In order to implement the EPBD systematically and thereby reach the EU's energy and climate targets, building owners, constructors and municipalities should be aware of how energy saving measures have to be planned, applied and monitored. The buildings being built or renovated now, are the building stock of the future. Therefore, it is important to pay attention to the quality of work on construction site. Construction errors are responsible for most of poor energy performance of buildings in practice. Reasons for this are often lack of awareness of workers on construction sites making relevant parts of the building envelope or the HVAC systems regarding the complexity of nearly zero emission buildings. This is because of the very limited availability of further education in the construction sector in many countries around Europe especially with the focus on mutual recognition. Furthermore, actual offered courses in the building sector do not cover topics like cross craft understanding, lifelong service approaches, continuous controlling and monitoring or BIM-tools which are very important for the construction and maintenance of nZEBs. In addition, quality control also lacks in many cases. NEWCOM addresses challenges of raising building quality that supervisory authorities are facing today in order to achieve the European and national climate protection targets for 2020 and the implementation of the nearly zero-energy buildings standards. NEWCOM focuses on the development of missing qualification and certification schemes for blue collar workers and building professionals who inspect and control the most relevant qualities with a specific focus on mutual recognition. By the project “NEWCOM” the number of blue collar workers and building inspectors with special nZEB competence will be increased, the quality of buildings (focus energy efficiency) raised and the market recognition of well-skilled professionals across the building sector in European market boosted.

After 10 years of track record, the current EPCs schemes across the EU face several challenges which have led to not fully accomplish their initial objectives: lack of accuracy, a gap between theoretical and real consumption patterns, absence of proper protocols for inclusion of smart and novel technologies, little convergence across EU schemes, lack of trust in the market and very little user awareness related to energy efficiency. The objective of the ePANACEA project is to develop a holistic methodology for energy performance assessment and certification of buildings that can overcome the above mentioned challenges. The vision is ePANACEA becoming a relevant instrument in the European energy transition through the building sector. ePANACEA comprises the creation of a prototype (the Smart Energy Performance Assessment Platform) making use of the most advanced techniques in dynamic and automated simulation modelling, big data analysis and machine learning, inverse modelling or the estimation of potential energy savings and economic viability check. A relevant part of the project is to have a fluent dialogue with European policy makers, certification bodies, end-users and other stakeholders through two types of participatory actions: on the one hand a feedback loop with policy makers will be carried out through the so called Regional Exploitation Boards (REBs) covering EU-27+Norway+UK, and the dialogue with the end-users will be established by means of specific thematic workshops. Thanks to these participatory actions we will ensure that ePANACEA approach is aligned with and meets the needs of national public bodies, end-users and other stakeholders with a view to test the acceptance and to validate the methodology developed. ePANACEA will demonstrate and validate reliability, accuracy, user-friendliness and cost-effectiveness of the methodology through 15 case studies in 5 European countries.

X-tendo will support public authorities to transition to next-generation energy performance certification (EPC) schemes, including improved compliance, reliability, usability and convergence. The key output of the project will be the X-tendo toolbox, a freely available online knowledge hub that will be continued also beyond the project duration. It will contain 10 innovative EPC features ranging from a smartness and a comfort indicator to building logbooks and how to improve EPC databases. For each feature the toolbox will include: (1) solution concepts and good practice examples, (2) description of methodological approaches, (3) calculation tools, and (4) implementation guidelines and recommendations. A selection of twenty-nine test projects in nine different member states will demonstrate the potential of each feature as part of more reliable next-generation EPC schemes across the EU. Intensive stakeholder engagement, experience exchange activities, continuous dissemination and an ambitious exploitation strategy will maximize X-tendo’s impact across the EU. Direct impact on (future) policy making will be achieved by (1) understanding end-users and their needs, (2) engaging with public bodies covering at least 75% of the EU building stock, (3) close collaboration between policy makers and technical, communication and financial experts, (4) outreach to EU-wide initiatives such as the Concerted Action on the EPBD and the European Energy Network, and (5) assessing the viability of policy implementation. Improved and next-generation EPC schemes and the innovative handling and use of EPC-related data will push the market towards better performing buildings and facilitate the interaction between building owners, the construction industry and the finance sector. The combination of the expertise of the project partners and the actions and outputs of the project will steer EPC schemes across Europe to the next-generation requirements.

The development and adoption of renewable and sustainable forms of energy has become a major priority for Europe and is an important theme in H2020. Research into new, energy-related technologies to reduce Europe’s reliance on non-renewable fossil fuels is a critical need, and requires more newly qualified people in areas such as renewable-energy infrastructure management, new energy materials and methods, as well as smart buildings and transport. Bio-energy is particularly relevant to the Work Programme, because it is at the crossroads of several key European policies – from the Strategic Energy Technology Plan Roadmap on Education and Training (SET-Plan) to the European Bio-economy Strategy for European Food Safety and Nutrition Policy. So far, technological development has concentrated on using crops and wood for fuel, energy and industrial products. These conventional bio-resources are, however, limited, and the use of nonconventional, currently unused or under-utilised bio-resources provides the best possibility for the growth of the bioeconomy. However, European development in this priority field is failing to keep pace with demand due to a lack of qualified personnel, a lack of cohesion and integration among stakeholders, and poorly developed links between professional training and the real needs of industry. Based on seven work packages the Phoenix RISE project will address these issues by exploiting the complementary expertise of its partners and creating synergies between them through the targeted secondments of staff to advance research and innovation knowledge in bio-energy research. Phoenix is an international, interdisciplinary, cross-sectorial project, bringing together a total of 16 partners: 14 from the EU (5 companies and 9 academic organisations) and two Third-Country academic partners to enhance its collective research excellence and create new, post-graduate-level research training in key disciplines that support the provision of bio-energy.

The development and adoption of renewable and sustainable energy has become a top priority in Europe, and is Horizon 2020’s most prominent theme. Research into new energy methods required to reduce humanity’s carbon footprint is an urgent and critical need, and is reliant upon a flow of newly qualified persons in areas as diverse as renewable energy infrastructure management, new energy materials and methods, and smart buildings and transport. Bioenergy is a particularly important field in this respect as it is at the cross-roads of several important European policies, from the Strategic Energy Technology Plan Roadmap on Education and Training (SET-Plan) to the European Bioeconomy Strategy to European Food Safety and Nutrition Policy. European development in this prioritised field is stalled due to a lack of qualified personnel, a lack of cohesion and integration among stakeholders, and poor linkage between professional training and industry needs. To address these problems, BioEnergyTrain brings together fifteen partners from six EU countries to create new post-graduate level curricula in key bioenergy disciplines, and a network of tertiary education institutions, research centres, professional associations, and industry stakeholders encompassing the whole value chain of bioenergy from field/forest to integration into the sustainable energy systems of buildings, settlements and regions. The project will foster European cooperation to provide a highly skilled and innovative workforce across the whole bioenergy value chain, closely following the recommendations of the SET-Plan Education Roadmap.