How to drastically reduce energy consumption in buildings: 2 breakthrough demonstration projects launched

Reducing energy use in buildings is one of Europe's main objectives in improving sustainability of our society; 25% of all energy consumption takes place here. This month, two B&W co-defined projects were kicked off that address major opportunities for improvement: cost-efficient upgrading of existing buildings and the use of ICT application in managing domestic resource consumption.

With over 250 million existing dwellings in Europe, the real challenge in reducing building energy consumption lies in upgrading or retrofitting the current stock to higher standards in a cost-effective way. While individual energy-efficient technologies are available, the lack of holistic approaches that take into account the financial, social and technical requirements of renovation has prevented mass uptake. The BEEM-UP project brings together major building owners, technology providers, construction companies and knowledge institutes to demonstrate how to cost-effectively reduce energy consumption for space heating by 75%. Starting in 3 building sites in Paris (France), Delft (the Netherlands) and Alingsas (Sweden), the BEEM-Up approach should become the standard option in the market from 2015. B&W is participates in the project supporting business model development and further exploitation of results.

Another European collaborative project is SHOWE-IT, which focuses on the reduction of energy and water consumption in social housing low rent dwelings, by implementing ICT solutions. The aim is to see how ICT can help tennants to reduce their energy and water consumption. For us, at B&W the focus will be on development of replication strategy for massive uptake and the validation of the socio-economic viability of the ICT-services. The 3 sites are located in Botkyrka (Sweden), Rochdale (UK) and Lyon (France).

For more information please contact Rosa Sitjà at r.sitja@bwcv.es