“Outputs of the workshop will be quite useful for the market study and the contingency plan” – Sergio Martinez Lozano (LEITAT)

The H2020 HOUSEFUL project held its M12 General Assembly in Barcelona. This project started in May 2018 and will run until October 2022. It gathers expertise from 16 different European partners to study 11 innovative circular services for the housing sector. The proposed services look for the circular management and efficient use of water, waste, energy and material resources for all stages of building’s lifecycle.

In the words of the project coordinator Sergio Martinez, “HOUSEFUL is more than the sum of sixteen partners from eight countries and designing twelve innovative solutions for the management of waste, water, energy and material resources along the entire housing value chain. More than a European project whose results are being demonstrated in two of the continent’s most important cities, namely Barcelona and Vienna. To me, it is the possibility to foster the global adoption of the circular approach in one of the most environmentally harmful aspects of our society: buildings, edifices and our own homes. To me, it is a concrete chance to protect our planet.”

The HOUSEFUL approach will be demonstrated at a large scale in 4 demo sites across Austria and Spain. The project’s solutions will be evaluated from an environmental (Life Cycle Assessment), economic (Life Cycle Cost) and social (Social Assessment) point of view.

On the second day of the M12 General Assembly (12nd April), LEITAT and LGI coordinated a workshop focused on the definition of the 11 services. The collaborative working session gathered efforts of all partners to define the advantages, stakeholders involved, European competitors and position in the value chain of the solutions that HOUSEFUL proposes.

Feedback from participants was quite positive:

“This is the first time that we really sit down and work all together in the definition of the services” – Sebastien Garnier (Housing Europe)