News

The Future Envelope conference aims at providing new points of view on the current state, upcoming challenges, and innovations in the field of the building envelope and facades. The early bird fee has been extended so take the opportunity to register! The full list of speakers and session presentations is also now available.

People need dwellings where they can stay comfortable and healthy, and the planet needs us to rely less on fossil fuels as a matter of survival. Fortunately, building performance professionals are using a variety of strategies to seal buildings against the elements. 

The Green Real Estate is an annual event where the mission is to create an ecosystem for the development of green, smart and healthy real estate in the region by providing a business case for sustainable buildings and bridging the gap between normally disconnected stakeholders of the value chain.

Last 15th September, the ProGETonE project has held its last clustering event. In that case, together with e-SAFE project, they have discussed about different solutions that combine deep renovation and seismic strengthening.

Albania’s Ministry of Infrastructure and Energy has launched a programme for the installation of solar thermal collectors for households, which will cover up to 70% of the expenses. The programme is aimed at reducing electricity consumption, improving the supply of hot sanitary water and lowering CO2 emissions.

Southern Europe countries, such as Italy, Spain, Portugal and Greece, are struggling to take advantage and implement the EU Covid´s funds for rail schemes, electricity grid modernisation and retrofitting buildings for energy efficiency due to a lack of skilled workforce.

A growing workforce crisis has been affecting the construction industry in all Europe. Construction has an image problem that is holding back recruitment when it is most needed. Mike Hayes, editor of the construction industry magazine Construction Europe, looks at possible solutions to the growing workforce crisis.

The Construction Leadership Council (CLC) aims at transforming the construction industry and has set some new priorities which comprise net zero, building safety and skills. Indeed it has been highlighted how skilled workers are important to deliver economic growth.

France has established a specific energy efficiency plan to save energy in the approaching winter season. In particular, to reduce energy consumption by 10% in two years, the government has slated 15 key measures which go from use of appliances, to carpooling, etc. However, the government has not set binding targets.

Within the Open Thor Living Lab, two new infrastructure projects have been inaugurated: CollecThor and THOREAQ. Their goal is to explore the maximum potential of intelligent district heating networks and to test and validate innovations in renovation techniques, improvement of indoor air quality and integration of energy systems in real conditions.