The META-BUILD project, funded by the EU’s Horizon programme, will equip the buildings in Austria, Croatia, France, Greece, Italy and Spain with heat pumps, photovoltaic-thermal (PVT) systems and second-life batteries.

Six buildings in different European countries and climates will be electrified and retrofitted with heat pumps as part of a new EU-funded project.

Six buildings in different European countries and climates will be electrified and retrofitted with heat pumps as part of a new EU-funded project. Image Credit: EHPA

The project will use the latest technology to optimise efficiency: 3D models of the buildings will be generated and monitored through AI to track performance.

Once validated, this model will be replicated in seven additional pilot projects in Bulgaria, France, Germany, Greece, Latvia, Poland and Spain. The aim is to ensure the replicability of the solutions and to accelerate the adoption of these technologies in the wider market.

After that, blueprints and policy recommendations are then drawn up in order to translate the project’s findings into actionable policies that can effectively promote decarbonisation in the building sector.

Alexios Lekidis, Project Manager of META-BUILD commented: “Decarbonisation is a global initiative aiming to reduce greenhouse gas emissions as well as to mitigate climate change and transition to a sustainable, low-carbon economy. As part of the European Green Deal, the European Commission has devised a strategy to reach climate neutrality by 2050 and reduce emissions by at least 55% by 2030. A crucial part of this strategy relates to buildings as a third of the reduction needs to come from them. META-BUILD, as a pillar project for the Commission strategy, aims to showcase concrete technologies and solutions as heat pumps, PVTs, second-life batteries as well as building digitalisation and intelligence through smart energy management systems in multiple pilot projects spanning across 10 European countries. “

The EU-funded META-BUILD project successfully kicked off in Athens on 30/31 January 2024, marking the beginning of an ambitious four-year journey. The partners actively engaged in dynamic discussions, laying a solid foundation for the implementation of the META-BUILD objectives.

META-BUILD, which stands for ‘Powering the METAmorphosis of BUILDings towards a decarbonised and sustainable energy system’, is a project funded by Horizon Europe under the call HORIZON-CL5-2023-D4-01 (GA 101138373). This includes the integration of heat pumps with photovoltaic-thermal (PVT) systems and second-life batteries, using digital twin models and intelligent algorithms to optimise the efficiency and performance of the proposed solutions.

This strategic approach will ensure not only the future replicability of the solutions but also accelerate the adoption of those technologies in the broader market. By doing so, META-BUILD is expected to play a pivotal role in shaping the future landscape of sustainable and energy-efficient building practices across Europe.

Source: EHPA