Ecobuildings: Towards an energy-efficient European building stock beyond national requirements

The building sector is at present responsible for more than 40 % of the EU energy consumption. There are technologies under development, which could substantially improve (up to 30 %) the energy performance of buildings, reducing the conventional energy demand in new and existing buildings and substantially contributing to reduce energy intensity, through combined measures of rational use of energy and integration of renewable energy technologies. The EU 6FP Ecobuildings concept is expected to be the meeting point of short-term development and demonstration in order to support legislative and regulatory measures for energy efficiency and enhanced use of renewable energy solutions within the building sector, which go beyond the Directive on the Energy Performance of Buildings. The projects aim at a new approach for the design, construction and operation of new and/or refurbished buildings, which is based on the best combination of the double approach: to reduce substantially and, if possible, to avoid the demand for heating, cooling and lighting and to supply the necessary heating, cooling and lighting in the most efficient way and based as much as possible on renewable energy sources and polygeneration. The first results of the four Ecobuildings projects BRITA in PuBs, SARA, DEMOHOUSE and ECO-CULTURE are presented in this paper and shall be discussed during the conference presentation. The main focus is on the BRITA in PuBs project with 8 demonstration buildings and additional project results such as retrofit design guidelines, an electronic database on retrofitting knowledge, a quality control toolbox and many more.