The European project StepUP comes to and end: Isopan among the partners in developing innovative technologies for building decarbonization

The European project StepUP, funded by the European Community from 2019 to 2024, aimed to develop a new methodology for deep renovation, a set of digital tools, and a range of technologies for easy and quick positioning, connection, and use (Plug & Play) to transform the energy renovation market and drive the decarbonization of existing buildings.

The project, titled "Solutions and Technologies for the Uptake of Deep Energy Renovation Processes," aimed to "make building decarbonization a reliable, attractive, and sustainable investment, also reducing installation times and minimizing the disruptions usually caused to building occupants by energy retrofits," says Amisha Panchal, StepUP coordinator at IES. This is of utmost importance in the European Union, where deep renovation is a key action to drastically reduce energy demand and realize the EU's vision of a decarbonized building stock by 2050.

The StepUP project consisted of a consortium of ten partners from six European countries, including two technology transfer institutes (Eurecat, UniSMART), six industrial companies, and two property owners and contractors (ACR and the Municipality of the 18th District of Budapest).

Over these five years, Isopan has actively participated in the project as a partner company, engaging in numerous activities such as developing Plug & Play modules using the off-site approach, creating and installing two mock-ups at its facilities, refurbishing a nursery in Budapest, creating an additional pilot project at the University of Pamplona in collaboration with the Isopan Ibèrica facility, obtaining patents on developed technologies, and publishing scientific articles.

The project team co-created a methodology that provides guidance for project managers and other stakeholders in a deep renovation process, leveraging the advantages of industrialized energy renovation measures and a data-driven approach in design and monitoring to guide renovation projects.

In this regard, two energy retrofit technologies were developed, including a modular façade system and a solution enabling flexible energy consumption. In the first case, the façade system uses pre-assembled modular panels integrating windows, shutters, and photovoltaic panels, as well as spaces for new building conditioning systems. In the second case, a thermal battery was used to store and utilize energy for cooling or heating, monitored and optimized through StepUP data tools. This innovation allows generating energy when it is most economical or efficient, storing it, and using it when production is less efficient.

The project also focused on digital solutions to improve building rehabilitation and energy performance, including data intelligence solutions to make concrete decisions during the design phase. Additionally, within the project, solutions were developed to monitor building performance post-renovation, as well as new financing models to optimize energy, comfort, and cost performance throughout the building's life.

The technological innovations of the StepUP project were tested on three building types, including public buildings, private offices, and research and development facilities.

In Budapest, Hungary, the deep energy renovation of a public nursery included installing the Plug & Play building façade, heating interventions, roof insulation, photovoltaic panel installation, and modification of the heat distribution system.

In a multifunctional building for testing research and development technologies at the University of Navarra, the façade system was installed along with third-party components, including windows and photovoltaic panels. A cooling system was also tested at another location in Pamplona, Spain. The impact of both technologies was evaluated on the digital twin of a multi-owner condominium in Pamplona to correlate the impact of Plug & Play solutions in residential homes.

Furthermore, the pilot project in Glasgow, Scotland, tested the development of a gradual energy renovation plan for an office building and modeled the potential of a co-investment approach for deep renovation improvements. The virtual pilot activities were aligned with real pilot tests for the data collection and design phase.