Polish Green Building Symposium

PLGBC Green Building Symposium has become the icon for green progress in Polish property industry, and an energetic platform for ideas, collaboration, partnership and learning. It’s where the principles and passions of the green building community are galvanised, and grow. During the plenary and parallel sessions of this year PLGBC Green Building Symposium edition (5th October 2017, Reduta Banku Polskiego, Warsaw, Poland), we will together discover newest green building trends, overthrow myths regarding

BIM training to enhance energy efficiency of buildings

The Luxembourg Institute of Science and Technology is coordinating BIMEET, a new European project bringing together 9 partners around BIM technology as a key digital support for the energy efficiency of the built environment. On 13 and 14 September 2017, the official launch of the BIMEET "BIM-based EU-wide Standardized Qualification Framework for achieving Energy Efficiency Training" project was held at the Luxembourg Institute of Science and Technology (LIST). Focusing on qualifications and training

The ten best climate-positive business ideas in the UK and Ireland

On 18 September, Climate-KIC UK and Ireland’s Venture Competition 2017 sees start-ups from across the cleantech sector pitch to a panel of expert judges to win a cash prize and a place at the European Venture Competition Finals. Communications & Public Affairs Lead, Gudrun Freese, explores below how Climate-KIC is supporting businesses and what they are doing to propel Europe towards a sustainable future.  Turning good ideas into climate-positive businesses We need to create more climate-positive

VELUX ACTIVE with NETATMO wins Special Jury Mention at Batimat Innovation Awards

VELUX ACTIVE with NETATMO has received a Special Jury Mention at the Batimat Innovation Awards in France. The special mention is for Combination of Expertise, and recognizes the partnership of two innovative companies who are leaders in their respective segments - “daylight and fresh air”, and “smart home industry”. The partnership between VELUX and NETATMO is an example of how innovative companies with different fields of expertise can come together to create products that will define the future

Building Renovation Passports: consumer’s journey to a better home

BPIE looks into how the individual Building Renovation Passport (BRP) can drive deep renovation across Europe.  A Building Renovation Passport is a document – in electronic or paper format – outlining a long-term (up to 15-20 years) step-by-step renovation roadmap to achieve deep renovation for a specific building. It supports owners with personalised advice on their renovation options and clarifies the renovation stages for all involved parties. The revision of the EPBD should embed the concept

Nano-coating to protect buildings against pollution

The organic pollution decomposing properties of titanium dioxide (TiO2) have been known for about half a century. However, practical applications have been few and hard to develop, but now a Greek paint producer claims to have found a solution The photocatalytic properties of anatase, one of the three naturally occurring forms of titanium dioxide, were discovered in Japan in the late 1960s. Under the influence of the UV-radiation in sunlight, it can decompose organic pollutants such as bacteria,

The “how-to” guide on renovating shopping centres launched by CommONEnergy during a high-level event in Brussels

The CommONEnergy project, funded by the FP7 programme, developed new strategies and solutions to retrofit existing shopping centres to reduce consumptions, increase energy efficiency and comfort. The project, coming soon to an end, presented its landmark publication, Guidelines on how to approach the energy-efficient renovation of shopping centresand awarded innovative shopping centres during a full day event in Brussels. A shopping centre is a building, or a complex of buildings, designed and built

EmBuild template for public sector renovation strategies. A guide for public authorities

This guidance and template aims to be a useful tool to support public authorities in developing renovation strategies, with a particular focus on the renovation of public buildings. Such strategies should encourage renovation of all buildings, but as a minimum renovation of the buildings owned by public authorities, which have a key role to play in stimulating the market energy efficiency improvements in the entire building stock. For small and medium sized municipalities, the renovation of public

RESTORE Training School

The first RESTORE Training School that will take place in Lancaster, UK between 14th and 17th November 2017. The call is still open! If you apply right now, you still could participate in multiple introduction seminars, action learning, team and individual presentations, study tours, and much more. The Training School will focus on Restorative Sustainability, Biophilia, and Sustainability Education. In four days trainees will gain a deep understanding of Restorative Sustainability and learn from

Furbish extracts the Office-DNA for better workspaces

Among the start-ups supported by BTA, Furbish focuses on next generation workspaces. Ulrike Rahe and Holger Wallbaum, founders of Furbish tell more about their philosophy, their approach and the future of office buildings. What is wrong with office buildings today? Ulrike Rahe: Generally speaking, you can’t say that office buildings are full of mistakes, that would be false. But our Studies show that in a bad office environment, employees are often uninspired and prone to sickness. This has to do