ExpectedOutcome:
Project results are expected to contribute to all of the following expected outcomes:
- Increased application of the energy efficiency first principle in construction and renovation of buildings.
- Increased decarbonisation of building thermal energy demand by means of electrification.
- Enhanced buildings energy performance and (smart) energy management, leading to increased use of locally generated renewable energy and local energy storage.
- Increased number of cost-effective and commercially available solutions for electrification of building thermal energy demand, with significantly lower costs per building unit and significant potential for mass roll-out in Europe.
- Enhanced building contribution to power grid stability by offering energy flexibility services.
Scope:
In line with EU priorities for buildings and the energy system, and with the need to reduce Europe’s energy dependencies, to develop and demonstrate highly cost-efficient, integrated and replicable solutions for decarbonising the thermal energy demand of buildings (i.e. heating and cooling) by means of electrification, ensuring the strict application of the energy efficiency first principle.
Proposals are expected to address all of the following:
- Develop and demonstrate innovative and integrated solutions for electrification of the thermal energy demand of buildings in line with the ‘Electrify Europe’ track of REPowerEU (e.g. heat pumps), with high replication potential across Europe.
- Ensure the solutions developed:
- Can be effectively combined with conventional energy efficiency measures (e.g. those that improve the performance of the building envelope).
- Can be used optimally in combination with renewable energy sources on-site or nearby.
- Include innovative, smart control techniques optimising the heating/cooling systems performance and efficiency based on all relevant parameters, for example, dynamic electricity price (present and future forecast), weather (present temperature and solar radiation, and future forecast, resilience against extreme weather events), thermal comfort, status of charge of electrochemical storage etc.
- Include interoperable interfaces and rely on standards allowing to collect and store information on their operation, and communicating with other systems (e.g. building energy management systems or building automation and control systems), for autonomous or remote inspection of systems (state, performance and failures).
- Allow to increase the use of locally generated (on-site[1] and nearby[2]) renewable electricity and electrochemical storage, while offering energy flexibility to contribute to power grid stability.
- Minimise life cycle environmental impact and improve circularity (e.g. reparability, modular design for selective replacement and upgrade, recyclability of materials, use of thermal cycle fluids with low global warming potential), while maintaining/enhancing their performance.
- Are cost-effective (purchase, installation, operation and maintenance).
- Are highly replicable, for new buildings and for renovation of residential buildings (individual dwellings, single apartments or flats), e.g. for the direct replacement of fossil-fuel boilers.
- Demonstrate the solutions developed in at least five real-life new construction and renovation projects, of which at least two are renovations of residential buildings (multifamily building or individual houses) and at least one is renovation of non-residential buildings.
- Ensure that the demonstration:
- Covers at least three countries with diverse climatic conditions, of which at least one country with an energy mix that is strongly dependent on Russian fossil fuel supplies.
- Involves local and regional values chains, in particular SMEs, based on participatory approaches to increase innovation acceptability.
- Involves relevant authorities to ensure the best alignment with energy strategies at national, regional and local levels.
- Is supplemented by an ambitious 5-year replication strategy for the solutions demonstrated, which will be implemented within the duration of, and after, the project.
- Leads to clear and, where relevant, quantified and measurable indicators on the results achieved.
- Deliver guidance and recommendations for practitioners, and define and implement ambitious dissemination actions, to promote the approaches demonstrated and support their replication.
Specific Topic Conditions:
Activities are expected to achieve TRL 6-8 by the end of the project – see General Annex B.
[1]‘on-site’ means the premises and the land on which the building is located and the building itself.
[2]‘energy from renewable sources produced nearby’ means energy from renewable sources produced within a local or district level perimeter of the building, which fulfils all the following conditions: (a) it can only be distributed and used within that local and district level perimeter through a dedicated distribution network; (b) it allows for the calculation of a specific primary energy factor valid only for the energy from renewable sources produced within that local or district level perimeter; and (c) it can be used on-site of the building through a dedicated connection to the energy production source, that dedicated connection requiring specific equipment for the safe supply and metering of energy for self-use of the building.
