Challenge

Approximately 75% of buildings in the European Union are energy-inefficient. The prevailing renovation strategies predominantly focus on enhancing the building envelope, which entails significant time, resources, and financial investment. Consequently, the annual renovation rate remains low, between 0.8% and 1.2%.

The revised Energy Performance of Buildings Directive (EPBD) underscores the necessity for zero-emission buildings to diminish fossil fuel dependency, aligning with broader climate objectives and bolstering the EU’s resilience. Municipalities, aiming to swiftly curtail carbon emissions from buildings, have identified several needs:

• Methods to transition buildings away from fossil fuels without extensive and costly modifications.
• Assistance in integrating and evaluating complex systems, including HVAC, renewable energy sources (RES), building automation and control systems (BACS), and energy storage solutions.
• A streamlined, transparent process that facilitates replication across various buildings.
• Approaches that promote rapid solutions

Solutions

The procuRE project unites six procurers from six countries, collectively overseeing over 21,000 public buildings, to address the shared challenge of achieving 100% renewable energy supply in existing structures. Through a pre-commercial procurement (PCP) process, the project has allocated €7.68 million for research and development services to devise innovative solutions. The PCP process is structured into three phases:

• Phase I: Solution Design – Contractors develop schematic designs and preliminary plans for renovation packages tailored to six demonstration sites.
• Phase II: Development of Prototypes – Four contractors refine their designs, conduct detailed planning, and test user-facing ICT systems.
• Phase III: Deployment and Testing of Pilot Systems – Two contractors implement their renovation packages in three non-residential buildings each, transforming designs into operational systems and collecting performance data.

The renovation packages are designed to maximize on-site renewable energy production and self-sufficiency, aiming to eliminate reliance on fossil fuels.

Results

The procuRE project aims to:

• Demonstrate the feasibility of achieving 100% renewable energy supply in existing public buildings without extensive envelope renovations.
• Provide municipalities with replicable, cost-effective solutions to transition their building portfolios into renewable energy sources.
• Contribute to the EU’s climate goals by reducing greenhouse gas emissions from the building sector.
• Stimulate market innovation by encouraging suppliers to develop integrated, turnkey renovation packages.

By the project’s conclusion, the validated renovation approaches are expected to be scalable and adaptable across various building types and demonstrated in the types of building which dominate public portfolios and promise replication in the private sector, in a multi-country public demonstration of solutions meeting building stock decarbonisation targets – six configurations achieving 100% RES throughout the year.