European building stock data 4.0

Topic description

Specific Challenge:

There is a lack of quality data on the building stock across EU Member States and regions, in particular (but not only) on building energy. Reliable and comprehensive data is needed to enable an accurate understanding of the European building stock’s trends and drivers. This particularly applies to energy-efficiency policies and related measures (e.g. market support mechanisms), which will be more effective if they are tailored based on an evidence-based, data-enabled, assessment of the building stock. For example, the revised Energy Performance of Buildings Directive (EPBD) calls for benchmarking of buildings through Building Automation and Control System. This approach would require extensive sharing of information between buildings. Data information on buildings may also be of use to building users and to the industry developing products and solutions. They may also help to adapt principles of a circular economy in the construction sector. The challenge is to establish and implement an ambitious vision for the future of data collection on buildings in Europe, enabled by a large and lasting community of data providers and stakeholders across Europe, and promoting cutting-edge technologies for data collection and processing.

Proposals should involve relevant stakeholders (national, regional and local authorities, property management companies, technology providers and stakeholder associations from relevant sectors: construction, facility management, real estate) to stimulate and enable a comprehensive and long-lasting community committed to improve, standardise and strengthen data collection on building stocks across the Europe, bringing together potential data providers and, building on technology innovation that can support wide-scale data collection and processing. Such data is useful for different purposes: for policy monitoring and development of new policies (at any level), to provide information to users or as a tool for the industry to develop new products and solutions.

To this end, proposals should develop strategies to encourage/support collection of data on buildings and convergence of data collection practices, within the community and beyond. This concerns but is not limited to the scope of data collection (which data are collected), the form of data (e.g. formatting) and the role that different actors can play in collecting and providing data (local authorities, private landlords, citizens, etc.). Proposals should also support/promote wherever possible wider availability of data (open access to data). Proposals should ensure that the scope of data collection includes, but is not limited to, data on buildings energy performance and related building characteristics (e.g. type and characteristics of building systems, type of insulation and glazing, etc.).

Projects are required to follow the H2020 guidance on ethics and data protection^[1], taking into account digital security, privacy and data protection requirements including the compliance with relevant directives/regulations (e.g. NIS^[2] , eIDAS^[3], GDPR^[4] ) and relevant National Legislation.

Proposals may use the "Building Stock Observatory"^[5] as an example and reference of data collection, monitoring and evaluation of the building stock. Proposals could also clarify how they would support and link to the “Building Stock Observatory” and other relevant initiatives, emphasizing how they could contribute to expanding and strengthening the data feeding of the observatory.

Proposals should also develop and disseminate a vision and roadmap for a more advanced “big data” approach to buildings data collection in Europe (“European building stock data 4.0”). The aim is to propose a roadmap towards a more dynamic and automated collection of data on buildings, eventually leading to a “live” picture of the building stock. In developing and disseminating this vision, proposals will make connections with other relevant initiatives, in particular actions aiming at developing innovative big data applications in buildings. Due to the existence of several initiatives in this area, coordination between actions should be a key element for successful proposals. In particular, proposals should liaise and coordinate with related initiatives supported under LC-SC3-B4E-6-2020 (‘Big data for buildings’) and LC-SC3-B4E-4-2020 (‘Next-generation of Energy Performance Assessment and Certification’), also providing support to communication and dissemination activities.

The Commission considers that proposals requesting a contribution from the EU of between EUR 1.5 and 2 million would allow this specific challenge to be addressed appropriately. Nonetheless, this does not preclude submission and selection of proposals requesting other amounts.

Proposals are expected to demonstrate the impacts listed below, using quantified indicators and targets wherever possible:

• Building a large community for buildings data collection in the EU, ensuring tangible and long-lasting engagement of key stakeholders across all MSs and Associated Countries;
• Increasing/extending/strengthening data sources for buildings data collection in the Europe;
• Improving data feeding to the building stock observatory;
• Increased convergence/standardisation towards high-quality and reliable data collection practices;
• Increased data use by researchers and the general public;
• Simplified data access and sharing;
• Convincing vision and roadmap towards innovative big data approaches for the collection of buildings data in the Europe;
• Coordination with, and support for the communication and dissemination activities of related innovation actions;
• Strengthened links with programmes and initiatives, supported by regional, national and European policies and funds.

Clean Energy

[1]http://ec.europa.eu/research/participants/data/ref/h2020/grants_manual/hi/ethics/h2020_hi_ethics-data-protection_en.pdf

[2]Directive (EU) 2016/1148 of the European Parliament and of the Council of 6 July 2016 concerning measures for a high common level of security of network and information systems across the Union.

[3]Regulation (EU) No 910/2014 of the European Parliament and of the Council of 23 July 2014 on electronic identification and trust services for electronic transactions in the internal market and repealing Directive 1999/93/EC.

[4]Regulation (EU) 2016/679 of the European Parliament and of the Council of 27 April 2016 on the protection of natural persons with regard to the processing of personal data and on the free movement of such data, and repealing Directive 95/46/EC (General Data Protection Regulation).

[5]EU Building Stock Observatory (https://ec.europa.eu/energy/en/eubuildings)