Nearly zero-energy buildings

IMO 2.0 advances cutting-edge fundamental and applied research in the social sciences and contributes to two smart specialisation areas in Estonia: digital solutions across all fields of life and smart, sustainable energy solutions (mobility, building renovation). A comprehensive infrastructure integrating mobility and location data has already been developed and is available via the user portal at imo.ut.ee. To further develop this infrastructure, researchers from the Centres of Excellence in Energy Efficiency and Well-being Sciences will collaborate to elevate their research. To achieve this, IMO 2.0 will: (a) create new functionalities for mobility and location data based on the Centres' needs; (b) develop tools to support building renovation and well-being studies; and (c) seek synergies between the Centres in addressing key scientific and societal challenges related to human-environment interactions in buildings, mobility, public health, and well-being.

The project is strictly focused on producing new knowledge with high reliability potential to improve the durability, performance, and resilience of the renovated buildings. The project will contribute to the new EPBD objective of decarbonized building stock and CPR requirement on sustainable use of natural resources (reuse, durability, envir. friendly materials) so that renovated buildings will be future-proof. It will be achieved by: • identification of the vulnerability of buildings and development of degradation models of building envelopes in typical semi-boreal climatic hazards • development of renovation solutions to ensure the durability and performance of building envelope structures and/or with biobased materials in the renovation of high-energy-efficient/zero emission buildings • evaluation of the durability and heat loss of building envelope structures under conditions of climate change • pursuing cost-effectiveness and emissions reduction • delivering decision support solutions

Research infra aims to consolidate and develop facilities needed for energy efficiency and renewable energy research in close cooperation of units located in Tallinn and Tartu. It will be formed based on Centre of Excellence in Energy Efficiency and cooperation with Estonian University of Life Sciences. It covers main components of energy consumption such as buildings and batteries of electric vehicles, distributed generation of renewable energy, transformation, conversion and distribution of electricity with the aim to develop an optimal energy system with widespread use of renewable energy and energy efficiency improvements. Research infra contributes to achievement of Estonian climate neutrality targets by seeking affordable solutions for energy efficiency, electrification, electricity grid, renewable energy and storage integration and for avoiding useless energy conversion. Research conducted with this infrastructure will help to implement the energy efficiency first principle.

The aim of the project is to find ways to continue using existing buildings and their components, thereby reducing the environmental impact of built environment and the need for virgin raw materials. The project focuses on creating, developing, testing, piloting, and refining a methodology for auditing existing buildings to identify opportunities for extended use, adaptation, or renovation. If this is not feasible, the available elements from donor buildings will be inventoried and their reuse potential analyzed for use to construct next transfer buildings. During the project, a digital platform will be developed to support carring out auditing as well as to manage the entire process — from pre-demolition assessment of buildings to the reuse of components. The platform will enable architects and engineers to see which parts of existing buildings can be used in the construction of new ones. The system will link audit results with a material bank to facilitate the movement of reusable building components between developers and builders. This is an important step towards circular construction, where buildings are considered as material banks rather than one-time-use objects. A significant part of the project is the analysis of and proposals for a regulatory framework enabling circular construction, as well as the development of standards for reusable materials. In addition, existing similar methods and business models will be analysed, on the basis of which a suitable business solution will be created for the commercialisation of the auditing methodology developed within the project.

The Polish, Romanian and Estonian PRE-ActiVer (PREfabricated Active wall system using Verolith®) project is dedicated to developing, constructing and investigating the lightweight wall panel equipped with interconnected PV panels and a heat dissipation system. The ActiVer façade system should be prefabricated, easy to assemble and maintain, with replaceable PV elements and be environmentally friendly. The project aims to develop, optimize, and test a lightweight PV modular element for application on the s building’s external walls. The basis for the module is a rigid board made of mineral perlite granulate, hardened as a result of special thermal treatment. The structure and size of the plate itself allow the development of prefabricated PV light wall system technology. The assumption is that the entire thermal and electrical system will be made within the slab structure and can be installed on any external wall, with the possibility of easy installation, disassembly, and the ability to perform service work. One of the challenges is to create the system in such a way that it can be integrated with the ETICS system or similar without the need to use substructure elements. Additionally, application of a rigid board with structure of hollowed out channels behind the PV will allow heat dissipation or its utilization (based on the assessment of the amount of heat possible to be harvested). The energy produced from building integrated PV systems became popular because of easy integration with internal/building electricity grid, slight use of electric power transmission network and possibly high level of energy self-consumption. Such on-site, PV installations are mainly designed to cover energy requirements for end users where the systems are applied. On the other hand, the existing technologies are mainly based on detached systems (roof or façades) which are based on heavyweight, stiffed and mechanically mounted panels. The ActiVer system's advantage lies in its integration of PV with a passive heat dissipation system, along with its lightweight and fully prefabricated design. The new ActiVer system will be versatile (applicable on different façade systems), entirely prefabricated (based on Sto Verolith® system) and easily serviceable and maintenance (with exchangeable PV panels). Moreover, the system will undergo comprehensive experimental and computational testing covering its physical behaviour (heat and mass transfer), energy performance and management (including heat dissipation), environmental performance (Life Cycle Assessment and Carbon Footprint analyses), and cost-effectiveness (in close cooperation with industrial partner), considering the needs of the stakeholders, effects and potential impacts on the environment and society (RRI analyses). Regarding the experiences from previous projects, the consortium will be able to start the project with TRL4 when the proposed system will be validated on the laboratory scale. After the phase of research investigations, numerical simulations and detailed design the prefabrication technology will be developed and proposed. This phase will allow validating the system in the relevant environment (TRL5). The last phase will be a demonstration in the relevant environment which will lead to the target TRL6. The experimental installation will allow for confirmation of the proper operation of the ActiVer under real conditions during the last year of project execution. The measurements will be continued in the following years after the project ends, to determine the long-term performance of the ActiVer. The project is planned for 36 months and will be executed by partners from 3 universities with the cooperation with the industrial partner. The added values of the cooperation also comes from the local differences between Northern Europe (Estonia), Central Europe (Poland) and South Europe (Romania), which apparent themselves, among others, in climatic differences and construction technologies.