News

19 project proposals are in the last phase of the evaluation process under the Horizon Europe Missions Work Programme 2021-2022: Climate-Neutral and Smart Cities “Cities Mission”. The main goals of the Mission are to deliver 100 climate-neutral and smart cities by 2030, and ensure that these cities act as experimentation and innovation hubs to become climate neutral.

The new CoolLIFE project aims to provide a user-friendly and open-source tool, which will be able to map the space cooling demand of Europe’s buildings and up to the continent level. The project will also set up a “knowledge hub”, an online repository of fair and quality-controlled sources to address the lack of data on space cooling.

The second domOS newsletter is out!

A general approach has been finally agreed for the revision of the Energy Performance of Buildings Directive (EPBD). Some ambitious targets have been set, such as new buildings being zero-emission by 2030 and existing residential buildings being zero-emission by 2050 following a national trajectory for minimum energy performance standards (MEPS).

INFINITE project has just published the November newsletter with the latest news and developments of the project and upcoming events. INFINITE aims at increasing the market penetration of industrialised all-in building envelope kits for the deep renovation, as competitive, reliable, stakeholders-accepted and life-cycle-based sustainable approach.

Construction companies in the UK are looking for a traditional and digitally skilled workforce but find it very hard. This is due to the high cost of living which is not reflected in salaries and the fact that skilled workers are not enough to cover what is and will be more and more needed by the industry from electricians and bricklayers to augmented reality and virtual reality skilled workers.

In order to present and promote innovative heating grids, HAWK University has developed a web-based serious game.  The game is about the heating sector and its transformation in a fictional town. Players take one of the roles (district heating company, district manager, government) and follow their goals to win in the game while interacting with each other and performing different actions. It allows to discover a simulation of transformation of existing fossil fuel-based heating systems to sustainable systems, but also increases knowledge and raises awareness.

Innovative techniques and technologies are more and more present in the construction sector globally. Hence, there is a need to upskill and train workforce, and at the same time to solve the issue of innovation and change resistance which is still affecting the construction industry. How should companies overcome these issues?

St Vincent college in Gosport has invested £600,000 in expanding its construction teaching centre to help plug a skills gap in the area’s building trade. The department teaches level 1 in skills for construction – which includes carpentry, plastering, maintenance and painting – levels 2 and 3 in carpentry and level 1 in plastering, with level 2 to be added next year.

The STEP project´s key aim was to advise consumers on energy savings and implement energy efficiency solutions based on the country. The project also organised specific online and on-site training for frontline workers who were responsible to directly raise awareness in households.