Project driving future-proof energy renovations announced as finalist in 2024 European Sustainable Energy Awards

The buildings in which we live and work are key to battling against climate change: 75% of European building stock is inefficient, accounting for about 40% of EU energy consumption and 36% of CO₂ emissions by energy. Now, a team of experts is supporting efficient renovation projects throughout Europe and working to raise awareness of its approach.

‘If you do it, do it right,’ insists Jan Steiger, coordinator of the outPHit project. ‘This is the most crucial way to go when renovating buildings in order to avoid lock-in effects caused by shallow retrofits.’

outPHit received a €2.56 million grant under the EU’s Horizon 2020 framework programme. It is led by the Passive House Institute and brings together partners from Germany, Spain, France, Greece, Bulgaria, the Netherlands, and Austria.

The project promotes the retrofitting of buildings through 25 case studies, real refurbishments supported by outPHit partners: ‘We aim to show results in real buildings, delivering solutions for energy efficiency using the EnerPHit Standard, a proven way to tackle inefficient building stock and make our buildings climate proof,’ says Jan.

All the renovations follow the Passive House approach for retrofits, pairing prefabrication and streamlined processes with the rigour of the EnerPHit Standard for renovations according to Passive House principles. These require alignment with five key criteria on heating energy demand, cooling energy demand, renewable primary energy demand, airtightness, and thermal comfort.

The aim is to reduce CO₂ emissions, but also to tackle energy poverty, improve comfort and air quality, and make buildings more resilient to damage and mould.

The execution and the results are closely monitored and documented, and disseminated through conferences, training modules, workshops and media.

‘You have to apply future-proof quality any time you replace building components or renovate. If the European building stock is not renovated with the best energy efficiency standard currently available, the transition of the building sector to climate neutrality will not happen,’ Jan warns.

The beneficiaries are above all the people who live in the buildings, like the tenants of a 1970s social housing block in Teruel in Spain, whose energy consumption was so high they could not afford to pay the bills. Renovations include fully insulating the building, and installing ventilation systems with heat recovery in each apartment. The energy balance calculation shows energy consumption falling from 406 kWh per square metre to 42.0 kWh after renovation.

The team also highlights more challenging projects, such as a 3 000 m² listed office building in Madrid. Consortium partner VAND arquitectura is working to optimise the energy performance of this historical building, which dates back to 1903.

‘We are looking forward to applying what we have learned at outPHit in other emblematic rehabilitations, and … being able to industrialise these solutions,’ says Anne Vogt from VAND arquitectura.

The results already speak for themselves: so far, 4 of the 25 projects have resulted in around 0.66 GWh/year of primary energy savings, and over 5 000 tonnes of CO₂ already saved – the equivalent of almost a thousand homes’ electricity use for one year.

Jan insists on the importance of proper renovations: ‘Maximum energy efficiency prevents measures from becoming obsolete after a few years and the sooner the more energy is saved, the better!’

The outPHit project is one of three finalists shortlisted for the European Sustainable Energy Awards 2024 in the Innovation category. The award recognises outstanding ongoing or recently completed EU-funded projects that show an original and innovative path towards the clean energy transition. The other finalists in this category are the Airborne Wind Energy project in Norway, and the pan-European PHOTORAMA project.

The Airborne Wind Energy project uses kites to harness stronger winds at high altitudes. Photorama is a project working to improve the recycling of photovoltaic panels.

EUSEW Awards ​celebrate Europe’s best clean energy projects and leaders 

The ​ European Sustainable Energy Awards ​ (EUSEW Awards) recognise outstanding individuals and projects for their innovation and efforts in energy efficiency and renewables. The nine finalists have been selected by a high-level jury in three categories: Innovation, Local Energy Action, and Woman in Energy. The finalists will be submitted to an online public vote, which is open now until 2 June, and the winners will be announced during the EUSEW Awards Ceremony in June 2024. ​ 

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EUSEW 2024 

European Sustainable Energy Week (EUSEW), the​ biggest annual event dedicated to renewables and efficient energy use in Europe, takes place on 11-13 June under the theme ‘Net-zero energy solutions for a competitive Europe’. The event will bring together public authorities, private companies, NGOs and consumers to promote initiatives accelerating decarbonisation through green technologies and solutions towards a fair and just transition for people and competitive businesses.

Registrations for onsite attendance in Brussels and online participation are now open. 

For interview requests with the EUSEW Awards finalists or additional media information, please contact ​ mediaeusew [dot] eu (media[at]eusew[dot]eu)