The basic idea is to embed the waste from building demolition (fragmented bricks, fragmented plaster or concrete, fragmented glasses, machined wood from windows frame or from wood beams after demolition etc.) in a geopolymer matrix to produce prefabricated panels for different use. The main objective of InnoWEE is in fact the development of an optimized reuse of Construction and Demolition Waste (CDW) materials producing high add value prefabricated insulating and radiating panels to be used in energy efficient buildings. The proposal is based on: 1) Recovery, selection and disassembling of CDW that will be characterized and eventually treated to yield suitable raw materials to be used for production of prefabricated components. 2) Development of new high performance prefabricated insulating geopolymeric panels for building walls envelopes and radiating panels for indoor wall and ceilings with low environmental impact, low embodied energy, low CO2 emissions, high thermal performance. Panels will be fabricated recycling cement, bricks, mortars, glass and wood reaching at least 30% of CDW. 3) To install the panels in demo sites characterized by different climate to evaluate their performance in terms of reducing energy use and minimizing environmental impacts. 4) To use an integrated design process and a holistic approach for the whole life cycle of the materials and components and produce a material that is cost effective, competitive, robust, reliable and low maintenance. 5) To create practical and sustainable building solutions that are easy to integrate into building designs, easy to install, take in consideration the needs of the stakeholders that strongly influence the market, and have been tested to meet all the current standards.

To reduce the total cost of low enthalpy geothermal systems by 20-30 % the project will improve actual drilling/installation technologies and designs of Ground Source Heat Exchangers (GSHE’s). This will be combined with an holistic approach for optimum selection, design and implementation of complete systems across different underground and climate conditions. The proposal will focus on one hand on the development of more efficient and safe shallow geothermal systems and the reduction of the installation costs. This will be realized by improving drastically an existing, innovative vertical borehole installation technology of coaxial steel GSHE and by developing a helix type GSHE with a new, innovative installation methodology. These GSHE’s will be installed to a depth of 40 – 50 meters ensuring improved safety and faster permitting. On the other hand, the proposal will develop a decision support (DSS) and other design tools covering the geological aspects, feasibility and economic evaluations based on different plant set-up options, selection, design, installation, commissioning and operation of low enthalpy geothermal systems . These tools will be made publicly available on the web to users, including comprehensive training to lower the market entry threshold. Given that drilling and GSHE technologies are mature but costly, this holistic approach is included in the proposal to bring the overall cost of the total project down, i.e. not just the cost of the GSHE itself but the avoidance of ground response tests, the engineering costs for the design of the GSHE and the integration of heat pumps with building heating and cooling systems. Also the use of novel the heat pumps for higher temperatures developed within the project will reduce the costs in the market for retrofitting buildings. The developments will be demonstrated in six sites with different undergrounds in different climates whilst the tools will be applied to several virtual demo cases.

The solutions to apply the shallow geothermy will be different in function of the building type, the climate and the geological conditions of the underground, the geothermal system (drilling methodology, GSHE, grouting,..). The main objectives will be : - identify and where missing develop building blocks solutions in drilling (machines and methods), GSHE types, heat pumps and other renewable energy/storage technologies, heating and cooling terminals with the focus on every type of built environment, civil and historical; - generate and demonstrate the most easy to install and cost-effective geothermal energy solutions using and improving existing and new tools. In the area of shallow geothermy of further innovations are needed to provide a pan – European solution base for all the parameter combinations. More efficient borehole heat exchangers and lower cost drilling methodologies/machines adapted to the built environment will be realised as improvement or innovation related to the previous projects. This approach will bring to a easy applicability in the building refurbishment presenting different constrains, to reduce the overall drilling cost in the given geological conditions, will to avoid replacement of heating terminals constructing modular high temperature heat pumps and hence to reduce the deep retrofit costs. The association with tools (DSS, APPs, etc.) will enable to find the best solution for each combination of building type/climate/geology y. Moreover, the design tools will reduce overall engineering costs, avoid design mistakes and form the basis for a major dissemination effort. Application tools will help the users for different practical aspects. Finally to help knowledge dissemination and formations of the future experts a pan – European network of centres of excellence based on past expertise but complemented with the new developments should become instrumental in breaking down the barriers in shallow geothermal energy in building renovation.