General objectives
The overall objective of this project is to define a viable, and tailorable concept and business case for Plus Energy Houses. Successful implementation requires an integrated climate and cultural approach that encompasses overall configuration, technology selection, and user/systems interaction. While the socio-technical combinations will vary across contexts, CULTURAL-E solution-sets will be comprehensive and easily replicable, thanks to reliable methods and practical guidelines.

CMCC role
CMCC mainly contributes to the project’s Tasks 5.2 and 5.3 of WP5. The work aims at developing a monetary assessment of the co-benefits originated by Plus Energy Buildings and energy efficient buildings in general, both at household and community level. The outputs will be achieved by means of a stated choice experiment to be conducted in different EU countries to elicit and monetize the created social value (T5.2), and by means of life-cycle assessment (T5.3).

Activities
CULTURAL-E focuses on the development of the following specific key solutions and concepts:
• optimized envelope, tuning thermal features depending on boundary conditions;
• air movement as an energy efficient approach to summer thermal comfort;
• implementation of natural and mixed-mode ventilation coordinating systems and envelope controls;
• compact and modular technologies to satisfy heating, cooling, DHW and ventilation needs, recovering wasted heat;
• industrialized windows systems enabling natural ventilation and solar control;
• house management systems able to coordinate the functioning of technologies with different granularities, including single apartment, building-grid connection, and electric vehicle charging stations;
• elevating user involvement in daily building management;
• ensuring robust business models for plus energy houses.

Expected results
CULTURAL-E will generate the following expecet impacts:
i) minimal upfront additional construction cost (extra-cost) of a Plus Energy House in comparison to a 2020 nearly Zero Energy Building (nZEB 2020) ranging from 92€/m2 towards 150 €/m2, with a payback time from 4 to 8 years;
ii) minimisation of CO2 emissions between -20% to -43% of the EU emissions towards 2050 for the residential sector;
iii) reduction in overheating risk from -29% to – 78% according to the climatic context of the overheating period;
iv) increased market uptake of PEH concepts becoming common practice in approximately 10% of the housing market.