Welcome to PROF/TRAC’s fifth newsletter with essentials on nZEB training
This is a bi-annual newsletter with updated news on Nearly Zero Energy Buildings (nZEB) from around Europe in the framework of the Horizon 2020 project PROF/TRAC. The project will finish at the end of February with a conference in Brussels on 20 February.
What is PROF/TRAC?
PROF/TRAC is a 3-year EU funded project with 15 partners from eight EU countries, which started in March 2015. The PROF/TRAC team develops a European training and qualification scheme for technical experts, architects, engineers and building managers involved in nZEB design, construction and maintenance.
Visit www.proftrac.eu for more information and watch our training sessions on nZEB as webinars online on YouTube.
If you are a training provider and you would like to join our CPD scheme - please contact us.
Invitation to the Final PROF/TRAC Conference in Brussels on 20 February 2018: European Multi-level Skills offensive – The key to assuring public support for the Energy Transition
In its Blueprint for Sectorial Cooperation on skills, the EU identifies construction as a sector with high awareness of the importance of skills with focus areas including energy efficiency and digitisation. EU Funding and financing are key instruments to achieve the energy transition in the buildings sector. The offer of job creation and better quality of life in our homes, cities and neighbourhoods will be central in gaining political support for the transition. This one-day conference, organised by project partner Housing Europe, will give vital pointers and concrete examples on how these EU instruments can help ensure this vital public support for the energy transition.
The PROF/TRAC team have identified the skills gap among NZEB professionals and are addressing this gap with courses and dissemination of material. This final PROF/TRAC conference, to be held in Brussels on February 20th, will broaden the perspective to address awareness, skills and confidence gaps along the construction supply chain, within our administrations and amongst our citizens, which continue to slow the demand and speed of renovation roll-out across the region. We will also consider the EU strategy to address this gap with a focus on European Structural and Investment Funds and the skills Agenda, now in the post 2020 program period, which is under preparation.
Share your training material on nZEBs with the PROF/TRAC community
PROF/TRAC consortium has recently opened its Training Material Repository to any expert, organization, or project consortium willing to share their training materials on nZEBs with the wide PROF/TRAC community. Upload yours here!
The PROF/TRAC repository already offers the whole IDES-EDU educational package and a number of presentations, reports, guidelines, etc. collected from relevant European funded projects and studies. By widening the offer of nZEB-related training materials, PROF/TRAC repository will further strengthen its position as a reference point for professionals willing to bridge the skills gap in nZEB construction.
The strength of the repository is not only in being a nZEB reference point, but also in the fact that all resources are stored in the PROF/TRAC library and are therefore directly accessible from the repository. This feature ensures that no recourses are lost or inaccessible due to expired projects or changed web-domains. The repository provides an easy and swift access to a wide range of resources with specific topics within the nZEB design, construction, operation and maintenance. Thereby it reduces significantly the efforts needed to allocate specific resources in the vast number of publications available.
A PROF/TRAC BUILD UP webinar addressing the professional skills gap
On 21 November, PROF/TRAC offered a BUILD UP webinar about “Interdisciplinary skills development of building professionals on nZEB construction”. The webinar focused on the skills required by the building industry middle and senior level professionals, and on how to address the skills gap through Continuing Professional Development (CPD) courses. Invited speakers displayed the expertise they developed by organizing or attending such courses, with special attention to the market appreciation for the skills acquired by participants. The recording of the webinar will soon be available on the BUILD UP portal.
PROF/TRAC trained more than 80 trainers successfully
An important part of the PROF/TRAC project was the series of Train-the-Trainers (TtT) courses. The aim of the course for future trainers is to not only become familiar with the issues of nZEBs, but also learn about modern teaching methods, skills mapping, and how to create lifelong learning courses for different target groups of building experts. In addition to attending lectures, TtT participants prepare their own course for their organisation/country. After meeting all the requirements, participants receive a certificate of successful graduation and are listed in the PROF/TRAC list of trainers.
After the three face-to-face courses that took place in Prague (CZ), Zagreb (HR) and Valencia (ES), the remaining two courses were organized in form of webinars. Face-to-face TtT courses took place over two days with lectures and seminars, where the participants worked under the guidance of experts in small national teams. The webinars required a different methodical approach. Thus the 4th and 5th PROF/TRAC TtT were organized as a series of eight short online sessions over the course of three weeks. Within each session, a short version of the lecture was presented live, accompanied by study material. The entire ‘long’ version of the lectures are available on the PROF/TRAC YouTube channel. At the end of the session, participants had the opportunity to discuss and access their off-line record. The acquired knowledge was verified by a short online self-test after each session. Final papers were handed over to the lecturer in electronic form.
The PROF/TRAC online seminar was attended by a total of 183 participants from 36 countries around the world, contributing to the snowball effect of spreading the idea of the PROF/TRAC project.
PROF/TRAC partner Atecyr promotes PROF/TRAC in Spain
During the last three months, Atecyr has organized a series of conferences about nZEB in several cities of Spain, such as Madrid, Valencia, Gijón, Bilbao, Zaragoza and Barcelona. These seminars are aimed to give practical solutions to the HVAC's experts. More than 500 people attended to the different speakers, all of them architects, engineers, and companies linked to the sector. At the end of every conference, there were several debates about different related topics; for instance, the integration of renewable energies in nEZB and their efficiency compared to conventional systems; or how to incorporate this kind of buildings into the Spanish legislation. In all these conferences, a speaker from Atecyr, explained the PROF TRAC project to the audience, showing its achievements and the future steps to come.
Slovakia: A new EU country joins PROF/TRAC
Slovak Society of Environmental Engineering (SSTP) invited to a PROF/TRAC training in Senec in November, to which 55 engineers, building managers and members of municipality bodies came (41men/ 14women). The organisers appreciated mainly the various materials obtained during the Train the Trainers that were made freely available so that they could implement the materials in their presentations. The course organisers considered the courses successful, because they identified a potential to educate the attendees regarding nZEBs and considerably improved the knowledge of the attendees in this field.
One of the organiser stated: ‘Before the course, the participants had only little information regarding nearly zero energy buildings. They knew energy certification is mandatory for new buildings and for existing buildings after a major retrofit, but most of them did not relate the process of energy certification to the nearly zero energy building standard. In this sense the attendees were provided with a good amount of new information related to different aspects of nZEBs, which will help them make informed decisions in the future. The attendees appreciated the variety of information given to them regarding nZEB. The feedback regarding the form and duration of the course was generally positive, as it was just enough to cover all the topics and simultaneously not taking too much of the attendees´ precious working time. Some of the attendees particularly appreciated the participation of the various professional organizations that helped organize the course, and also the possibility to discuss the different aspects of nZEB with experts.’
This project has received funding from the European Union’s Horizon 2020 research and innovation programme under grant agreement No. 649473.
What is modernization?
Modernization means: upgrading, renovation, reconstruction, expansion, conversion, restoration works, revitalization, repair, changes in landscapes and space.
Why is modernization so important for Europe?
• Modernization equals to rescuing architectural material European heritage, preserving original building values, protection of contemporary cultural property, functionality of the modernized and converted buildings, protection of built-up and revitalized areas, modernity of project solutions, high quality of performance of works, use of new high quality construction materials.
• Its is building up social identity and awareness, creating indissoluble connection with a region, combining achievements of past generations with a modern look at reality.
• It means changing human mentality, implementation of new technologies, while keeping memories about people who created the space around us before.
What is the “European Award” Contest?
This is the contest which draws new trends in construction as well as promotes the best modernizations in Europe. In the Contest we award investors, contractors and designers for a particular
completion as common work of all the three subjects. It single the “European Award” contest out compared to other events addresses only to one target group, i.e. architects. The aim of the
Contest is to select and award construction undertakings: modernization and construction of new objects in urban space completed in a particular year, characterized by specific virtues: Functional, urban, aesthetic and practical.
undació Mies van der Rohe and Creative Europe are proud to announce the launch of the second edition of the Young Talent Architecture Award (YTAA) supporting the talent of recently graduated Architects, Urban Planners and Landscape Architects.
YTAA 2018 increases its geographical span and the number of finalists and winners. Four winners, one more than the first edition, will be chosen by an international Jury from a list of twelve finalists. They will also receive 5.000€ each, a profile in World Architects and furniture from USM.
The project by the architects Anna & Eugeni Bach turns the Pavilion into a mock-up, with all the surfaces clad with the same white material that shows the representative role of both the original work and its reconstruction. For 11 days, the Pavilion will turn into a 1:1 scale model of the longest-standing temporary pavilion in modern architecture.
From a platform located on the Pavilion’s esplanade, visitors can watch the transformation process, which will culminate on November 16th, when it will be open to the public, completely in white.
8-11-2017 al 15-11-2017 dematerialisation
16-11-2017 press conference 12h, followed by debate and opening of the installation
16-11-2017 to 27-11-2017 pavilion dematerialised
27-11-2017 to 28-11-2017 disassembling proces
További tartalmak:
Ausstellung
Form folgt Paragraph
Eröffnung der Ausstellung: Mi 22.11., 19:00
Ausstellung: 23.11.2017–04.04.2018, Ausstellungshalle 2
Das Architekturzentrum Wien holt mit der Ausstellung „Form folgt Paragraph“, die von 23.11.2017–04.04.2018 zu sehen ist, jene Regelwerke vor den Vorhang, die es selten auf die Bühne eines Architekturmuseums schaffen. Sie lenkt den Blick kritisch, aber auch unausweichlich humorvoll auf den rechtlichen Subtext von Architektur und Stadtentwicklung.
Fallstudien, Begriffsklärungen, historische und internationale Vergleiche machen sichtbar, wie stark legistische und normierende Kompendien die gebaute Umwelt mitgestalten. 1:1 Modelle und Versuchsanordnungen machen die „Folgen der Paragraphen“ körperlich erlebbar. Interviews mit Planer*innen, Vertreter*innen von Behörden und vielen weiteren Expert*innen beleuchten die aktuelle Situation in ihrer Komplexität und Widersprüchlichkeit und loten Interpretationsspielräume aus, die in zahlreichen Workarounds auch genutzt werden.
Kuratorinnen: Martina Frühwirth, Karoline Mayer, Katharina Ritter, Az W
Az osztrák építész (1934-2012) művei David Schreyer fotóin keresztül
'Günther Domenig – ein anderer Blick' von David Schreyer
Ausstellungseröffnung
Do. 19.10.2017 - 19:00 Uhr
Architekturgalerie Raumburgenland Contemporary
Pfarrgasse 16/1; A-7000 Eisenstadt
Freier Eintritt
Zur Ausstellung: Günther Domenig (1934-2012) war in Österreich die herausragende Figur der steirischen Architektenlandschaft seit den 1960er Jahren. Im Mittelpunkt der Ausstellung stehen acht ausgewählte Bauten, die von dem österreichischen Bildermacher DAVID SCHREYER 2013 und 2014 besucht und fotografiert wurden. Nicht die lückenlose Dokumentation der Arbeit von Günther Domenig, sondern ein Eintauchen in die Vielfalt seines Schaffens ist Ziel der Ausstellung. Die Bilder folgen nicht der Dramaturgie klassischer Architekturfotografie, vielmehr zeigen sie neben skulpturalen Qualitäten auch die Nutzung, die Alterung und den Bezug zur Umgebung der Werke Domenigs. David Schreyer hält ergänzend seine Eindrücke, Gespräche und Personen vor Ort sowie Gedanken zu den Projekten in kurzen Texten fest.
Die Ausstellung wurde im Auftrag des HDA Graz erstellt.
Bisherige Stationen: Steindorf, Innsbruck, Nürnberg und das Architekturhaus Kärnten.
Weiterführende Informationen:
David Schreyer
Günther Domenig
In the summer of 2014, EAAE Council was awarded an Erasmus+ Project titled “Confronting Wicked Problems: Adapting Architectural Education to the New Situation in Europe”. Having run from September 1, 2014 to August 31, 2017, the so called “Wicked Project” has focused on certain aspects that play a substantial role in the present and near future of architecture’s teaching and practice, namely professional knowledge, heritage and sustainability. Results obtained by twenty-five researchers organized in three think tanks along with many stakeholders, have been condensed in a final report and eleven attachments which are now made available to the public.
Letölthető dokumentum:
PDF letöltése
Full documentation can be found on the EAAE Website: http://www.eaae.be/eaae-academies/education-academy/erasmus-confronting-wicked-problems/
ACE INTERVIEW
Interview with Katrin Koov, President of the Estonian Association of Architects. Read more
ACE NEWS
On 7 September, the Environment Committee (ENVI) of the European Parliament adopted its opinion on the revision of the Energy Performance of Buildings Directive (EPBD). This opinion, which will feed into the work of the Industry and Energy Committee (ITRE – lead committee), includes a number of positive elements. Notably MEPs propose to clarify the vision for the EU building stock by 2050: a decarbonized building stock that performs at nZEB level. Read more
The EU Parliament and Council are pursuing the examination of the proposals and recommendations that make up the Services Package, released by the Commission in January, namely: a proposal for a Proportionality Test; proposals for introducing a European Services e-Card; a proposal on the enforcement of the notification procedure; and reform recommendations for regulation in professional services. Read more
During the summer, the ACE conducted a satisfaction survey about the CAE Web site. ACE partners were invited to reply to a short questionnaire to give their views on the ACE Web site.
You can read the result of the survey here.
Most respondents were architects (62,79 %) and visit the ACE Web site to look at the news (62,79 %), to obtain information about the practice of the profession in EU (58,14%) or to look for information about ACE policy positions (51,16%). On average respondents think that the ACE Web site design, quality and facility of access is satisfactory (30,67%) or good (44,09%). Some respondents made some suggestions that will be taken into account by the ACE Secretariat in order to improve the ACE Web site.
EU NEWS
On 13 September, EU Commission President Jean-Claude Juncker delivered his 2017 State of the Union Address, before the Members of the European Parliament in Strasbourg, presenting his priorities for the year ahead and outlining his vision for how the EU could evolve by 2025. Mr Juncker announced that a the Commission is considering setting up an EU Labour Authority to monitor how labour law is applied in Member States. Read more
To improve sustainability and drive market demand for better buildings, a new open source assessment framework called Level(s), has been developed by the EU Commission in close collaboration with stakeholders, including the Architects’ Council of Europe. Level(s) is a voluntary reporting framework that builds upon existing standards to provide a common EU approach to the environmental performance assessment of buildings. Read more
On 18 September, the EU Commission released a Communication on A renewed EU Industrial Strategy, which brings together all existing and new horizontal and sector-specific initiatives into a comprehensive industrial strategy. Read more
In September, the EU Commission adopted a Delegated Act replacing Annex V of the Directive 2005/36/EC on the recognition of professional qualifications (PQD). The PQD provides for the automatic recognition of seven so-called sectoral professions, including architects. The authorities in any EU country must recognise any of the architects' qualifications listed in the Annex V, point 5.7.1.
Access the Delegated Act and the updated Annex V.
MEMBERS' NEWS
In June the Union of Architects in Bulgaria (UAB) joined INSPIRELI - the first online social platform for young architects, initiated and managed by the Association of Czech Architects. The focus of the platform is to become a space where young architects and students from all over the world share ideas, experiences and visions. In this regard, the INSPIRELI AWARDS competition is taking place. Details can be found on the official website of the platform www.inspireli.com
MakeHappen! Inspiration Day Amsterdam October 20th
It’s time to grow now! The Royal Institute of Dutch Architects BNA will be hosting the third edition of the MakeHappen! Inspiration Day. This conference on International Business in Architecture at the spectacular new Circl project by Dutch bank ABN Amro in Amsterdam’s CBD Zuidas brings together inspiration, international expertise and network opportunities. Key notes by Caroline Bos (UNStudio), Kasper Guldager Jensen (3XN) and Matthias Schuler (Transsolar).
Circl Amsterdam, 20th October 2017, 12-18h. More info and signing up: www.inspirationday.nl
Why not present out-of-the box ideas of architects, designers and other creatives when European investors and project developers are all in one place? During Expo Real Munich, the main European real estate fair, the Royal Institute of Dutch Architects BNA will be hosting its first Pitch Fest evening. In former bank and hip temporary venue Lovelace fifteen innovative creatives are pitching creative ideas for current urgencies and future strategies for urban challenges. Meet up with these talents and real estate professionals!
Alte Staatsbank Munich, 5th of October 2017, 18-21h. More info & signing up online.
The Embassy of the Grand Duchy of Luxembourg, in collaboration with the Ordre des Architectes et des Ingénieurs-Conseils du Luxembourg (OAI), has the honour to invite you to a conference on the occasion of the 150th anniversary of the Treaty of London : “the transformation of the fortress city of Luxembourg into the capital of in an independent country – an architectural look on the way to modern city” by the Luxembourg historian Dr. Robert L. Philippart a presentation of the OAI Exhibition « Bauhäre maache Lëtzebuerg » (the owners who make Luxembourg) and the Luxembourg Architects & Consulting Engineers eXport www.laix.lu by Architect Sala Makumbundu, OAI Secretary General
Thursday 12 October 18h30 at the Maison du Grand-Duché de Luxembourg - Avenue de Cortenbergh 75, 1000 Brussels
For more information click here
EU PROJECTS
ACE is currently involved in five EU-funded projects. The FP7 project A2PBEER, the ERASMUS+ project in co-operation with EAAE (European Association of Architectural Education), the Horizon 2020 (H2020) projects PROF/TRAC (developing and maintaining an Open Education Platform for Continuing Professional Development) and ABRACADABRA (market up-take of energy efficiency through significant energy and architectural transformation with new volume additions). Furthermore ACE is partner in a new Horizon 2020 project called BIMplement. The overall aim is to achieve improved quality for nZEB construction and renovation by setting up large scale training, Continuous Professional Development and BIM-enhanced qualification schemes, addressing the entire value chain in a cross-trades and cross-level multidisciplinary approach, strengthened with hands-on and BIM enhanced workplace learning tools
All projects address issues related to sustainability, climate change, resource efficiency and building renovation. The projects develop, for instance, innovative materials and technologies, CPD training and better architectural education, business models to finance energy retrofits and position papers. Through these ACE seeks to promote the architects’ role in energy efficient construction and urban regeneration, to influence cutting edge research and make it more applicable for European architects.
PUBLICATIONS
EVENTS
MISCELLANEOUS
The European Union Prize for Cultural Heritage / Europa Nostra Awards is Europe’s top honour in the heritage field. It recognises the best achievements in conservation, research, dedicated service as well as education, training and awareness-raising.
More information and application: http://www.europeanheritageawards.eu/apply/
Deadline 1 October
urbanize! Internationales Festival für urbane Erkundungen, 06.–15.10.2017,
What does democracy look like? urbanize! erkundet die Stadt als Ort demokratischer Erneuerung mit Vorträgen, Diskussionen, Workshops, Filmen und Interventionen.
Während die fortschreitende Umverteilung von Macht und gesellschaftlichem Reichtum zu Prekarisierung und einer demokratiepolitisch gefährlichen Spaltung führt, wird in zahlreichen Städten weltweit nach Strukturen des Gemeinsamen und Formen solidarischen Zusammenlebens gesucht. Denn die gemeinsame Gestaltung von Stadt birgt die Chance auf eine lebenswerte gebaute Umwelt, auf lebendige Nachbarschaften und zukunftsfähige gesellschaftliche Strukturen. Doch wie geht Stadtpolitik „Bottom-up“ in der Praxis? Wieviel Potential auf demokratische Erneuerung steckt in Stadtentwicklung und Wohnbau? Und wer hat eigentlich ein Recht auf Stadt?
Das 8. urbanize! Festival lädt mit internationalen Gästen und urbanen Akteur*innen ins öffentliche Wohnzimmer im Az W zu Vorträgen, Diskussionen, Workshops für Erwachsene und Kinder, Vernetzungstreffen, urbanen Interventionen, Filmen und Stadterforschungen.
Gäste: Ada Colau (Barcelona, angefragt), Cynthia Fleury (Paris), Ministry of Space (Belgrad), Institute for Political Ecology (Zagreb), Zeppelin (Bukarest), Metrozones (Berlin), Raumwagen (Linz), Hotel City Plaza (Athen, angefragt), Palestra Popolare Quarticciolo (Rom), Mehr als Wohnen (Zürich), Detroit Resists (Detroit), Mietshäusersyndikat (Freiburg), Flüchtlinge Willkommen (Wien) uvm.