Latest Deliverables & Publications

This consolidated report presents the work coordinated by CSTB (project coordinators) in Task 1.6
“Definition and development of the overall EPC RECAST methodology”. This task consisted in
describing the overall journey for the EPC RECAST approach. The objective was to ensure an overall
technical coordination for the developments conducted in WP1 (“Methodology and protocol
definition”) but also WP2 (“Technical development and integration”), with WP1 focusing more on the
definition of protocols and methodologies and WP2 on their digital implementation.

The project developed a comprehensive toolkit integrating various technological components to
streamline the EPC process. These tools, such as the BIMEO Geometrical Scan and the Renovation
Roadmap, were tested across all or some of the 80 pilot buildings. The results highlighted the potential
of these tools to enhance data accuracy and process efficiency, although further refinements are
necessary.
The EPC RECAST project represents a significant advancement in the field of building energy
performance assessment. While the next-generation EPC tools have shown promise in improving data
accuracy and user engagement, ongoing refinements and further research are required to fully realize
their potential in supporting Europe’s energy transition. The project’s findings will inform future
developments in EPC methodologies, aiming to make them more reliable and effective in driving
energy efficiency across the EU’s building stock

This policy recommendation report is based on the work carried out by the EPC RECAST Consortium
under CSTB’s coordination (project coordinators) in Task 5.3 “Provision of recommendations for an
EU-wide framework for the next generation EPC”. It contributes to “paving the way” for an EU-wide
deployment of next-generation EPCs.

Work in WP5 focused on policy involvement and the EU-wide deployment of EPC RECAST results. The
aim of Task 5.2 was to evaluate the compliance of the next generation EPC with EU standards,
monitoring and analysing the technical and demonstration activities of the project to ensure a
technology-neutral approach and transparent presentation of results using International and
European standards, particularly ISO/CEN standards developed under Commission mandate M/480 to
CEN, CENELEC, and ETSI.
The EPC RECAST methodology was continually monitored during the methodology and protocol
development in WP1, the technical work in WP2, and implementation in pilot buildings in WP3.
The revision of the EPBD was followed and commented on throughout the project, adapting the EPC
RECAST work as much as possible to the final version. The revised EPBD aims to enhance the quality,
reliability, and comparability of EPCs, which the EPC RECAST project supports. However, with the new
EPBD recast and a step towards more harmonized indicators, some default options in EPB standards
need revision.

This task sets up a Policy Advisory Board (PAB) that will be involved at key milestones of the project in order to gather constructive feedback and guidance for the technical activities conducted in EPC RECAST.

The board is formed by experts from key decision-making public and local authorities involved in the definition and implementation of EPC national and/or regional legislation (e. g. governmental organisations, national or regional energy agencies, accreditation bodies, etc.) in particular from each pilot country (France, Germany, Spain, Italy, Luxembourg and Slovenia) where an EPC RECAST demonstration is conducted.

Deliverable D5.4 provides the minutes of the 3rd PAB workshop held in Brussels on May 24th, 2024.
The major aim of this meeting was to present results and to gather constructive feedback and guidance for the activities conducted in the EPC RECAST project.

The energy performance certificate is a key policy instrument of Directive on the Energy Performance
of Buildings, which has been substantially amended several times in order to increase its ambition
level and quality.
Following the European Green Deal, the Renovation Wave strategy contains an action plan with
concrete regulatory, financing and enabling measures, with the objective to at least double the annual
energy renovation rate of buildings by 2030 and to foster deep renovations.
The Energy Performance of Buildings Directive recast (EU/2024/1275) [3] strengthens the role of
Energy Performance Certificates and aims to increase their reliability, quality and comparability. It also
introduces a Renovation Passport as a voluntary document that provides a clear roadmap for staged
deep renovations, helping owners and investors plan the staged renovation.
Deliverable D1.11 is a consolidated report from Task 1.5 at the end of the project specifying the EPC
template for residential buildings, including description of key performance indicators, rating scale,
additional indicators as IAQ, SRI, costs, use of metered energy and integrating the renovation
roadmap. There is a strong link with other tasks in WP1, especially with Task 1.1, Task 1.4 and Task 2.4
and also with feedback loop from testing phase in WP3 and consultation with PAB and SMG members
in WP5.

The EPC RECAST project is focused on developing a transparent, common, and explicit data model
(i.e., input data to be collected for EPC assessments and calculations) which will support the
characterization of existing buildings and dwellings during on-site inspections by professional certifiers
and improve the comparability between Energy Performance Certificates.
These Energy Performance Certification (EPC) schemes have stood in the past as one of the most
important sources of knowledge on the energy performance (EP) of the European building stock.
However, there are still several barriers to overcome towards a widely supported and successful
implementation of the EPCs as effective tools to support the revised EPBD [1].
By involving end-users in multiple steps throughout design phase of the next generation EPCs, the
project aims to provide an easier understanding of the energy performance results and contextspecific
renovation roadmaps, introducing a next generation of user-centred EPCs to value buildings
in a holistic and cost-effective manner.
This deliverable describes part of the activities of the WP2, titled “Technical development and
integration”, in which, according to the Grant Agreement (GA), existing and proven technology
components are going to be combined with the well-structured methodologies and protocols deriving
from WP1 activities, based on the three phases of the EPC RECAST certification, which are as follows:
• building information capture and model input collection;
• energy performance evaluation based on real-world and reliable energy model;
• delivery of user-friendly EPC UCIs and renovation roadmap.

D2.7 outlines the development and functionality of two software interfaces within the EPC RECAST project,
aimed at enhancing energy performance assessments and proposing retrofit solutions for buildings. Spanning
from September 2020 to Jun 2024, the project focused especially on creating tools for efficient EPC.
Online Assessor Interface: The interface, accessible via the KROQI platform, facilitates energy performance
calculations and simulation setups. It allows direct import of on-site data via BIMEO technology, enabling
quick parameter completion and subsequent energy consumption simulations. The tool supports efficient
navigation through project data categories, enhancing ease of data entry and editing. Simulation results,
detailing energy consumption by source and end-use, are generated and stored in CSV format for further
analysis.

To make the EPCs more reliable, particular attention must be paid to the reliability of the data that
allow the evaluation of the key performance indicators.
These building characterisation data concern the intrinsic characteristics of the various envelope
components and HVAC systems, they are qualified and quantified mainly during the on-site inspection
of the building and according to some information and documents that can be obtained and consulted
before the visit.
For existing buildings, assessors are faced with the crucial problem of the difficulty of collecting
reliable data without having to resort to extensive, long, and costly investigations.
Indeed, the assessor only has a short time for the building inspection, so it is essential that he can rely
on a structured protocol that allows a reliable of data and information to be collected.
From these observations, some objectives of tasks 1.1, 1.2 and 1.3 of the EPC RECAST project arise: to
define a European and harmonized protocol in the form of a "Data Model" for the description of the
building. Develop and integrate enrichment and verification methods into this protocol and link this
protocol to existing technical components, all to facilitate and make the data collected more reliable.
We focus here on the intrinsic characterization of the building and its HVAC systems, the weather data
and data related to the building use, are rather defined in a conventional and standard way within the
framework of the EPCs.
Considering the process “

D1.5 (Data acquisition protocol for the geometry and semantics within the onsite visit - Consolidated)

is part of Work Package 1 (Methodology and protocol definition), specifically Task 1.2 (Capturing the
building geometry and semantics). This task aims at defining the data acquisition technique as part of
an EPC visit.
This task connects image capture and processing technologies, combined with semantic enrichment,
in order to fulfill an appropriate DM – Data Model (see T1.1) in the context of EPC.
In this deliverable we provide a process for acquiring the DM using innovative 3D and AR (Augmented
Reality) technology to capture volumes and plans and enrich the data with pictorial (photo) and
structured (Technical) information at individual housing scale. The process of 3D scanning by drone is
also introduced to provide geometric and thermographic information at building scale.According to
the grant agreement, we can identify two separate actions to be carried out as part of this task:
➢ Provide a tool for capturing geometric data
➢ Enrich the metric acquisition with additional information provided by the auditor during his
visit. This information will make it possible to qualify information from other generics (air
quality, temperature level recorded ...) or descriptive information (semantic information to
objects, state, performance ...)

The European Green Deal aims to make Europe climate neutral by 2050, with a 55% reduction in
greenhouse gas emissions by 2030. Improving energy efficiency in buildings is crucial to achieving this
goal, and Energy Performance Certificates (EPCs) play a key role in this process.
Despite their importance, current EPCs have limitations and deficiencies, including a lack of reliability.
The EPC RECAST project seeks to improve EPCs by addressing these issues. Particularly, the work
presented in current report, corresponding to Task 1.4, aims to enhance EPC reliability by exploiting
measured energy data and energy performance modelling. The ultimate goal is to provide tools to
support EPC assessors in mitigating the gap between predicted and measured energy performance,
thereby improving EPC reliability.
Present document is divided into six chapters to describe the outputs of Task 1.4, including a first
chapter to framing the work, a second chapter dedicated to review current approaches to energy
performance assessments, a third chapter covering an analysis of potential sources of energy-related
measured data, two chapters to describe proposed protocols to improve energy performance
assessment reliability, specially, Chapter 4 that sets out a methodology for calibrating energy models
and Chapter 5 that depicts an improved methodology for assessing operational energy performance.
Finally, the conclusions are gathered in Chapter 6.

The EPC RECAST project has developed software tools to assist assessors and create the next
generation of Energy Performance Certificates (EPCs). These tools are integrated into a single platform
for efficient intercommunication and user-friendly interface. The integration relies on the KROQI
platform, a collaborative web platform designed for the construction sector, supporting document
management and third-party applications. The platform enables smooth data exchange and
collaboration, and an interface allows assessors to manage EPC RECASTXML files easily, run simulation
and generate RoadMap.
The KROQI platform was developed by CSTB in response to French public authorities' demand to help
small entities in the construction sector with digital transition. It began in 2016, and by 2018, it had
around 15,000 registered users and 4,900 workspaces. KROQI is designed to provide document
management, collaborative services, and core services like BIM model checking. It supports a wide
range of stakeholders in managing and sharing technical documentation, collaborating on BIM
models, and using innovative tools.

As stated in the Grant Agreement under Task 6.1: “… the consortium shall furthermore exploit EPC
RECAST social media accounts (and those of partners) for ensuring better coverage of the periodical
newsletter (3 issues per year) and acquiring new subscribers while being compliant with GDPR
requirements.”
The aim of having 3 issues per year is to provide the latest updates towards the EPC RECAST
stakeholders on the many activities with a more continuous promotion strategy of the newsletters, as
more regular issues allow for a better and more regular promotion. The project has many activities
planned with a variety of KER which are of interest towards the different intended audiences described
in the Dissemination and Communication Plan in D6.1, which ensures that every newsletter can have
quality content.

The following document describes the development process of the EPC RECAST website, both the initial
Minimum Viable Product (MVP) website (https://epcrecast.wordpress.com/) as the launch of the full CMS
(Content Management System) website (https://epc-recast.eu/). The MVP website was launched in M5
(January 2021) to act as the temporary interface for crucial information on the project for stakeholders and
the wider public, while the website provider had the opportunity to both fully integrate the visual identity
package (D6.09) and deliver a high-quality website with all the needed functionalities and requirements. The
full CMS website (https://epc-recast.eu/) was launched in M9 (May 2021) which will allow the consortium
to further leverage future communication and dissemination activities, as well as provide a place for
stakeholders to access capacity-building materials and expert Energy Performance Certification insights
throughout the implementation of the project and in its afterlife.
Since M4 (December 2020) the project has also setup social media accounts on Twitter, LinkedIn and
Facebook through which it has been communicating to and enlarging its stakeholder community.

D6.9 ‘EPC RECAST visual identity package’ presents the process, timing and the content for implementing the activities related to EPC RECAST’s visual identity package organized and conducted by REHVA with the involvement of all EPC RECAST team members and their contribution as needed. D6.9 is connected to Task 6.1 ‘Communication’ and represents the prerequisite/foundation for all other actions to be performed under the scope of T6.1 and moreover the overall WP6 and EPC RECAST’s implementation detailed in the workplan.
N.B. At the moment of preparing this deliverable (SyGMa uploadable shell) not all the items of the visual identity package are finalised, neither are the social media accounts and website. As such the deliverable template used for the submission of D6.9 is in a preliminary format and not the final version.