Construye 2020+ participates in the webinar on ‘EU-driven solutions enabling energy efficiency in buildings’
Today, the results of the two projects belonging to the Horizon 2020 programme, Construye 2020+ and Go Safe ESI, and the Construction Blueprint initiative of the European Commission’s Erasmus+ programme, were presented. The event was organised by the Horizon Results Booster service and was attended by more than 60 people.
The European Commission’s DG Research and Innovation selected, in October 2019, the Construye 2020+ project for Support Services for Exploitation of Research Results (SSERR), which included the support of Horizon Results Booster services from the Horizon 2020 programme, in order to maximise the impact of funded research projects.
Within this framework, the results of Construye 2020+ were presented today, as well as those of another Horizon 2020 project, Go Safe ESI, and a third project, Construction Blueprint, of the European Commission’s Erasmus+ programme, invited by Construye 2020+. Fundación Laboral de la Construcción is the leading entity of these two initiatives.
The webinar «EU-driven solutions enabling energy efficiency in buildings», which was attended by more than 60 professionals from different European countries, highlighted the necessary skills and knowledge that professionals in the construction sector must have in order to implement energy efficiency in buildings.
The European Union (EU) faces the challenge of achieving a climate-neutral continent by 2050, for which it has set strict targets on emission reductions, renewable energy production and energy efficiency. In this way, the EU aims to meet the demand for green and energy-efficient buildings, for which new professional skills and ways of building confidence in future energy savings are needed to mobilise investment.
Pursuing the ‘European Green Deal’
Zoe Wildiers, Senior Project Advisor at the European Climate, Infrastructure and Environment Executive Agency (CINEA) of the European Commission, was in charge of welcoming the seminar and highlighted the contributions of this agency to achieve the objectives of the European Green Deal, among them:
- The implementation of a new line that will support the objectives of the Pact. In this sense, work is being done on a roadmap to make the EU economy sustainable.
- The efficient use of resources by moving to a clean circular economy, restoring biodiversity, reducing pollution and achieving climate neutrality by 2050.
- The CINEA Agency will become the EU’s focal point for green and infrastructure projects.
The other speakers presented the progress of the three European projects on the way to achieving the European ‘green’ objectives.
Training as a driving force to boost energy efficiency in construction
Esther Rodríguez, Construye 2020+ coordinator and International Projects technician at Fundación Laboral de la Construcción, presented the training and accreditation plan on green skills developed by the project partners. She also used her intervention to share the good practices learned during the implementation of the project and how they have managed to adapt to the situation arising from Covid-19, in order to meet the objectives of the initiative.
Despite the health crisis, Construye 2020+ had more than 200 collaborators who participated in discussion groups, workshops or as validators of the results; and more than 800 people who attended the dissemination events in which the benefits of energy efficiency were promoted among SMEs or the Public Administration. As Rodríguez defended: “From the consortium we are happy with these figures and we believe that this is due to three factors: the national scope of the project, the participatory methodology of using the Quintuple Helix and the alignment of the project and the partners”.
Livia Miethke, Energy BASE consultant and Go Safe ESI coordinator, highlighted the usefulness of the project’s results, as it proposes “smart solutions to secure energy efficiency investments”. In her speech, Miethke presented the objectives of the European project, among which she highlighted: the evaluation of the market, sectors and priority technologies; the development of the elements included in the ESI model; the development of capacities, the improvement of communication and the promotion of the project’s values; and, finally, the implementation of pilot projects that incorporate the solutions developed by the consortium.
Finally, Silvia Santos, Construction Blueprint coordinator and senior technician of International Projects at Fundación Laboral de la Construcción, presented the results and objectives of the project: “To develop specific and innovative instruments to address skills shortages and shortages, and to match skills supply and demand, as well as the improvement of professional occupations in terms of ‘green’ and digital skills”.
The speeches were followed by a Q&A session in which the speakers took the opportunity to emphasise the importance of receiving quality and up-to-date training that responds to the emerging challenges of the construction industry; without it, professionals will not be able to construct energy-efficient buildings.