The aim is to convert pilot projects of new material technologies and new bio based raw materials into industrialised solutions for energy-neutral renovations. This enables market paries to further commercialise the solutions. The result is a solution for the renovation that is more bespoke than just a standard off-the-shelf solution. The ultimate aim is an integral energy-neutral renovation product that can be used to enable cost efficient and energy-neutral renovation of high quality.

Shared challenge

At the moment, only manual production facilities (often based on timber frame construction) exist that can offer energy-neutral renovation solutions for 500 homes per year. As a result, the costs are high and the quality is unreliable. Due to the high costs and the small number of homes possible, energy-neutral renovation is not addressed on a large scale.

New approach

International cooperation could enable new products and technologies to be developed. Until now, this cooperation has been only internal and at a national level, which is why energy-neutral renovation at an industrial level has not really taken off. An international cooperation can demonstrate that new products and technologies can provide input for a Smart Building Industry that can offer energy-neutral renovation solutions on a larger scale (15,000 homes per year).

The following work packages will be carried out during the project:

WP 1

Definition of the requirements from the participating North Sea countries

WP 2

(Re)designing the retrofitting construction approach from traditional handmade processing to automated processing for a currently known scale of production (approximately 500 homes per year produced on one production line) taking into account the principles of a Smart Industry process

WP 3

Development and design of the automated retrofitting production process with a currently known scale effect on production (allowing approximately 500 homes per year produced on one production line) taking into account the principles of a Smart Industry process

WP 4

Experimenting, testing and speeding up automated industrial supply chain

WP 5

Developing and testing complete retrofitting output with a currently unknown scale effect on production (allowing over 15,000 homes per year produced on one production line) taking into account the principles of a Smart Industry process

WP 6

Upscaling the automated retrofitting production process

WP 7

Project management

• A validated draft for the Smart Building Industry that can produce energy-neutral renovation packages on a large scale and which can be applied by the different countries.

• A developed business case that can demonstrate to home owners that the offering is reliable and which ultimately leads to the acceptance of the product.

• The international cooperation in the supply chain is improved. The supply chain for this project is cross-sector and multidisciplinary.

   

  Ultimate result:

• A Smart Building Industry can produce 15,000 energy-neutral renovation packages per year. Energy-neutral renovation of 15,000 homes per year means a reduction of 54,000 tonnes of CO2/year. If this is upscaled to 30,000 energy-neutral renovation packages per year, this means a reduction of 108,000 tonnes of CO2/year per factory

EU 2030 goals https://ec.europa.eu/energy/en/topics/energy-strategy-and-energy-union/2030-energy-strategy

EU countries have agreed on a new 2030 Framework for climate and energy, including EU-wide targets and policy objectives for the period between 2020 and 2030:

• a 40% cut in greenhouse gas emissions compared to 1990 levels

• at least a 27% share of renewable energy consumption

• at least 27% energy savings compared with the business-as-usual scenario.

Common challenges within the North Sea Region:

The countries in the NSR all have a structural demand for heat (heating and hot water). Consequently these countries need the same approach to energy-neutral renovation.

In addition, the countries in the NSR want to and have to reduce their consumption of fossil fuels. https://ec.europa.eu/energy/en/topics/energy-strategy-and-energy-union

The energy-neutral renovation of the 20.6 million homes (calculated on the basis of http://episcope.eu/building-typology/country/) in the NSR that can be achieved through this approach can lead to an ultimate reduction of 74 Mega-tonnes (Mt) of CO2 per year. This would allow 9% of the above-mentioned energy objective of 40% to be achieved. This means that this approach would enable almost ¼ of the energy objectives to be achieved.

In order to fulfil this huge task, it is necessary that with an ultimate production of 30,000 complete packages per year, 47 Smart Building Industries would have to be set up in the NSR. The 18 million outdated homes can be renovated to energy neutrality within 13 years.

Until now, the building sector has looked only locally and applies very few international solutions. There are no integral international projects where industrialisation is developed on a large scale. As a result, the energy objectives cannot be significantly influenced by the building sector at the moment.

Despite the fact that the method of building appears to differ in the various European countries within the NSR, there are also a large number of correlations, such as the systematically built flats and row housing. These exist everywhere in the NSR. These correlations in house building make large-scale industrialisation of energy-neutral solutions interesting.

The Pioneering Foundation, Province of Overijssel,

–Universiteit Gent (Belgium)

–Frauenhofer Institut (Germany)

–Johannesberg Sciencepark Gothenburg (Sweden)

–Passivhuscentrum (Sweden)

We are looking for organisations that operate in the fields of industrial automation, knowledge centres and regional authorities.