A European Consortium to develop new technologies for buildings decarbonization

StepUP project is developing affordable solutions and technologies aimed at transforming the energy renovation market and making the decarbonisation of existing buildings a reliable, attractive and sustainable investment.

To this end, StepUP “uses occupants’ feedback and promotes an iterative approach to energy renovation, based on real and simulated data, which minimises performance problems, reduces financial barriers and optimises investments“, underlines the coordinator of the project from Integrated Environmental Solutions Ltd, Giulia Barbano.

“StepUP will offer a real opportunity to reach net zero emission buildings, by developing a non-intrusive, quick and reliable deep renovation intervention solution that will minimise the duration of onsite works and the risk of installation errors”, adds Barbano.

The solutions developed in the project will be applied to three different building typologies, such as multi-family residential apartment blocks, public schools and private offices.

Based on plug & play components, the StepUP technologies reduce installation time on site, drastically minimising the inconveniences to building occupants that renovations usually entail. The project also tackles the development of data intelligence solutions to make solid decisions in the design stage and to monitor the performance after implementation.

In addition, the project promotes new financing models for the optimisation of energy, comfort and cost performance over the life of the building.

Among StepUP novel deep renovation technologies, a novel plug & play façade integrating windows and provisions for the technical systems and a heating solution allowing flexible consumption of energy are being developed.

In this sense, StepUP “addresses the European challenge of achieving the decarbonisation of existing buildings by 2050” in line with the recently launched Renovation Wave, an objective “that will be effective only if cost-effective deep energy renovation technologies and integrated solutions are developed, a key action to reduce energy demand in buildings“, according to Barbano. 

The project is made up of a consortium of ten partners from 7 European countries, including two technology transfer institutions (Eurecat, Unismart), six industrial companies (IES Ltd and IES R&D, Manni Group, Suntherm, ABUD, Energinvest) and two owners and contractors (ACR and Municipality of 18th District of Budapest).

To expand the information or request interviews you can contact StepUP team through here.