EIHP ENERGY INSTITUTE HRVOJE POZAR

A Transparent Training Model and toolkit enabling and empowering industry to achieve a greener built environment. To develop a more efficient and relevant training programme materials to integrate concepts of sustainability and renewables together it practical application and integration with technology ( BIM) based on real life industry needs and limitations.

The level of activities of the Bio-based Industries Consortium (BIC) is not balanced throughout Europe. This is particularly the case in 'moderate/modest innovator' countries according to the European Innovation Scoreboard. This may be the result of insufficient knowledge of the potential for the bio-based industry in these countries, by actors in bio-based activities in these countries as well as by BIC. Additionally, actors in these countries may not be fully aware of the opportunities offered by BIC and the Bio-based Industries Initiative. The Central Europe LEaders in Bioeconomy (CELEBio) project will contribute with fact-based information and networking, which will represent a starting point for further expansion of the Bioeconomy in the relevant geographical area. The main objective of CELEBio is therefore to contribute to strengthening Bioeconomy-related activities in Bulgaria, Czech Republic, Croatia, Hungary, Slovak Republic and Slovenia through the elaboration of evidence-based Action Plans for each of the targeted countries, as well as through the dissemination of information on the opportunities offered by BBI. To this end, the CELEBio project team will support the setting-up of a network of BBI info points (BBI Ambassadors). In order to set the grounds for further action in support of the uptake of bio-based technologies and facilitate matchmaking between stakeholders in research and industry, the CELEBio project team will map Bioeconomy stakeholders.

The proposed project intends to support Member States in establishing or improving national and local schemes for SMEs to undergo energy audits and implement cost-effective recommended energy-saving measures. An initial work of policies and programmes mapping will be followed by an in-depth understanding of their strengths and weaknesses, with the aim of overcoming the current criticalities and bottlenecks. At the same time a work of characterisation of SMEs in terms of energy consumption, size and sector will be carried out to understand effective ways to properly address existing and innovative energy audit policies. Provided a continuous interaction (by means of workshops, questionnaires, meetings) with policy makers as well as SMEs and ESCOs/Energy Auditors associations, a set of policy proposals and recommendations will be then developed and diffused. The priorities guiding the policy and recommendation development will be: - Effectiveness and orientation to real market needs; - Integration with other points of the EED, particularly article 7 Energy Efficiency Obligation Schemes and alternative measures; - Replicability, at least for SMEs sector/size/region; A fundamental part of the project, with a relevant participation requested to each partner, will be a continuous action of capacity building and dissemination addressed to policy makers and relevant stakeholders at European, National and Regional level. In order to concentrate the efforts on new challenges and to valorise previous efforts, the Consortium is committed to take as much advantage as possible of results obtained in previous pertinent EU funded projects (such as ENSPOL, ODYSSEE-MURE, EPATEE) and relevant initiatives such as EEFIG and its related Sustainable Energy Investment Forums. On request of the European Institutions, the Consortium would also be very glad to contribute, through findings and results of the project, to the current debate on the SME definition.

The next generation of energy performance assessments and certificates ought to address the transformation into an era where an increasing amount data are available on the operational use of buildings, and the buildings can be observed with ever increasing details via a larger number of stakeholders. The EUB SuperHub project will support the evolvement of the certification process in the EU by development of a scalable methodology to view, assess and monitor the buildings through their lifecycle (embedded energy, costs etc.). The EU Level(s) initiative is already leading a way of a new, holistic view of the buildings taking into account sustainability principles (LCA, LCC etc.) for residential, commercial and public buildings. Energy performance assessments and certificates of buildings therefore need to evolve to reflect the technological development, the needs of the society, and within the EU, they must be consistent throughout Member States. Holistic view of buildings, social and technological shifts in the society require a change in the way we observe and handle the built environment helping incentives to yield in energy efficiency and investments.