About the Project

The European building sector is at this moment not able to offer an integral solution for deep renovation toward nearly Zero Energy Building (nZEB) for reasonable costs. The building process is typically based on a ‘layered’ structure, with many labour actions on the buildings site, with many sub disciplines involved, leading to extra costs and failure risks. The social and environmental urgency of large-scale integrated retrofitting of the European building stock is widely acknowledged and supported by Member states. However, the European building sector has not been able yet to devise a structural, large-scale retrofitting process and systematic approach. The main reasons for this deadlock are:

• The European building sector is fragmented and not able to offer holistic, integral solutions for nZEB deep renovation toward nearly Zero Energy Building (nZEB) for reasonable costs and good quality;
• The European building process is typically based on a ‘layered’ structure, with many labour actions on the buildings site, with many sub disciplines involved, leading to extra costs and failure risks;
• The European building market is typically top down and supply driven, with a mismatch between the offered products and the end-users needs and the end-user’s affordability;

Due to long-lasting renovation process and failures risks during that process, customers hesitate to renovate their property; sometimes high operating cost are more acceptable for owners-residences than deep renovation with low exploitation/ energy costs; a faster and quality guaranteed renovation solution is needed.

Yet there is a challenge to overcome these barriers by applying prefabricated multifunctional renovation elements which have the potential to reduce costs, reduce the renovation time and disturbance for occupants and, at the same time, enhance quality and performances (both in terms of energy efficiency as indoor climate). The challenge of the MORE-CONNECT project is to make this major step forwards by a combination of product innovation, process innovation and innovative market approach, in a process of cost and quality optimization, driven by motivated and innovation-driven SME’s.

MORE-CONNECT tries to solve before mentioned problems by developing prefabricated, multifunctional renovation elements for the total building envelope (façade and roof) and installation/building services. These elements can be combined, selected and configured by the end-user, based on his specific needs.

This information can be used as input into advanced Building Information Modelling systems to control and steer the further production process of these elements. In this way unique series of one can be made in a mass production process for the same reduced price of mass production.

Geo-cluster concept illustrates trans-national areas where strong similarities are found in terms of climate, culture,
construction typologies and other factors. Five geo-clusters are represented in project MORE-CONNECT: