The project coordinator CIRCE, under the umbrella of the NEED4B and TRIBE projects, organized an international event last 24th of January in Madrid, to gather the latest innovations in the field of energy efficiency in buildings. Covering the whole life cycle of a building (design, construction, operation, user behavior, etc.), the goal of the conference was to present the developments of up to 8 European projects and exchange points of view and ideas for the establishment of new initiatives.
The conference “Empowering cities: Innovative strategies for Smart Buildings and citizens” counted with the participation of more than 70 professionals from companies, research centers, universities and public bodies from all across Europe. The opening was carried out by representatives from CIRCE and the Spanish Centre for Industrial Technology Development (CDTI). The latter presented the steps that the Spanish construction sector is taking towards a future 9th Framework Program, as well as the funding opportunities in the upcoming EU calls within Horizon2020.
Following, the conference was structured in three sessions.
The first one, named “Innovative approaches and solutions for low energy buildings” presented the achievements of NEED4B, including the new methodology for the design, construction and operation of this type of buildings. The NEED4B partners RINA Consulting, Acciona Construcción, the Ozyegin University and CIRCE presented the activities in which have been working all along the project. The videos of their presentations can be found here:
- RINA Consulting: http://need4b.eu/?p=16316&lang=en
- CIRCE: http://need4b.eu/?p=16318&lang=en
- Ozyegin University: http://need4b.eu/?p=16314&lang=en
The second session, “ICT-based solutions for energy efficiency in buildings”, was focused in the utilization of new and innovative tools to reduce the energy consumption by means of influencing on the user’s behavior.
All of these presentations contributed to identify the opportunities and challenges within the construction sector, and were gathered to set the starting point of the next session: a series of parallel roundtables addressing different topics of the Horizon 2020 calls. The roundtables were grouped in the topics “Socio-economic actions towards a sustainable energy use”, “Soultions and services for building renovation” and “Assessment of energy behavior of buildings”. Grouped in these categories, both speakers and attendants were able to exchange ideas, identify synergies and make contacts that could lead to the development of new projects.
This event has been organized by NEED4B and TRIBE projects, and has received support from two TRIBE´s sister projects, EnerGAware and OrbEEt.
You can watch overview video about the event here
PRESENTATIONS
SESSION 1
- An integrated methodology for design, construction and operation of buildings – RINA Consulting S.A
- Cost – effective solutions for very low energy buildings – CIRCE Foundation
- ICT Monitoring and Management. Tools for Smart-Buildings – ACCIONA Construcción S.A.
- Challenges in circular economy in the building sector – Green Building Council España
- Transferring Knowledge of Integrated Disciplines to Society – Özyeğin University
SESSION 2
- The Behavioural Change Framework: Gamification & Targeted Feedback – Coventry University
- Tools to enhance energy efficiency habits in public buildings – CIRCE Foundation
- Impact of serious games on the energy efficiency of social housing communities – Universidad Politécnica de Cataluña
- A game to promote energy efficiency actions – Euroquality
- An IoT Platform for Energy Efficiency based on Data Analytics and Behavioural Change – University of Murcia
- A Smartphone App for Energy Savings Through Behavioural Change, Flexible Tariffs and Fun – Energie Institut
- A gamified system for Energy Efficiency in the public sector buildings – European Dynamics
