PRESS RELEASE: At the moment many (nearly) zero energy buildings (nZEBs) face a surplus in investment costs in relation to regular buildings. The barrier may be lifted by making the nZEB more affordable for developers, construction partners and clients. This will lead to faster implementation of the European directive on energy efficiency of buildings.
How do you make ambitions reality in an affordable way? The answer is the AZEB roadmap which can be used by all stakeholders to develop affordable energy neutral buildings.
New science is not involved; AZEB is based on existing and proven knowledge. Eight organisations from six European countries have partnered in the project.
The AZEB methodology organizes the sometimes overwhelming amount of existing solutions for affordable nZEBs and intends to facilitate both decision makers and experts in their projects.
Each of the 27 steps in the methodology represents a set of important and unique activities and/or decisions which help to create affordable nZEBs. They are organized within the four main project phases: initiative, design, construction and use & maintenance.
Most steps are interrelated and dependant of each other. The offered solutions are not only technical, but also originate in other fields of knowledge such as finance, contracting and process management.
Make the client journey together
The essence of the AZEB approach is: involve all professionals from all project phases from the initiation phase on. This leads to an integrated process with a multidisciplinary team.
Only by making the client journey together an affordable nZEB will become reality. The ins and outs of each step, with suggestions for tools and methods to be applied, can be found in the AZEB website.
The first version is now available in English.
Existing knowledge, new method
From 2020 the challenge throughout the EU is to build with high energy standards in an affordable way.
With this perspective the EU project AZEB (Affordable Zero Energy Buildings) started in 2017 to develop an integrated methodology for cost reduction of nearly zero energy buildings.
Existing knowledge (technical and non-technical) in Europe has been brought together in one new method. New science is not involved. AZEB can be used in various European cultures and climate zones.
Approach for an affordable nZEB
Some steps may already be familiar from regular projects. However, the way the AZEB methodology proposes to take these steps, is often different from how we are used to develop and build.
The method follows the regular steps and activities of a building project, but the approach for an affordable nZEB is different.
Horizon 2020 program
AZEB has received funding from the European Union’s Horizon 2020 research and innovation programme under grant agreement number 754174.
With AZEB an amount of nearly 2 million euro is involved. AZEB ends mid 2020.