Sustainable Technologies And Combined Community Approaches Take Off (STACCATO)

Three European capital cities - Amsterdam, Budapest and Sofia - have joined forces for the Sustainable Technologies And Combined Community Approaches Take Off (STACCATO) project in order to demonstrate sustainable energy concepts in residential areas. The project uses the unique opportunity of complete renovation of residential areas to implement energy efficiency measures and renewable energy sources. The STACCATO project is expected to result in more than 50% energy savings compared to standard renovation projects. Complete and complex renovation will take place in 1000's of apartments in socialist-era blocks of flats in Budapest and Sofia, and in social housing of Amsterdam. The technological and non-technological potentials for renewable energy sources and energy efficiency will be assessed.

As a consequence, the energy performances of the STACCATO areas will be even better than the requirements for new housing projects in the respective countries. The building envelopes will be improved drastically resulting in healthy indoor climates and low energy bills. The heat distribution-based energy infrastructure will be modernized. All three cities will integrate large solar thermal systems in their energy supply. Additionally Amsterdam is introducing heat pumps and seasonal storage. 
 
The redevelopment projects are highly complex and possible barriers are numerous. Therefore, the STACCATO project focuses on early removal of barriers that could unintentionally have been introduced by building owners, residents, project managers and financial constraints. In the non-technical research task, decision making and financial approaches will be developed to guarantee the implementation of energy ambitions. In addition, a wide range of concepts on building measures and infrastructure will be developed. Through training and dissemination programs results will also be available for other large renovation areas.

The users' satisfaction and experience during and after the renovations will be extensively evaluated. Policy recommendations will be drawn at the end of the project.

Key outputs of 3CSEP:

Non-technical (socio-economic) evaluation of energy efficiency improvements in residential buildings in Budapest and Sofia. Amsterdam will be covered by other partners in the project.

A summary of the results of a social survey conducted in Budapest in summer 2009 is available for download.