Tampere’s EU-GUGLE BEST 7 was awarded with the Heat Pump City of the Year award by European Heat Pump Association EHPA. The award was appointed to the limited housing company Pohjolankatu 18-20 and Enermix Ltd., which acts as a building’s energy monitoring service company. The housing company building is utilizing several different innovative energy […]

The impact is energy effiency, of course, and up to 50% energy savings, but also very positive improvement to people’s every day life. When asked about their perspectives about the refurbishment processes, and the results, residents from the newly refurbished buildings in Tampere ware realistic but in general positive. In this video (interview in Finnish, […]

Energia 2018 exhibition gathered the energy field’s experts and operators and the most current topics of energy production, transmission, distribution and storing to Tampere on 23-25 October. EU-GUGLE pilots were showcased in many ways during the three day event by project staff and also by companies that have installed their systems to BEST buildings. EU-GUGLE […]

The EU-GUGLE project will hold its final conference on sustainable urban planning solutions in Madrid on 11 December 2018. Building on the experiences of pioneer cities involved in large scale energy efficiency projects, the conference will bring together urban planners, local policy makers, researchers, entrepreneurs and energy efficiency experts to discuss effective approaches and solutions to […]

For the ninth consecutive year, Vienna has been selected as the best world capital for quality of life. Yet the city is not planning to rest on its laurels for the next years; on the contrary, ambitious international projects, such as the EU-GUGLE and Smarter Together initiatives are currently running to make of the Austrian […]

Some buildings maintain decades of history inside them, survive wars and bombings, but fail to keep their inhabitants and visitors warm in hard winter times. In Aachen, at the border of Germany and at the heart of past European conflicts, several historical buildings from the early twenties suffer from insufficient insulation and do not comply […]

On Friday 25 May, the city of Milan organised a seminar to discuss the impact of the introduction of energy classification in the building sector and in particular the upcoming steps towards the energy efficient renovation of schools in Italy.  In that framework, several school renovation projects and initiatives promoting sustainable school refurbishment towards Nearly […]

In the EU-GUGLE pilot city Tampere, the EU-GUGLE project has co financed energy renovations of 8 limited hability housing companies, with total energy savings of 40%. In a newly produced video, Tampere presents some of the highlights from the renovations in the Tammela district.

The EU-GUGLE project arranged an open house event in two retrofitted BEST buildings in Tampere 4.6.2018. The event got over 200 excited people to see what had been done during the renovations. The limited liability housing company Pohjolankatu 18-20, known as BEST 7, got 55 % energy savings in purchased energy this far by new […]

Do you work for or represent a European Municipality? Don’t miss the upcoming webinar on “How inter-municipal cooperation on procuring green ICT can combat climate change” organised by our friends from the smart cities project SHARING CITIES (http://www.sharingcities.eu) on 12 June 2018 from 11:00 to 12:00 Register ASAP here: http://bit.ly/KSFwebinar Development in the field of […]

The City of Vienna is betting on innovation and end-user engagement to achieve its transformation into a Smart City. Currently, the city is involved in two European Smart City initiatives, namely EU-GUGLE and Smarter Together, and is implementing in that framework significant investment projects in view of refurbishing the city’s building stock to increase their […]

In Tampere, the inhabitants of the Tammela district are very proud of their newly renovated and highly energy performant buildings. On 25 April 2018, the city of Tampere invited partners from the STARDUST and EU-GUGLE Smart City Initiatives to take part in a study tour to visit five of the eight buildings that have been […]

Today, buildings represent around 36% of all CO2 emissions in Europe. To help decarbonising this sector, the Council of the European Union adopted new energy efficiency rules for buildings on 14 May, in view of meeting nearly zero energy standards by 2050 and reduce European greenhouse gas emissions by 80-95% compared to 1990. Promoting cost-efficient […]

At the occasion of their next meeting to be held in Tampere on 25 and 26 April, partners from the EU-GUGLE Smart City Initiative will discover the outstanding results of the deep renovation projects carried out in the Finnish pilot city. In the eight demonstration buildings involved in the project, energy consumption has already decreased […]

How to ensure the effectiveness of energy efficient renovation projects in the long run? In the framework of the EU-GUGLE Smart City Initiative, the six pilot cities have bet on tenant engagement to maximise energy savings in their freshly renovated buildings. Currently, one of the main risks limiting the impact of energy efficiency renovation measures […]

At Politecnico di Milano, a conference with focus on the role of the bicycle in the cities of tomorrow, took place on the 25th of January. The EU-GUGLE project was cited in particular regarding the foreseen integration of cycle paths in the pilot district.  Besides the seminars, audience could try out folding bikes and take part of a poster […]

A demonstration target Limited liability housing company Pohjolankatu 18-20 took part in Finnish national Local energy solution -competition in 2017 held by Lähienergialiitto organization. The housing company got an honorary award for its first of the kind two-way district heating system in residential buildings. There are 8 BEST pilot buildings involved in Tampere’s pilot district […]

As the EU-GUGLE projects’ Technical Committee held a meeting in Gothenburg in the end of October, the committee visited the housing area Hammarkullen to learn more about the local work. Wenche Lerme, Development manager for Urban Planning in the Angered district, City of Gothenburg and Rafael Lavicki, from Bostadsbolaget, one of Sweden’s biggest public benefit […]

EU-GUGLE was featured in the Milanese edition of la Repubblica, one the main national daily newspapers in Italy with more than 300.000 copies sold each day. In the article published on 21 October 2017, the author goes back to the city’s strategy towards greater sustainability and describes how EU funding is helping Milan achieve its […]

Europe badly needs to make its buildings more energy efficient: but what if an easy solution would already exist? For over a century, heat pumps hidden in basements, on roofs and in machine rooms, have been saving million tonnes of greenhouse gases emissions each year. Multiple uses of heat pumps Their operating principle is simple: […]

In Aachen, heat from sewage water is now being used to keep over 300 households warm during the winter. In the framework of the EU-GUGLE Smart Cities Initiative, an innovative district heating system based on sewage water heat recovery has been installed in the Northern district of the city. The system supplies the area and […]

On 3 October, EU-GUGLE project coordinator CENER, Spain’s Renewable Energy Centre, presented the Smart City solutions that are currently being implemented in the six pilot cities of the project at the “Empowering Smart Solutions for Better Cities” conference, organised by the Smart Cities Information System in Budapest.   The conference aimed to present the most […]

On 21 September 2017, two of the eight buildings refurbished in the framework of the EU-GUGLE project in Tampere have been presented to members of the European Action Cluster on Sustainable Districts and Built Environment at the occasion of a study visit focusing on deep retrofitting and eco-efficient districts. The visit attracted fifteen participants, including […]

The Kaupinpirtti building refurbished in the framework of the EU-GUGLE Smart City Initiative in Tampere took part in the national refurbished façades’ competition 2017. Winners have been announced on 26 September and Kaupinpirtti has been selected for the third place. The prize was awarded to Kaupinpirtti for a well-managed and goal-oriented refurbishment project. The renovation […]

Last 20 June, Milan’s Mayor Beppe Sala and the Councilor for public works Gabriele Rabaiotti visited the EU-GUGLE building in Via Feltrinelli 16 (a social housing building block comprising 154 apartments, property of the City of Milan). The whole energy concept of the refurbishment of the building was developed within the EU-GUGLE project by the “Office for energy saving” of the Municipality […]

Interview with Luis Carlos Delgado, Managing Director of SestaoBerri and leader of Sestao’s EU-GUGLE pilot district. In Sestao, five buildings have been selected to participate in the EU-GUGLE Smart City Initiative for energy-efficient building refurbishment. In April, renovation was completed in the first of these buildings. Luis Carlos Delgado, Managing Director of SestaoBerri explains the […]

On 2 and 3 May 2017, Austrian partners from Vienna had the opportunity to present the EU-GUGLE Smart City Initiative at the Vienna Smart Cities Days and Smart City Forum. The conference brings together every year city representatives, researchers and industry stakeholders to discuss the latest innovations related to smart and sustainable development. At this occasion, […]

Citizen engagement and transparent decision making processes are at the core of the Smart City concept. In Tampere, tenant involvement has been a key factor for the successful renovation of over 32,000 square metres of living space, achieved in the framework of the EU-GUGLE Smart City Initiative. As part of this initiative, eight pilot buildings […]

What does it mean to become a “smart city”? And, more importantly, how to go about it? On the 19thof May, the smart cities of Bilbao, Vitoria, Valladolid, Mogel and San Sebastian will meet in Bilbao to share their experiences with national and European stakeholders, and discuss how to make our cities more energy efficient […]

Since 2010, the northern district of Aachen is engaged in a vast urban renewal programme aiming to improve the citizens’ quality of life and make the district a vibrant and sustainable place to live. Within this programme, called “Social City Aachen North”, and as part of the EU-GUGLE international Smart City Initiative, about 400 apartments […]

  Between 22 and 24 March 2017, EU-GUGLE partners presented the first results of the project and the measures implemented in the six pilot cities at the occasion of the second international conference on Smart and Sustainable Planning for Cities and Regions (SSPCR 2017). The conference was hosted by EURAC in Bolzano and brought together […]

The work of several limited liability housing companies that have taken part in the EU-GUGLE renovation project in Tampere will be presented at the TARMO+ good living exhibition tour. The exhibition will be displayed in public libraries and other exhibition areas in Tampere and surrounding municipalities in 2017. The objective of the exhibition is to […]

As the renovation work has now been completed in Tampere, the city has produced a video to show the work undertaken in one of the buildings refurbished in the framework of the EU-GUGLE project. The ‘Start-to-finish’ video of the retrofitting work carried out in the As Oy Kaupinpirtti building presents the objectives of the project […]

  In November 2015, leaders of the EU-GUGLE pilot cities presented plans to make their cities more sustainable and energy efficient during the 1st International Conference on “Smart and Sustainable Planning for Cities and Regions” in Bolzano, Italy, organised by the EURAC Institute for Renewable Energy. One year later, these presentations, and the discussions that […]

On 27 April 2017, just one day before the Passive House Conference 2017, experts from at least three Smart City projects will hold a joint workshop in Vienna to share results and experiences on smart and sustainable refurbishment solutions for apartment buildings, with a particular focus on social housing. Programme and Registration The event will […]

A block of buildings that is currently being renovated in Sestao in the framework of the EU-GUGLE project has been awarded with the prize of ‘Practical case of Environmental excellence’ by the Government of the Basque country. The prize rewards innovative environmental projects with a high potential for replication in the Basque country. The EU-GUGLE […]

From the 10th to the 28th of January 2017, VTT will be presenting solutions to improve the energy performance of buildings in the city showroom of Laituri in Helsinki. The EU-GUGLE project and its pilots as well as examples of infill development projects and the results of a student design contest will feature in the […]

Building refurbishment represents a major challenge in the transition towards low-carbon European cities. However, renovation works are not cheap, whether for private residential, social housing or public buildings, and innovative business models are needed to share this cost among the different stakeholders. Currently, grants and soft loans are the most frequently used instruments for residential […]

The new year started with good news in Tampere: the renovation work has now been completed in all eight pilot buildings of the EU-GUGLE project. In the final two buildings refurbished, the inhabitants are now ready to spend a warm and comfortable winter while enjoying substantial energy savings in their newly renovated homes. The progress […]

In the social housing building located at Via Fertinelli 16 in Milan, the inhabitants are enjoying a warm and comfortable winter thanks to the refurbishment work carried out within the EU-GUGLE project. In this five storey building owned by the Municipality of Milan, the tenants were living in a low quality environment because of the […]

On 27 April 2017, experts from three Smart City projects will hold a joint workshop in Vienna to share results and experiences on smart and sustainable refurbishment solutions for apartment buildings, with a particular focus on social housing. The event will be the opportunity for decision-makers, researchers, professional stakeholders and experts from other Smart City […]

On 4 October, partners from the City-Zen project and the European association Energy Cities visited the EU-GUGLE representatives in the city of Vienna to share knowledge and experiences on energy-efficient building refurbishment. In the framework of the City-Zen project, member project of the ‘My Smart City District Community’, innovative solutions towards energy efficient refurbishment, district […]

In Bratislava, EU-GUGLE project partners have successfully achieved the renovation of a residential building located on Pavla Horova 17-19. The refurbished building was built in 1988 and is home to 42 households. Because of poor insulation, the energy consumption of the building was very high and the inhabitants had to bear substantial energy costs. To […]

On 14 November 2016, the city of Milan hosted the annual Renovate Italy Day. The objective of the event was to raise awareness among policy makers and citizens about the benefits of energy-efficient building refurbishment. The conference gathered over 110 participants including European, national and local policy-makers, representatives from environmental organisations as well as academic […]

On Monday 12 December, the city of Aachen will welcome partners from other European cities for a study visit to the buildings refurbished within the EU-GUGLE project. The visit will focus on issues related to social housing refurbishment and will give participants the opportunity to discover the innovative energy efficiency measures implemented in Aachen. In […]

Bratislava’s EU-GUGLE pilot leader Roman Grunner will present the EU-GUGLE project at the “Forum of cities and regions – Ecoinnovation in smart cities”, taking place in Torun, Poland on the 8th of November 2016. The forum is organised by the Europa Kujaw i Pomorza Association in the context of the 2016 European Week of Regions […]

On Thursday 27 and Friday 28 September, EU-GUGLE project partners will meet in Bratislava to visit the first buildings that have been refurbished in the city and discuss the status of the refurbishment work in the other pilot districts. During the two-day meeting hosted by the city of Bratislava, partners will have the opportunity to […]

In Tampere, the EU-GUGLE project is moving forward rapidly. Since the end of 2015, the renovation work has already been completed in six buildings amongst the eight to be refurbished in the framework of the project. After the implementation of several measures to improve the energy efficiency of the dwellings and increase the share of […]

The Renovate Europe Campaign has used its annual conference, in Brussels on the 13th of October,  to highlight the many benefits of implementing an ambitious building renovation programme in Europe, showcasing some of the latest tools and initiatives which could help drive the renovation market. The campaign argues that building renovation is a win-win for […]

The fifth pilot housing company’s renovations in Tampere, Finland, are now complete, as Oy Itsenäisyydenkatu 15 finished its renovations just in time for Christmas on November 30th, 2015. The measures implemented in the building have been the following: Additional insulation of facades and renewal of windows, to which the housing company received national financing Renewal […]

Key partner of the EU-GUGLE smart city project, the City of Aachen will host a Conference on Sustainable Renovation Models on the 22th of April 2016, preceded by an optional site visit of renovated buildings on the 21st April. The event will be an opportunity to learn from the experiences of the 6 pilot cities […]

The fourth pilot housing company’s renovation is complete, as Oy Tammelanpuistokatu 31-33 finished its renovations on August 31st, 2015. The measures implemented in the building have been the following: Air-to water heat-pump system Exhaust-air heat recovery system Cooling of the business premise with a heat pump system Renewal of the garage door Remote controlling system […]

The University of Natural Resources and Life Sciences (BOKU) together with the two EU funded projects EU-GUGLE and MEEFS will hold an expert workshop on: “Pre-fabricated facades – niche forever or mass market soon?” on 2 November 2015 in Vienna, Austria. The one-day meeting will bring together professional stakeholders from the construction and energy sectors to […]

On the 1st of October, the competing finalists in five categories to the .eu WEB AWARDS 2015, were announced by EURid, including the happy news that EU-GUGLE website www.eu-gugle.eu is one of three nominated finalist in the category The BETTER WORLD (Environmental/green projects). The competion and awards are managed by EURid, the registry that manages the […]

A series of TARMO+ Good housing events showcased the good experience and results achieved in the EU-GUGLE pilot housing companies all over Tampere in September. The topics of quality building maintenance and energy efficient renovation was presented in an inspiring way as residents, experts from the city, federations and universities as well as companies gathered […]

After one year of monitoring, the first completed pilot in Tampere has reached remarkable savings. The Limited liability housing company Tampereen Pohjolankatu 18-20 finished their renovation in July 2014. One year after the renovation they have already saved 17 000 euros in the heating costs. Compared to the year built, the bought heating energy has […]

In mid-June the Smart Cities Network in Gothenburg met for the fourth time since 2013. This time the focus of the meeting was how large scale European projects can strengthen the citys own strategies and goals on a local level and how working in projects can add long term value to the city. The idea […]

Despite stormy weather, environmental market – happening 1st of June in Tampere – served it’s 600 visitors a proper share of information and discussion about energy efficient renovation. In the same booth the visitors found RANE guidance of energy efficient living and building, TARMO+ low carbon residential areas project and EU-GUGLE–project. Visitors were interested in […]

The first 230 residents in Tampere’s Tammela district enjoy the results of energy-efficient renovation of three pilot buildings Tampere is working at full steam for the energy-efficient renovation of eight residential buildings, which are home to 560 inhabitants. The city is aiming to finalise the renovation of a total 30,000 m2 building stock in Tampere’s […]

Bolzano (Italy), 27 May 2015 – The Smart Cities Replication Cluster of the SINFONIA and EU-GUGLE projects had a successful kick-off in Bolzano, with cities keen to exchange experiences on energy-efficient refurbishment projects. For the first time, representatives from the cities of Dobrich (Bulgaria), Dubrovnik (Croatia), Dundee (UK), Lahti (Finland), La Spezia (Italy), Nicosia (Cyprus), […]

EU-GUGLE partners from Milan (City of Milan, Polimi) will hold an Info Day on the sustainable retrofitting of school buildings on the 12th May 2015. The event is organised by Politecnico di Milano in partnership with the EU-GUGLE and RENEW SCHOOL projects, Rockwool and Askeen, and will be held in English. For information and registration, […]

EU-GUGLE is keeping it busy in Tampere this spring. Already finished renovations are showcases for the project itself and other interest groups. At the same time the pilot housing companies still in the middle of their projects are proceeding with the renovations actively. Events are held and you can also read about the experiences and […]

  The ECO-SEE and HIPIN projects will host a joint workshop on Energy Efficient Building Materials on the 10th of March 2015, from 9:30 to 15:00 in Turin, Italy. This joint workshop collectively presents two major EU Public Private Partnership funded projects, HIPIN and ECO-SEE, which are developing solutions to support delivery of future energy […]

Third pilot housing company’s renovations are complete. As Oy Torinnaapuri finished its extensive renovations just in time for Christmas on December 19th, 2014. The measures implemented in Torinnaapuri building have been the following: Additional insulation of facades Renewal of windows and doors Renewal of balcony glazings Installing of heat recovery system and exhaust air heat […]

Second pilot housing company’s renovations are complete. As Oy Tammelankulma finished its extensive renovations in fall 2014 and had the final financial statement on November 17th, 2014. The measures implemented in Tammelankulma building have been the following: Air-conditioning system maintenance and balancing Installation of exhaust air heat pump and new ventilating machines Installation of heat […]

The City of Tampere organized an information night for the EU-GUGLE–project Tammela district pilots on November 18th 2014. The objective of the event was to give the housing companies information for decision making process in annual general meetings. The EU-GUGLE pilot projects are due by the end of year 2016, which is why the pilot […]

The EU-GUGLE associated city Gothenburg will participate at  the Smart City Expo in Barcelona, 18-20th of November. The Smart City Expo is a meeting point for experts and leaders from cities, companies, research centres, universities and international organisations. The program for the Expo of 2014 is Urban development examined along six main tracks: smart society, […]

Social inclusion, place identity and participation – these are three themes on which a plan for social sustainability can be developed. In Gothenburg – one of the EU-GUGLE projects associated cities, human geographer Maria Strandberg along with development leader in Urban Development Wenche Lerme, have had a closer look at what is required in the […]

In Tampere, a first study visit tour was organized on the First of July 2014. A group of about 20 people met to explore housing company Pohjolankatu 18-20, and was toured to view different installations and systems. In addition to the tour, the contractor of the heat recovery system gave a short presentation about the […]

Tampere has completed the renovation of its first pilot building in the framework of the EU-GUGLE project. Housing company Oy Pohjolankatu 18-20 started its renovation process on April 21st, 2014, and completed all the work by June 6th, 2014. The following renovations have been executed: 1. Solar collectors on the roof 2. New utility poles […]

The Global Building Policies Network, GBPN, is hosting a series of four webinars on “how to” implement a successful policy package that targets energy renovations for residential buildings based on the findings from the recently launched Policy Tool for Renovation. This tool allows a comparison and analysis of twelve best practice renovation policy packages for […]

The EU-GUGLE consortium held its first progress meeting last month in Milano. EU-GUGLE aims to demonstrate the feasibility of nearly-zero energy building renovation models by renovating groups of buildings in 6 pilot cities: Vienna (AT), Aachen (DE), Milan (IT), Sestao (ES), Tampere (FI) and Bratislava (SK). Together, they have committed to renovating a total of […]

The demo-district Petrzalka in Bratislava and the possible renovation strategies there are featured in an article in the Austrian architecture-magazine “Wettbewerbe-Architekturjournal” (03/2014).  The article also concerns the EU-GUGLE-project, especially the situation between Vienna and Bratislava. Download the article (pfd, in German) “Mitten in Europa” Umwelt312_end The article is also available online.  

EU-GUGLE-pilot city Tampere has taken the next step to refine and conform the project housing companies’ energy renovations planning and design. The city has chosen to work with the company A-insinöörit Suunnittelu Ltd in the design brief phase, a phase which will define the energy renovation needs and implementation options in the city. A design […]

Press Release March 2014: Three projects involving 15 municipalities have decided to join forces for greater leverage in sharing and promoting energy efficient renovation solutions for cities and communities EU-wide. The projects EU-GUGLE, R2CITIES and ZenN, have now set out a roadmap for clustering a number of their activities to come. These include joint dissemination […]

Knowledge transfer and collaboration between Smart Cities projects in Gothenburg was on the agenda when the City of Gothenburg and SP Technical Research Institute of Sweden hosted a successful meeting on the 20th of March. Katrina Folland of City of Gothenburg, and Jason Nielsen of SP, gave introductions to the seminar. They spoke about the […]

Heat recovery systems are becoming increasingly popular in apartment blocks equipped with mechanical air extraction. These include buildings constructed between 1960 and 2000. Since 2002, heat recovery has been required by construction regulations. Heat recovery from extraction air creates cost savings of 30-40% in heating of buildings with district heating, and up to over 50% […]

EUR 30 million EU-GUGLE project paves the way to about 226 000 square meters of sustainable renovations in six European cities, one of which is Tampere in Finland. Together with the scientific partner of City of Tampere, VTT, Tampere is aiming at energy savings and improving the quality of urban life, with the aid of […]

The EU-GUGLE project is featured in a recent article in the Austrian architecture-magazine “Wettbewerbe-Architekturjournal”, (04/2012). The article shows some informations in advance about the EUGUGLE-project and presents the demo-district Penzing in Vienna.  Here you can download the article, Umwelt Und Planung (pdf) in German, and the complete magazine can be found here (article on page 8).

The EU-GUGLE leaflet is now available in several languages: English, German, Finnish, Italian, Slovakian and Spanish. Here you can download the leaflet and other documents.

The Pilot City Aachen hosted a press conference for media on the 9th of September about the EU-GUGLE-project and what it will actually mean for the city. The press meeting gave good responce in press, TV and radio, spreading the word about the work that will be done within the Smart City-project framework. Amongst others, the […]

In the EU-GUGLE Pilot City Vienna, funding from the project will enable that for the first time a municipality building will be renovated into passive house standard. The building on Hütteldorferstraße 252 in Viennas 14th district, can achieve a considerable reduction of the heating demand, up to around 90 percent reduction. This was one of the news […]

The EU-GUGLE project is featured in the latest issue of the EeB PPP Project Review. The Energy-efficient Buildings (EeB) Public Private Partnership (PPP) is a joint initiative of the European Commission and the Energy Efficient Buildings Association (E2BA) which span out of the European Construction Technology Platform (ECTP). The initiative aims to promote research on new methods and technologies […]

The EU-GUGLE website is now online. The site will function as a European-wide basis for the project and support a wide exchange of experiences and scientific findings. The portal will provide information on framework contitions in the participatring countries and opportunities to discuss the various approaches. Welcome to take part of the results and to […]