Innovation and Competitiveness
To develop the competitiveness and innovation in méditerrannéens buildings, four major actions will be undertaken:
3.1 - Promote and support local and renewable materials
3.2 - Enforce the use of LCA models and green public procurement
3.3 - Integrate energy services supply
3.4 - New research initiatives
Elles seront testées et évaluées dans les expérimentations du projet MARIE.
For more informations on the experimentations, please go to "Success stories"
Measure 3.1 - Promote and support local and renewable materials
Description and objective:
To define and implement a program to promote and support local and renewable buildings' materials for energy renovation thus strengthening and facilitating to local enterprises the investment in R+D.
Tools / Méthods:
- Development and test of local raw materials based building products to afterwards promote and support its use.
- Development of a database of renewable and local buildings’ materials in order to facilitate their identification and their environmental benefits. This database will also allow getting in contact materials and products’ manufacturers and energy efficiency suppliers (promoters, engineers, architects, consultants, etc) and will imply a larger use of these materials in ERB in Med Regions. The development of this database will take into account or be a part of those already existing prestigious and consistent life cycle inventory databases like Ecoinvent in Switzerland or the European Life Cycle Database (ELCD).
Ongoing activities and outputs:
Strategic Measure 3.1 first will be available in APP in December 2013
Strategic Measure 3.1 final document will be available in APP in June 2014
Measure 3.2 - Enforce the use of LCA models and green public procurement
Description and objectives:
Define and implement a regulatory framework enforcing the use sustainable products (both for private and public sector).
Introduce or improve green requirements in public purchase and procurement in order to take into account the environmental performance of building refurbishment actions but without forgetting the social and economical performance related to these activities.
The concept of life cycle sustainability assessment (LCSA) encompass all three pillars of sustainability:
LCSA = LCA (environmental) + LCC (economical) + SLCA (social)
An (Environmental) life cycle assessment (LCA) looks at potential impacts to the environment as a result of the extraction of resources, transportation, production, use, recycling and discarding of products; life cycle costing (LCC) is used to assess the cost implications of this life cycle; and social life cycle assessment (SLCA) examines the social consequences (job creation, welfare benefits, etc.).
The combination of LCA, LCC and SLCA provides a more integrated tool for sustainability assessment of products/services.
LCC surpasses the purely economic cost calculation by taking into account the use-and end-of-life phases and hidden costs.
Tools / Méthods:
- Promotion of the use of ecolabelled products (type I - third party program- and/or type III -environmental product declarations-) with tax incentives
- Development of a common policy in MED area addressed to increase the number of environmental product declarations for the building sector.
- Development of a common system of environmental product declarations for the MED Area
- Evaluation of the most common methodologies for LCSA:
- Development of a database of ecolabelled, renewable and local buildings’ products in order to facilitate their identification and their environmental benefits.
- Development of a LCSA software, possibly in open source format;
- Development of a regulatory framework proposal adapted to each region in order to enforce the use of LCSA models in green public procurement and purchase.
- Define green public procurement models adapted to each region
- Update and/or development of new catalogue of prices for Regional public tenders in the building sector
- Introduction of LCC system in public tenders procedures
Ongoing activities and outputs:
Regional support strategy to increase quality and innovation of their technological products (Dec 2012 – Dec 2013)
Strategic Measure 3.2 first will be available in APP in December 2013
Strategic Measure 3.2 final document will be available in APP in June 2014
Measure 3.3 - Integrate energy services supply
Description :
The situation of services companies towards the energy renovation market and existing support measures shows that a lot of SMEs lack the know-how and skills — either technical or more general (management, team-building…) — necessary for addressing the EE renovation market which implies coordinated work between different professions. The future rise of energy prices and the evolving regulations about EE renovation will at the same time bring new opportunities and new threats on this market for which SMEs also have natural assets and strengths.
The information gathered generally show that :
- a lot of problems are socioeconomic and behavioural rather than technical or technological either on the demand side or the supply side ;
- because it is an emerging and promising market, and even though its awakening is still to be witnessed, a lot of initiatives aiming at preparing and supporting building SMEs have been identified. But, even large wealthy companies or other institutional bodies with high budget for action, meet difficulties to mobilize the building SMEs ;
- the emerging EE renovation market leads to emerging new professions and leads to the need for some drastic evolutions in existing professions.
The measure here consists in refining and implementing a program to promote the integrated supply of energy efficiency services in buildings.
Objectives :
To define and implement a program to develop and promote the integrated supply of energy efficiency services in buildings with the following objectives:
- Facilitate to the users a global access to energy efficiency measures in buildings by matching demand with integrated and efficient supply.
- Boost collaboration between SMEs energy services providers allowing to widen their market and boost the demand.
- Improve the competitiveness of enterprises dealing with energy refurbishment of buildings.
Tools / Methods :
- Development of a web-based tool for matching demand and integrated energy service providers.
- Development of a challenge and best experiences exchange between energy service providers with the aim of coordinating the integrated supply of energy efficient services in buildings and identifying the needs for support (output of the pilot action 3.3).
- Design and development of the action program related to this measure.
Ongoing activities and outputs :
This measure is currently being tested in PACA Region and, more specifically, in Pays dignois and Frejus town. The experimentation 3.3 test and implement a business service pack for local SMEs including marketing tools, better rates on sustainable materials supply (Nov 2012 – Nov 2013). More informations
The proposal will be a description of the global scheme to set up at different levels (MED, regional, local) and the guidance recommendations to optimize the results on development of SMEs and renovation market
Measure 3.4 - New research initiatives
Description :
The objective of this measure is to promote Research & Development initiatives related to the building sector (new technologies, materials, smart and eco-efficient solutions and services in buildings) in order to help local SMEs in the EU-MED area to be competitive in the market.
Objectives :
- To help local SMEs in the EU-MED area to be competitive in the market.
- To boost collaboration between SMEs related to R+D within the building sector in terms of identification of funding mechanisms, research and training.
- To ensure that the R&D contributions made by a region are spread all over the MED area.
- To ensure that the cutting edge technologies in the building sector all over the world are known in the MED region.
Tools / Méthods :
- Development of an ICT based System for R&D Promotion Programme
- Organization of an annual seminar meeting to present main R+D contributions and development of an annual overview of new contributions on R+D on energy efficiency in the building sector in the MED area.
- Development of specific guidelines of R&D on energy efficiency in the building sector
- Establishment of a collaboration framework with universities and research centres related to promote the R&D on energy efficiency in the building sector (design of a specific student exchange program to promote mobility between the countries of the region )
Outputs :
