MEZeroE (Measuring Envelope products and systems contributing to next generation of healthy nearly Zero Energy Building) is a Research Project funded by the European Commission within H2020 program, with the aim of introducing an open innovation ecosystem for the development of ground-based solutions focused on carbon neutrality and a healthy indoor environment. MEZeroE will focus on developing nearly zero-energy buildings (nZEB) enabler envelope technology solutions, transferring know-how, pairing testing needs with existing facilities, providing monitoring in living labs, and standardising cutting-edge solutions coming from SMEs and larger industries.
According to economic forecasts, the construction industry is expected to reach approximately EUR 10.5 trillion by 2023 with a compound annual growth rate of 4.2%, due to both increasing urbanization and population growth.
However, knowing about and accessing construction services, technologies and products in one place can be a critical factor.
In order to respond to the difficulties caused by a particularly fragmented and articulated building market, the MZeroE project has selected a Europe-wide ecosystem for the development, experimentation and enhancement of bio-based, smart and person-centered building envelope solutions.
The project coordinator is the EURACH RESEARCH applied research center and the partners involved have been grouped into four categories:
- research and technological development (RTD): research centers, universities and laboratories, with important infrastructures and excellent knowledge of the market and of the needs for performance analysis and certification;
- industry (IND): small, medium and large enterprises;
- measurement and verification (M&V): dynamic companies, able to share a common data platform with a single application programming interface; – Nuvap
- business (BIZ): small and medium-sized enterprises able to develop and exploit the open innovation platform promoted by MEZeroE.
MEZeroE wants to support companies in adopting an open innovation approach by developing solutions that are both validated thanks to recognized protocols and advanced assessment methods and focused on carbon neutrality and a healthy indoor environment.
Innovative, reliable and tested technologies as well as consolidated services and skills will therefore implement a multi-directional virtual marketplace; a market-place able to facilitate the meeting between supply and demand:
- promoting a culture of sustainable products among end users;
- bridging the gap between research and products on the market;
- fueling the trust and commitment of designers and investors.
As part of the project, indoor air quality was considered among the key issues to be addressed to ensure people’s health, internal comfort and long-term energy demand.
Nuvap’s air quality monitoring solution, consisting of a multi-tenant cloud platform and multi-sensor device, will undergo an in-depth analysis. Within MultiLab (environments without people) and “Living Laboratories” (occupied environments) the level of concentration of pollutants will be discriminate with respect to time (season, month, etc. ..) and occupants (POE – Post Occupancy Evaluation), as well as evaluated comfort from a thermal, acoustic and visual point of view.