility index of the demos, and their thermal dynamics.
The consortium has produced an in-depth overview of the current state of the policy landscape relevant to the development of sustainable positive energy buildings and neighbourhoods. The policy inventory has been completed by a gap analysis of the regulatory framework, providing a robust basis for the ongoing efforts to redefine integrated strategies to the deep decarbonisation of buildings. The main activities carried out during the last period under WP5 are:
• Analysis of the latest policy developments at EU, national, regional and municipal levels through desk research and interviews with private and public stakeholders.
• Development of a draft version of the multiple benefits methodology, quantification tool and its user guidance. This was based on stakeholder’s needs and requirements on the multiple benefits tool collected through surveys, but also desktop research on capturing and valuating multiple benefits of SPENs.
In WP6, the syn.ikia innovation dashboard was developed together with a robust process for the update and reporting of all ongoing innovations by all results owners. An exploitation strategy has also been established for syn.ikia partners and syn.ikia neighbourhood-scale innovations in the four markets and beyond, using an exploitation pathways framework developed for syn.ikia innovations. Furthermore, a market analysis has been performed through an analysis of the housing market and energy market for households in each of the four demo contexts combined with a review of the political, economic, social, technological, legal and environmental framework conditions to spread the SPEN concept. The project’s communication, dissemination and stakeholder engagement strategy (WP7) and plan have been adapted and consolidated. Syn.ikia’s online presence has been enriched by a new range of audio-visual materials (video interviews; flyers; podcasts; social media campaigns). Stakeholder engagement and dissemination activities have exponentially increased through live events. Great progress has been made in developing a user engagement system including a mobile app. Collaboration with sister projects has also positively evolved.
The four demonstration projects are designed to meet syn.ikia's ambitious goals with respect to energy performance, indoor environment, costs and social sustainability. WP2 includes the design, construction, and evaluation of SPENs in four European climates. The main results so far involve the integrated design of the demonstration projects, including technical specifications of innovative solutions, performance evaluation, and integrated energy design processes at the neighbourhood scale. The performance predictions indicate that all demonstration projects may achieve the plus energy balance according to the syn.ikia definition.
The evaluation framework for Plus Energy Buildings (PEB) and its extension to Sustainable Plus Energy Neighbourhoods (SPEN) have been defined in a multidimensional way by the specification of five categories of indicators covering from energy to social aspects. Flexibility indicators have been developed to evaluate the potential of savings through the management of flexible assets in the buildings by means of simulation. The ICT technology architecture, ontology and scalable solutions for the effective implementation of the flexibility management in the four demos of the project is defined and implemented in the syn.ikia cloud hub. The fine tuning of the grey-box models of the different demos was applied for evaluating the flexibility index of the demos, and their thermal dynamics.
The consortium has produced an in-depth overview of the current state of the policy landscape relevant to the development of sustainable positive energy buildings and neighbourhoods. The policy inventory has been completed by a gap analysis of the regulatory framework, providing a robust basis for the ongoing efforts to redefine integrated strategies to the deep decarbonisation of buildings. The main activities carried out during the last period under WP5 are:
• Analysis of the latest policy developments at EU, national, regional and municipal levels through desk research and interviews with private and public stakeholders.
• Development of a draft version of the multiple benefits methodology, quantification tool and its user guidance. This was based on stakeholder’s needs and requirements on the multiple benefits tool collected through surveys, but also desktop research on capturing and valuating multiple benefits of SPENs.
In WP6, the syn.ikia innovation dashboard was developed together with a robust process for the update and reporting of all ongoing innovations by all results owners. An exploitation strategy has also been established for syn.ikia partners and syn.ikia neighbourhood-scale innovations in the four markets and beyond, using an exploitation pathways framework developed for syn.ikia innovations. Furthermore, a market analysis has been performed through an analysis of the housing market and energy market for households in each of the four demo contexts combined with a review of the political, economic, social, technological, legal and environmental framework conditions to spread the SPEN concept. The project’s communication, dissemination and stakeholder engagement strategy (WP7) and plan have been adapted and consolidated. Syn.ikia’s online presence has been enriched by a new range of audio-visual materials (video interviews; flyers; podcasts; social media campaigns). Stakeholder engagement and dissemination activities have exponentially increased through live events. Great progress has been made in developing a user engagement system including a mobile app. Collaboration with sister projects has also positively evolved.
Expected results beyond the state-of-the art include the demonstration and documentation of scalable solutions for sustainable plus energy neighbourhoods in different climates and contexts. This will be achieved by integrated design, construction, monitoring and evaluation of four real-life demonstration projects, demonstrating the multiple benefits of such neighbourhoods. The results will serve as basis for design guidelines for sustainable plus energy neighbourhoods, as well as for revising codes and regulations across the EU.
Moreover, by the end of the project, we expect to have a list of solid policy recommendations at the four demo locations (comprising local, regional and national policies) and EU levels (comprising revised EPBD, REDII, EED and EMD) that will support the scale up of SPENs, a calculation tool that will support the business case and decision-making of political, financial and built environment stakeholders to invest in SPENs, strategies to match energy plus measure with selected financing opportunities as well as suitable business models to support the market uptake of SPENs.
Moreover, by the end of the project, we expect to have a list of solid policy recommendations at the four demo locations (comprising local, regional and national policies) and EU levels (comprising revised EPBD, REDII, EED and EMD) that will support the scale up of SPENs, a calculation tool that will support the business case and decision-making of political, financial and built environment stakeholders to invest in SPENs, strategies to match energy plus measure with selected financing opportunities as well as suitable business models to support the market uptake of SPENs.