Consortium for Horizon Europe Smart Buildings Call

FinEst Centre for Smart Cities is preparing to coordinate a Horizon Europe proposal under HORIZON-CL5-2026-09-D4-01: Researching the technical, social and economic factors impacting the energy performance of Smart Buildings.

The proposed project will focus on understanding how smart building technologies perform in real-life conditions, and how technical, behavioural, social, economic and operational factors influence energy performance, comfort, health, well-being and user acceptance.

The project concept aims to combine real building performance data, smart building systems, user-centred research, behavioural and socio-economic analysis, facility management practices, and whole-life-cycle sustainability perspectives. The goal is to generate evidence-based recommendations for more inclusive, energy-efficient and user-friendly smart buildings across different European contexts.

We are looking to connect with potential consortium partners, especially:

• Building owners and facility managers with access to real pilot buildings

• Partners able to provide pilot sites in different European countries

• SSH researchers in behaviour, sociology, user studies, economics or public policy

• Smart building technology, IoT, BMS and digital monitoring providers

• Energy analytics, modelling and data experts

• Architects, building designers and sustainability consultants

• LCA / whole-life-cycle assessment experts

• Organisations with Horizon Europe, Built4People, standardisation or exploitation experience

We are particularly interested in partners who can contribute real-world demonstration environments, user engagement, interdisciplinary research capacity, and strong implementation experience.

Our objective is to build a competitive, well-balanced consortium capable of delivering practical and policy-relevant results for the next generation of smart, inclusive and energy-efficient buildings.