The basic idea is to embed the waste from building demolition (fragmented bricks, fragmented plaster or concrete, fragmented glasses, machined wood from windows frame or from wood beams after demolition etc.) in a geopolymer matrix to produce prefabricated panels for different use. The main objective of InnoWEE is in fact the development of an optimized reuse of Construction and Demolition Waste (CDW) materials producing high add value prefabricated insulating and radiating panels to be used in energy efficient buildings. The proposal is based on: 1) Recovery, selection and disassembling of CDW that will be characterized and eventually treated to yield suitable raw materials to be used for production of prefabricated components. 2) Development of new high performance prefabricated insulating geopolymeric panels for building walls envelopes and radiating panels for indoor wall and ceilings with low environmental impact, low embodied energy, low CO2 emissions, high thermal performance. Panels will be fabricated recycling cement, bricks, mortars, glass and wood reaching at least 30% of CDW. 3) To install the panels in demo sites characterized by different climate to evaluate their performance in terms of reducing energy use and minimizing environmental impacts. 4) To use an integrated design process and a holistic approach for the whole life cycle of the materials and components and produce a material that is cost effective, competitive, robust, reliable and low maintenance. 5) To create practical and sustainable building solutions that are easy to integrate into building designs, easy to install, take in consideration the needs of the stakeholders that strongly influence the market, and have been tested to meet all the current standards.

Surefit will demonstrate fast-track renovation of existing domestic buildings by integrating innovative, cost-effective, and environmentally conscious prefabricated technologies. This is to reach target of near zero energy through reducing heat losses through building envelope, and energy consumption by heating, cooling, ventilation and lighting, while increasing the share of renewable energy in buildings. This will be achieved through a systematic approach involving key stakeholders (building owners/users, manufacturers, product/services developers) in space heating, cooling, domestic hot water, lighting and power generation, as well as a demonstration phase in 5 representative buildings in different European climates. The technologies will include bio-aerogel panels integrated with phase change materials, photovoltaic (PV) vacuum glazing windows, roof and window heat recovery devices, solar assisted heat pumps/ground source heat pumps, evaporative coolers, integrated solar thermal/PV systems and lighting devices. These will be prefabricated for rapid retrofit with minimal disruption to occupants, ensuring high levels of occupant comfort/indoor environmental quality as well as low risk of moisture-related problems/summer overheating. The work programme will involve optimal sizing and prefabrication of technologies tailored to building design/requirements; retrofitting/monitoring buildings in different climates with support of advanced building energy management systems; analysing indoor environment quality, energy use, user behaviour/acceptance of the solutions; developing methodology, guidelines/effective operational tools for rapid retrofitting and decision-making; and developing business model involving all relevant actors including, public authorities/investors/users and holistic integration of disciplines across the value chain. These outcomes will be delivered by a consortium comprising leading companies, research/public institutions from European countries.

Growing demand for high quality iron ores and scrap as well as abandonment of carbon intensive sintering in the future require novel technological approaches for upgrading of low-grade iron ores and recycling of mill scale. TransZeroWaste will apply hydrometallurgy for mill scale de-oiling and use this iron-rich scrap equivalent to upgrade low-grade iron ores. For that, TransZeroWaste will develop low carbon technologies such as cold pelletising and briquetting, hot microwave pelletising, and magnet-supported hydrometallurgy from TRL 6 to TRL 8. The developed technologies will be transferable to further material flows such as dusts and sludges. On European level, the expected impact will be the potential upgrade of over 18 million t/a low-grade iron ore, up to 6 million t/a mill scale and 3 million t/a pellet sieving residue. Total impact of TransZeroWaste will include upgrading of 27 million t/a materials with low carbon technologies and avoiding of corresponding sinter plant carbon footprint of 4,3 – 9,9 MtCO2/a. Technological competences and know-how are owned by the participating partners from the applied research. They will be developed and transferred to the two industrial partners with 9 production sites. Thoroughly planned dissemination and exploitation activities will ensure effective implementation of technologies after project end. Life cycle assessment and economic evaluation will be performed; sustainable business models will be developed. Furthermore, a decision support platform for industrial users will be installed. In combination with workshops and trainings it will help to find and implement the best upgrading technology for various low-grade materials considering environmental and economic aspects. TransZeroWaste will serve as a vehicle for the transition of the European steel industry to the carbon free zero waste future.

POWERSKIN+ will develop and scale-up eco-innovative, cost-effective and smart material solutions to renovate existing facade systems of both double skin and advanced integrated curtain walls. It will smart integrate unprecedented highly innovative insulations and renewable energy technologies, with breakthrough features based on nano-formulated VIP, PCM, flexible thin glass perovskite solar cells and multi-functional nano-enabled coatings. Comprehensive POWERSKIN+ portfolio comprising off-site prefabricated modular “ready-to-buy” and ‘easy-to-install’ glazing and opaque elements, sustainable eco-designed connecting framings and a dedicated large capacity electric building storage system will be processed up to the final commercializable end products. Powerskin+ system will be validated in non-residential buildings in three different environmental, economic, logistic and social scenarios, namely Portugal, Slovenia and Czech Republic, with environmental sustainability and benefits proving through LCA and LCCA approaches. The market uptake of POWERSKIN+ will be facilitated by optimal compatibility without additional structural modification. It will benefit from: lightweight transparent (TM) and opaque modules (OM) (12% and >8% for OM and TM respectively; 15% improvement in energy storage capacity), aiming to be recognized as an affordable high standard retrofit solution (installation cost and time reduce 50% and 74% respectively).