The European Portal for Energy Efficiency in Buildings

Brussels, 29 August 2012

Energy Efficiency in Buildings

BUILD UP The European Commission platform for information and sharing Gilles of best practices EU-wide Vaille

BUILD UP Public Relations Desk One solution to this problem is increasing ower energy consumption in buildings is L the level of information and essential for minimizing household running awareness of the European sector of costs for owners and tenants, as well as building construction concerning contributing significantly towards achieving

1 www.buildup.eu the European portal for energy efficiency in buildings Find resources Post your materials Share knowledge… The web portal’s main role is to support Physics (Fraunhofer-IBP), National & Kapodistrian University of Athens (NKUA), the implementation of the Energy The Netherlands Organisation for Applied Performance of Buildings Directive Scientific Research (TNO), Scientific and revised in 2010 (Directive Technical Center for Building (CSTB), Ecole 2010/31/EU) which clarified, strengthened Nationale des Travaux Publics de l'Etat and extended the purpose of the previous (ENTPE), Sympraxis Team, International Directive 2002/91/EC, in order to minimize Centre for Numerical Methods in Engineering the already existing sizeable differences (CIMNE), End-use Efficiency Research between practices of EU Member States. The Group (eERG), Federation of European measures in this Directive deal with the Heating, Ventilation and Air-conditioning increase of efficiency in energy consumption Associations (REHVA), and Buildings with regards to hot water, heating, cooling, Performance Institute Europe (BPIE). ventilation and lighting for new and existing residential and non-residential buildings. In addition, www.buildup.eu is supported by a large number of associations of The interactive BUILD UP the construction materials industry, web portal is a catalyst for the as well as that of energy efficient equipment information collected from (REHVA), but also by associations of various sources across renewable energy usage (EURIMA, Europe to manage a more efficient EuroACE, PU Europe, PlasticsEurope, FIEC, implementation of energy E2BA, ESTIF, ES-SO, EPPA, ELC, EHI, consumption abatement measures EHPA, EGEC, eu.bac, etc.), associations of with regards to buildings belonging to the architects, professionals and European Real- European markets. This is achieved in two Estate investors (ACE, ARCHI-EUROPE, main ways: RICS, EFCA, EBC, AEEBC), owners and tenants (CECODHAS Housing Europe, UIPI), a) Through promotion and transfer of good political and municipal associations (Energy practices concerning abatement of energy Cities, EUFORES), and last but not least by consumption in buildings, through institutes and associations of experts in the energy efficiency field (BPIE, eceee). encouraging assimilation of these practices. The main goal of BUILD UP is the energy b) Through constant market briefing with efficiency improvement of buildings’ regards to EU politics concerning performance across Europe by creating buildings. a platform for communication and experience exchange with regards to energy consumption decrease for building specialists, public authorities and for people who live or work in these buildings.

The portal offers building specialists and decision makers from Europe the unique Figure 1: Ways through which BUILD UP offers specific solutions adapted to its target audience (www.buildup.eu) possibility to share their knowledge and experience in the conception, design The is formed by: BUILD UP consortium and efficient functioning of International Network for Information on , in order to stimulate the creation Ventilation (INIVE), Public Relations and buildings Communication Strategy (PRACSIS), of better and more comfortable buildings that MediaResponsable, Belgian Building present an optimal level of energy efficiency Research Institute (BBRI), Centre Technique and that make the best use of the existing des Industries Aérauliques et Thermiques renewable energy potential. (CETIAT), Fraunhofer Institute for Building

2 www.buildup.eu the European portal for energy efficiency in buildings Find resources Post your materials Share knowledge… The web touch with the latest developments and portal can be achievements in the energy efficiency in used to buildings field. Through the presentation of upload and their own achievements, the 8,000+ users with active accounts attain visibility, view credibility and potential European collaborators for future projects. (e.g. information about past or upcoming events http://www.buildup.eu/ro/cases/24299) in Europe, news items related to energy efficiency in buildings, publications in the field, case studies and tools for evaluation and implementation of the measures for energy efficiency in buildings. Additionally, www.buildup.eu offers a section for blogs and another one for communities where different aspects of energy efficiency in buildings are debated. For a better understanding of the Thematic communities: types of information available on Through virtual thematic the web portal, some examples communities, created are presented later on in this article. and monitored/moderated by research institutes, energy agencies, industrial Financing schemes: associations and NGOs active in the energy The energy efficiency financing problem is efficiency in buildings field, relevant especially important. For this reason, a information and achievements of the particular section for financing and community members are published and investment schemes, with analysed. (e.g. Nearly zero-energy buildings: regards to energy efficiency in www.buildup.eu/ro/communities/nzebs). buildings was created (e.g. The Thermal Rehabilitation Programme). Tools: This section presents Legislation and practice: tools from all over Within the common European framework, Europe, to help with the implementation of there are different legislative aspects at various energy efficiency policies and national level, as well as the way in which the measures in buildings. At the moment, a Energy Performance of Buildings Directive is number of software applications are implemented in each country. Getting published (for energy certificates, for acquainted with the latest information on the estimation of existing regulations, for topic and comparing national experiences are estimating costs and environmental impact, two ways in which the legal framework can be cost estimators, etc.): Excel sheets, improved. The web portal offers the verification lists for different categories of opportunity to showcase success stories specialists in construction. regarding the implementation of the European Directive’s specific requirements. (e.g. SF-Energy Invest Project: A genius from Transylvania: http://www.buildup.eu/ro/node/21783).

Publications and case studies: BUILD UP offers its users the opportunity to discover and to disseminate studies, analysis and successful cases, but also to keep in

3 www.buildup.eu the European portal for energy efficiency in buildings Find resources Post your materials Share knowledge… Figure 4: Sample calendar page with events from April 2012 Figure 2: Tool examples To conclude, the interactive BUILD UP web Energy efficiency news: portal of the European Commission is useful This section is for for everyone who is interested in energy uploading and viewing efficiency in buildings, because it is a place news highlighting recent where: events in Europe. A monthly news alert  You find the latest solutions with containing the most relevant information from the web portal is distributed free of charge. regards to energy efficiency in To register for the BUILD UP newsletter buildings, publications, news, studies, please visit: articles, free tools and good practices http://www.buildup.eu/newsletter from all over Europe.

 You can post information, such as achievements in the field, case studies, studies, articles, events, news, through which visibility and recognition at EU level is acquired.

 You can share knowledge with other European specialists. BUILD UP is an interactive web portal where knowledge-sharing is encouraged with not only experts in the Figure 3: News sample field, but also people who are interested in learning Events: more. By In this section, events joining the related to energy virtual communities you get involved, efficiency in buildings are shared. Additional whilst getting a privileged access to information, such as the event schedule, the information on the web portal. event website are uploaded and viewed by the users themselves. Moreover, these events can be viewed as part of a detailed, daily calendar.

4 www.buildup.eu the European portal for energy efficiency in buildings Find resources Post your materials Share knowledge… BUILD UP is funded under the Intelligent For more information, please visit: http://www.buildup.eu/communicationstools . Energy Europe programme (2007-2013) that is managed by the Executive Agency for Competitiveness and Innovation (EACI) on behalf of the European Commission.

5 www.buildup.eu the European portal for energy efficiency in buildings Find resources Post your materials Share knowledge…