Many thanks go to ifeu for welcoming and hosting H2020 iBRoad2EPC project partners Sympraxis, BPIE, ifeu, TU WIEN, INZEB, BPAC, EnEffect, ADENE, KAPE, URBAN INCERC, GBCe and Ciclica, as well as the CINEA Project Advisor Piotr Wais, in their exemplary office building in Heidelberg during 27 & 28 September 2023! Our special thanks for their hospitality and a site visit go also to Collegium Academicum, an inspiring initiative of a self-managed house, education and culture centre community built on the site of a former US hospital!

Two days during which iBRoad2EPC consortium partners re-enforced bonds while reviewing the work, developments, stakeholders’ feedback and national plans for the testing and roll out of iBRoad2EPC in Bulgaria, Greece, Poland, Portugal, Romania and Spain.

iBRoad2EPC has developed a tool that integrates the long-term renovation roadmap and new indicators into existing Energy Performance Certificates (EPCs) in the 6 pilot countries.

The renovation roadmap consists of a series of renovation recommendations provided in a specific sequence and timeframe, including notes for the avoidance of lock-in effects. It includes future legal regulations and obligations resulting from European or national legislation, e.g., ban on fossil fuel boilers and national implementation of minimum energy performance standards (MEPS) as foreseen in the current draft of the Energy Performance of Buildings Directive (EPBD), etc. The compilation of the said renovation advice and interlinkages, in the form of country specific databases, is a major accomplishment of the iBRoad2EPC project.

Combined with the addition of new indicators (indoor environment, smart readiness, etc.) into the established national EPC schemes, iBRoad2EPC is aligned with the policy discussions and targets and promotes deep energy renovation of the European building stock while supporting additional benefits to the building owners/tenants, such as comfort, access to finance, alleviating energy poverty, etc.

The main question revisited during the meeting, following liaison with the National Advisory Committees, was “Where to best position iBRoad2EPC in the national market between the Energy Performance Certificate and the Building Renovation Passport?”

After a demo of the tool, results of the training of energy experts were presented and plans for the upcoming field testing in real buildings were concretisised.

Upcoming work includes real life testing, training of construction professionals and policy makers and making iBRoad2EPC an indispensable part of the whole contextual national framework by forging links with EPC calculation software and registries, digital building logbooks, one-stop-shops, and integration with current training, financing, and other schemes.