Low-disturbance prefabrication approaches for deep renovation of multi-storey buildings

Expected outcome

Project results are expected to contribute to all of the following expected outcomes: Measurable reduction in the costs of deep renovation compared to current best practices; Measurable increase in resource and energy efficiency compared to current best practices; Measurable reduction in the number of days when occupants are disturbed due to renovation works; Measurable reduction of dust, noise, waste and pollutant and greenhouse emissions on the construction site compared to current best practices.

Scope

Meeting Europe’s ambition for the renovation of the housing stock requires innovative approaches that improve buildings’ energy performance and occupants’ satisfaction, at a reduced cost while speeding up the renovation process and minimising impact on the construction site and disturbance for occupants. Renovation approaches should cover the whole workflow from design, off-site manufacturing and on-site installation to strategies for maintenance, operation and end of life. Proposals are expected to address all of the following: Demonstrate cost-effective approaches (comprising design, planning and construction processes and techniques) for deep renovation to at least NZEB performance levels of multi-storey buildings (> 5-storeys); Ensure that the approaches make use of prefabricated solutions that are adaptable and can be seamlessly integrated into a variety of existing building elements and features (e.g. various existing wall materials, presence of balconies and overhangs, existing piping in the way, etc.); Ensure that the approaches minimise the disturbance for building owners, tenants and users, notably through a significant time reduction of on-site construction activities and of unavailability of the building and its main functionalities, and a minimal impact on occupancy comfort during the renovation; Demonstrate the proposed approaches tailored to three multi-storey buildings (> 5-storeys), each in a different Member States or Associated Countries and covering different building categories (residential or non-residential). This topic implements the co-programmed European Partnership on ‘People-centric sustainable built environment’ (Built4People). As such, projects resulting from this topic will be expected to contribute to the objectives of Built4People, transfer knowledge to its network of innovation clusters [1] and report on results in support of the monitoring of the Built4People KPIs.

What this means for cities and regions

Low-disturbance prefabricated approaches for deep renovation of multi-storey buildings — addressing the practical challenge that renovating occupied buildings is hard. Useful for social-housing managers, large multi-apartment landlords, public-building owners and municipalities running building renovation programmes. Project budget €28 million; close 15 September 2026.