LIFE projects showcase building energy performance at Sustainable Places 2025

A third of global greenhouse gas emissions come from constructing and running the spaces where we live and work. More than 20 innovative LIFE projects joined 440 participants from the design, architecture and construction sectors at the Sustainable Places 2025 conference in Milan, Italy, to share their achievements and their visions for low-carbon, environmentally-friendly buildings.

"Renovating and retrofitting existing buildings to make them smarter and more efficient is key", says LIFE Project Advisor Pierre-Antoine Vernon. LIFE projects are testing different ways to stimulate faster, smarter and deeper renovation by breaking down market and regulatory barriers and helping residents to assess and renovate their own buildings.

OneClickRENO , for example, is piloting digital 'Building Renovation Passports' in Ireland, Spain, the Netherlands, Greece and Italy to diagnose problems and help homeowners decide how to solve them. 'We aim to give citizens something relatable and specific to their buildings and homes, so they can make their decisions about doing these renovations,' Ana Sanchis Huertas, from OneClickRENO told the audience at Sustainable Places. Results from the renovations are then used to help EU policymakers decide what subsidies and grants may be needed in the future, she added.

In the Netherlands, BUILD UP Speed has developed a digital hub to collate different technologies, data and real-world case studies where architects can choose the best solutions for their renovation project. FACILITA will set up one-stop-shops for technical, financial and legal advice for local authorities renovating public buildings in Spain, while iEPB aims to integrate the energy data needed for an Energy Performance Certificate (EPC) with the data required for a Smart Readiness Indicator (SRI). They were joined by other LIFE projects including SRI2MARKET , easy SRI , SmartSquare , EVELIXIA and SmarterEPC which promote SRI uptake across Europe. Many of these projects have formed clusters with other EU-funded projects to boost the use of EPCs and SRIs.

'The discussions and collaboration at Sustainable Places 2025 once again demonstrated how these clusters are turning EU policy into practice,' said Andrei Vladimir Litiu, Executive Director of Energy Performance of Buildings (EPB) Centre and one of the iEPB participants.

The focus on decarbonising district heating and cooling networks gave LIFE projects including SUPPORT DHC , DHC-SwEEtch , ENABLE DHC , GREENHEATLIFE and LOW2HIGH DH an opportunity to promote their work on planning and investment support for district heating network operators.

Together with the other LIFE projects taking part at Sustainable Places 2025, they support the EU's Energy Performance of Buildings Directive and the Renewable Energy Directive.

A highlight video of Sustainable Places 2025 captures the main moments and insights from the event. In parallel, a recording of the recent Smart Readiness Indicator (SRI) 4th joint event can be viewed on the DG Energy YouTube channel.