Organisations and projects in sustainability
Overview of companies, organisations and projects offering advice, information and cooperation in the field of sustainability in architecture and construction
Overview of companies, organisations and projects offering advice, information and cooperation in the field of sustainability in architecture and construction
The LIFE WASTE2BUILD project aims to develop new circular construction and public works streams, and to prevent at source construction and public works waste based on local resources, by using the levers of public ordering and refurbishment policies. The project will set up an innovative system to optimise resources and recover waste from the local construction and public works sector. LIFE WASTE2BUILD will be based on the EU Construction and Demolition Waste Processing Protocol. A key target of the project is reducing the impact of construction and public works on resource consumption and waste production by 35% on the territory of Toulouse Metropole.
BuiltHub seeks to develop a roadmap to enhance the data needed to decide on building-related policy and business for involved stakeholders. It seeks to positively disrupt policy and market decision making through a community-enhanced evidence base. BuiltHub collects aggregated data on building stock performance and engages stakeholders to determine their needs and get their feedback on the offered products and services.
The Circular Cities Declaration is a commitment document from cities and regions to use the levers at our disposal coherently across the organisation to transition from a linear to a circular economy.
EASI ZERo aims to develop and validate an easy-to-install global building envelope system for efficient energy renovation with a near zero energy balance and CO2 emissions and using bio-sourced and recyced materials to minimize the carbon-footprint (wood, used wood pieces, grown mycelium or recycled construction waste). Simulations on real use-cases are intended to demonstrate the capacity of the EASI ZERo solution to rise the thermal performance of buildings by 20 %.
Demo-BLog aims to bring together and further develop Digital Buildings Logbooks (DBLs) - common digital data repositories capturing, integrating and storing building data from across the construction market value chain - in Europe. Demo-BLog aims to demonstrate capturing, integrating and storing building data, as well as converting this data into actionable information for relevant stakeholders across the construction market value chain. It will also further develop four functionalities in terms of automation, digital and ICT tools, APIs and software application demonstrating their implementation in five front-runner digital building logbooks.
EPBD.wise provides direct support to local authorities in six European countries (Bulgaria, Greece, Hungary, Poland, Romania and Ukraine) to design and implement the revised Energy Performance of Buildings Directive (EPBD). The project will: support authorities in the design, implementation and evaluation of new or strengthened measures in the EPBD revision, including the new zero-emission building standard, national building renovation plans, renovation passports, energy performance certificates, and minimum energy performance standards across Europe; build a replicable model to support the widespread implementation of these measures across Europe; develop guidelines on how to design new policies and instruments, measure their effectiveness (monitoring, reporting and policy evaluation) and adjust to EU and national needs and objectives.
The ARISE project aims to support the digital and green transitions in Europe by developing a scalable platform for training and upskilling workers in construction. It focuses on areas like energy efficiency, digitalization, and sustainability.
RECONSTRUCT aims to develop circular, eco-friendly, and innovative solutions to reduce emissions from the construction industry by sourcing local alternatives to conventional steel and cement, applying reclaimed components and implementing design for disassembly and reuse.
The BUSLeague project promotes upskilling and training in the construction sector to meet the EU's green transition goals. It focuses on enhancing workers' skills in energy efficiency and sustainable building practices.
ADAPT4CE focuses on sustainable deconstruction and material reuse through advanced digital technologies such as artificial intelligence, machine learning, augmented reality, additive manufacturing (AM), blockchain, and the Internet of Things. A primary goal is to create expert systems for precise material characterization, to improve traceability with RFID technology, and to establish localized material banks for effective resource reuse.
The SURF project aims to stimulate deep and sustainable building renovation at the municipal level and beyond, focusing on employees working in the municipal building management. It brings together 2 to 4 forerunner municipalities in transnational workshops with municipalities from Germany, Hungary, and Romania to learn from their experiences, best practices, and successful concepts. The project conducts a circular building training series and provides a practical guideline for green public procurement, a sustainability checklist for renovations as well as fact sheets and materials on an online platform.
The REINCARNATE project aims to develop innovative solutions for the construction industry by promoting circularity. It includes the development of an information system that allows evaluating a building’s circular potential — the Reincarnate Circular Potential Information Model (CP-IM). The CP-IM will allow to store and capture all required data to understand the potential to extend the lifetime of a building, its building components, and materials, and to find optimal reuse possibilities for each of its elements. It will also enable to trace construction products and materials across different buildings, waste management steps, and construction sites.
OUR-CEE aims to identify the reasons behind underperforming renovations of public buildings in Central and Eastern Europe and build capacity in relevant public institutions, both for upgrading these renovations and for avoiding these issues in the future.
The overall goal of the RE4-Project is to promote new technological solutions for the design and development of structural and non-structural pre-fabricated elements with high degree of recycled materials and reused structures from partial or total demolition of buildings. The developed technology will aim at energy efficient new construction and refurbishment, thus minimizing environmental impacts. The RE4-Project targets the demonstration of suitable design concepts and building elements produced from CDW in an industrial environment, considering perspective issues for the market uptake of the developed solutions.
The LIFE LEVEL(S) project aims to mainstream sustainable building practices by implementing the European framework Level(s), which focuses on assessing and reporting the sustainability performance of buildings throughout their lifecycle.
The CircularB Action aims to develop a common international framework of a circularity rating tool with Key Performance Indicators (KPIs) based on current best practices of CE construction, state-of-the-art and the European Circular Economy Action Plan (ECEAP).
The MOBICCON-PRO project aims to demonstrate the potential of mobile, circular construction in achieving sustainability goals. It focuses on promoting innovative methods and technologies to boost the reuse of materials and reduce the environmental footprint in the construction industry.
The project aims at system strengthening of supply chain in the Czech construction industry in terms of carbon footprint management and increasing energy efficiency concentrated on low carbon economy transition through a systematic harmonisation of actors´ approaches in accordance with the national and EU climate legislation. This will be developed with use of international best practice, taxonomies applied, standards, norms and methodologies.
The CCRI is a collaboration and support scheme of the European Commission, launched by the Directorate-General for Research and Innovation as part of the European Circular Economy Action Plan 2020. The CCRI aims to support Europe’s green transition by boosting circularity at local and regional levels.
The project aimed to bridge the implementation gap between theory, practice and policy and showcase how circular construction approaches can be scaled and replicated across Europe, to support the creation of regenerative cities.
The main goal of the international project ClimArchiNet is to raise architects' awareness of the significant impact buildings have on CO2 emissions. The aim of the project is to support the transformation of the construction industry towards green economy standards, in line with the requirements of the European Green Deal.
The target is to support residential building´s exceptional construction performance at all three hierarchical levels of construction parts simultaneously (building, component, material) by creating an amplified environmental impact and reducing additionally VOC emissions. BIO4EEB will apply non-hazardous bio-based material as e.g. Posidonia and various bio-based foams to develop and to proof the marketability of smart components for external and internal use as material application, pre-fab panels or windows.
Reduction of embodied emissions is crucial for achieving sustainable and low-carbon building practices. GreeNest creates an ecosystem that integrates CO2 neutral building materials (reused, recycled and locally sourced biogenic materials) and renewable energy sources (abiotic components) into the building design, together with human response and natural/green systems (biotic components) to demonstrate resource efficient construction that needs less materials and implements energy-efficient circular construction practices.
FaceINQ addresses the need for innovation in the design and operation of naturally ventilated buildings with complex glass façade systems, which are now a common feature in large-scale non-residential buildings. FaceINQ’s innovative approach utilises advanced computational models validated with measured data and qualitative feedback from building occupants to consider not only the building energy consumption, but also the impact of indoor environment on building occupants, and the impact of occupants’ behaviour on the operation of façade systems. Through an interdisciplinary and intersectoral approach (i) combining architecture, engineering, building physics, health and social science, (ii) utilising a ‘living laboratory’ to collect extensive data, and (iii) enabling non-academic short visits and a placement to enhance the transfer of knowledge between industry and academia; this novel research will provide a paradigm shift in the design, assessment and operation of naturally ventilated buildings.
The CIRC-BOOST project will establish five diverse pilot projects across Europe, advanced by a digital building platform – a robust data chain across these pilots. The pilot projects aim to facilitate the development of urban material databanks and digital twins, thereby promoting improved practices in demolition, recycling, and more. Additionally, these initiatives will assist in the introduction of innovative solutions and construction value chain enhancements. The consortium will work towards ensuring their successful implementation and expansion through training activities, and collaborations with regional partners and sister projects.
This project aims to pioneer circular solutions for sustainable wood construction. This will reduce Europe’s reliance on non-renewable resources, lowering greenhouse gas emissions, and minimising waste. WOODCIRCLES seeks to revolutionise construction, making it eco-friendlier and more efficient. For instance, with an ‘urban sawmill’ and digital twins, WOODCIRCLES will usher in a new era of eco-conscious construction, benefitting both the environment and the economy.
The project focuses on two main challenges: a transformation of central places in cities that make it easy for their inhabitants to implement sustainable lifestyles and at the same time to (re)animate centres in a more circular way. The goal is to change the architecture of consumption and promote new, sustainable consumption behaviour. Educational, inspirational, and exchange formats will be introduced to municipalities, regions, providers of alternative consumption, citizen associations and policymakers. Business models for re-use centres in partners cites will be tested and the results will offer know-how to city officials to set up strategic framework for the support of circular consumption.
The overall focus of Circular DigiBuild is boosting the uptake of emerging technologies in circular economy implementation in the construction and buildings industry in the Danube region to sustainably harness the twin transition for a greener future. It will accomplish this by forging new pathways to commonly enhance digitalization-led circular economy innovations identification, piloting and transfer in construction and buildings industry and related policies in Danube region, ensuring stable pre-conditions to shifting the focus to a more sustainable territorial development.
The ReBuilt project promotes adoption of circular and digital practices in construction in an education programme and deploys new solutions. The project partners are also designing a transnational circular and digital construction strategy that builds on green labelling, end-of-waste criteria, and green public procurement.
The ARV project aims to demonstrate and validate attractive, resilient, and affordable solutions that significantly speed-up deep energy renovations in four different climatic zones in Europe and deployment of energy and climate measures in the construction and energy industries.Since the project works towards the implementation of climate-positive circular communities in Europe, focusing on net zero-emission buildings and neighbourhoods, ARV will provide guidelines and a policy framework for future energy-efficient, circular, and digital solutions in the construction industry.
CAMEB brings together partners with the competences to find better uses of resources in construction. Based on life cycle optimisation, its overall objective is to able to design better buildings using the principles of knowledge and circular economy. To do this, the project applied modern technologies from the fields of digitisation, optimisation, modelling and efficient process management. One of the objectives of CAMEB was to develop direct collaboration between universities and companies on the basis of contract research, i.e. without state support.
The INDICATE initiative brings together governments, industry and academia to tackle one of the most common barriers to implementing strategies to ensure climate-neutral construction: the lack of reliable and comprehensive data on building emissions. INDICATE aims to accelerate policy development across Europe by providing key building data to help set carbon footprint limits that cover the impact of the entire life cycle of buildings, from production and construction to deconstruction and waste treatment - so-called "Whole Life Carbon (WLC)".
The main objectives of the project are: * Contribute to climate change mitigation and security of supply in the construction sector by strengthening circular construction in the Czech Republic, Poland and Slovenia, using best practices from Germany. * Increase the representation of circular construction principles in public procurement, encourage key players in the construction industry to use secondary materials and finally increase the scale and volume of collection of materials for reuse and recycling, for example through regional material inventories. * Implement CE practices in public procurement processes. * Raise awareness amongst practitioners and stakeholders through the Recycling Academy course and disseminate CE principles and examples of good practice amongst university students by piloting a semester course.
The goal of the DoubleDecker project is, within the framework of the Build Up Skills (BUS) initiative, to create a strategic basis for the transformation of the construction industry in the Czech Republic and Slovakia. Another goal is to achieve support for the measures proposed in the Roadmaps by relevant organizations in the Czech Republic and Slovakia. The purpose is , in addition to the transformation of the construction industry in energy efficiency (doubling the pace of renovations, increasing support for the share of complex renovations) and increasing the share of renewable resources, also support for the implementation of technical progress in industry, the application of new education methods and the introduction of digitization.
CraftEdu develops innovative qualification and training schemes for craftsmen and on-site workers in the field of energy efficiency and use of renewable energy sources in buildings. CraftEdu supports the EU policies for introduction of nearly zero-energy buildings and deep energy building renovation within a vision for a decarbonized building stock in 2050. It aims at improving the quality of building construction, creating new training programmes for craft professions and development of e-learning programmes.
"National Roundtables for the Implementation of Smart Financing of Smart Buildings Initiative in Slovakia and the Czech Republic" - This project established roundtables for the implementation of the Smart Financing of Smart Buildings Initiative in the Czech Republic and Slovakia. The output of the project was roadmaps and action plans of stakeholders for the development of the three pillars of the initiative dedicated to residential and non-residential buildings, industrial buildings and smart urban infrastructure.
Masaryk University coordinates the collaboration of 24, public universities on interconnected projects. These projects focus on activities that fulfill the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). The aim is to enhance the sustainable functioning of universities and contribute to societal change through education, research, and inter-institutional cooperation. The projects support the integration of sustainable development principles into university life and create a platform for sharing best practices among the participating universities.
The RESICITIES is a project funded by the Erasmus+ programme that involves top universities from the Czech Republic, Norway, Portugal, and France. The project aims to provide multidisciplinary education to postgraduate students and academic staff on smart, sustainable, and collaborative cities. The project also includes events to promote the educational resources created.
The main goal of RECONMATIC is to test, validate and integrate innovative solutions and tools for C&D waste management within the whole life-cycle of buildings and infrastructure, in order to address the challenge for a zero waste construction industry in Europe and a low energy consuming sector. This will be achieved by developing automated tools and digitalised processes and decision-making, in order to mitigate and reduce waste, and to foster higher added value reuse of C&D waste materials.
FISSAC is a project aimed at promoting coordination and facilitating work in the construction and demolition value chain. It seeks to bring together various stakeholders to support the development and adoption of a common methodology and software platform for sharing information and best practices.
It was an innovative two-year project, aimed at helping European countries design and implement strong, long-term national strategies for the renovation of their existing buildings. It guided a critical mass of key stakeholders across 13 countries through a structured process, working as a powerful collaborative community. The project went from informing through discussing to engaging and partnering.
Supports European cities in transforming into Sustainable energy Positive & zero cARbon CommunitieS by creating citizen-centric ecosystems that are equipped to bring about meaningful change. One of the cities in the project is Kladno in Czechia. The goal is to share the knowledge to trigger development of energy positive districts in Czechia.
The main task of the integrated project LIFE COALA is to successfully implement the objectives of the “Adaptation Strategy of the Moravian-Silesian Region to the Impacts of Climate Change”. The project responds to the fact that climate change is still seen as a rather marginal issue at the regional level, and there is a lack of mutual transfer of information and experience, while practical examples of already implemented adaptation measures are little known or not presented at all. The platform helps to share know-how and best practices.
The overall aim of BUS-GoCircular is to address and overcome the challenges of the stimulation of demand for green energy skilled workforce, along with hands-on capacity building to increase the number of skilled workforce across the value chain. BUS-GoCircular will achieve this objective by developing and implementing a circular construction skills qualification framework with a focus on multifunctional green roofs, façades and interior elements.
The one-stop shop is a comprehensive service that aims primarily at motivating the owners towards comprehensive renovations of their properties. It offers a combination of technical support and tailor-made financing.
The project identified the most common barriers to the implementation of adaptation measures to the effects of climate change in big cities (for example, insufficient familiarity of city employees with the topic of climate change and the need to respond to its effects by changing the approach to quality of investments), created software tools that facilitate the preparation of investment projects in public space, and created a list of policy recommendations in the area of urban investment policy.
The EU Cities Mission aims to deliver 100 climate-neutral and smart cities by 2030 and to ensure that these cities act as experimentation and innovation hubs to enable all European cities to follow suit by 2050.Currently there is only 1 Czech city (Liberec) participating in the programme. By spreading information on the platform, the project will inspire more cities to join the programme.
A European platform that provides information and resources to support adaptation to climate change, enhancing resilience across sectors.
This initiative co-funded by the European Union supports many innovative projects including architecture and construction. Rethink Architecture Database is one of the supported projects.The project will monitor and publish relevant innovative projects to spread know-how.
The Covenant of Mayors for Climate & Energy Europe brings together thousands of local governments voluntarily committed to implementing EU climate and energy objectives. Currently there are 176 Czech cities and villages who signed the Covenant. By spreading information on the platform, the project will inspire more cities to join the initiative.
The mission of New European Bauhaus initiative is to build places that are beautiful, sustainable, and inclusive.
Lectures and seminarsConsultationsPublicationsCase-studiesOrganisationsAbout ClimArchiBaseProject OutputsThe platform is being developed within the LIFE ClimArchiBase project, which involves four Czech non-profit organisations working on the sustainability of buildings and cities.
Centrum pasivního domu
Rethink Architecture
Nadace Partnerství
Česká rada pro šetrné budovy