
The UPGREAT [Upskilling Professionals for deep energy efficiency REnovations: A Tool for better schools]project, which is coordinated by the National and Kapodistrian University of Athens, In cooperation with the Hellenic Passive House Institute, the Cyprus Energy Agency, and the German Da-Di-Werk, was conceived to improve the readiness of Cyprus and Greece for energy efficient deep renovation of school buildings, through the development and implementation of a Total Training Toolkit, targeting building professionals involved in all phases of building renovation processes, minimizing in this way the performance gap.
The project will last 27 months (October 2021 - December 2023), and is part of the European Climate Initiative (EUKI), of the Federal Ministry of Economic Affairs and Climate Action, of the Federal Government of Germany.
BACKGROUND
Given that the building sector is responsible for more than a third of the total greenhouse gas emissions, and 40% of the global energy consumption, deep renovation has become mandatory across the European Union, in order to achieve high energy efficiency and low carbon emissions until 2050. This applies for both, public and private buildings, including school buildings, which are in the foreground of the EU’s ‘Renovation Wave’, since they are places of high social interest, carrying an important message to the society.
The renovation of school buildings, however, entails a multi-parameter approach, which results in more complex procedures. Renovating school buildings needs to address a wide range of technical, seasonal, comfort, health, social, and circularity aspects, which requires high levels of experience and training; At the same time, the delayed implementation of EE standards and the lack of consultancy and monitoring of legislation implementation in countries such as Cyprus and Greece, impede this process even more. Therefore, construction sector professionals, building experts and related organizations, are confronted with the urgent need to upskill their workforce.
EXPECTED OUTCOMES
The toolkit to be applied in school building case studies in the countries of implementation, together with the valuable contribution of the partners from Germany, who have made great progress in school renovation and have already ten years of experience in this sector, is expected to facilitate and upgrade deep renovation practices, providing an added value to building efficiency and circularity processes in municipal/regional level. Through its lifetime, the project will create the necessary conditions for the minimization of the performance gap between design and construction, by avoiding deficiencies caused by shortcomings, which will lead to more deep renovation projects, implemented more efficiently, and contributing to the implementation of the national and the European energy and climate policies.
COMMUNICATION CHANNELS
NEWS & UPDATES
- UPGREAT FLYER_EN
- UPGREAT FLYER_GR
- UPGREAT in a picture
- UPGREAT Article: Upgrading professionals' skills for deep renovations
- UPGREAT Article: Renovation following the Passive House Concept
- UPGREAT Article: Identifying the gaps and barriers in deep energy renovation of school buildings through UPGREAT
- UPGREAT Article: Finding the Gaps in Deep Energy Renovations: Preliminary results from UPGREAT's technical survey presented on the 5th icESS, Bucharest
- Scientific Paper: Identification of Gaps and Barriers in Building Renovations through a Targeted Survey to Professionals of the Built Environment to Upgrade the Quality of Building Stock and Mitigate Climate Change
- Press Release: Energetische Sanierung und Bau von Schulen in Darmstadt-Dieburg europaweit beispielhaft Schulung von Fachleuten aus der Baubranche für die umfassende energetische Sanierung von Schoolgebäuden in Griechenland und Zypern
- UPGREAT Article: Identifying the gaps and barriers in deep energy renovation of school buildings through UPGREAT
- Research on gaps and obstacles in the application of energy efficiency methods of buildings:
- UPGREAT Newsletter_Volume 1_EN
- UPGREAT Newsletter_Volume 1_GR
- UPGREAT Article: Aspects affecting the performance gap in energy renovations of public school buildings
- UPGREAT Newsletter_Volume 2_EN
- UPGREAT Newsletter_Volume 2_GR
This project is part of the European Climate Initiative (EUKI) of the German Federal Ministry for Economic Affairs and Climate Action (BMWK).

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