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  A blueprint for sectoral cooperation on skills (Wave II)
  Responding to skills mismatches in six new sectors : additive manufacturing, green technology and renewable energy, construction, maritime shipping, paper-based value chain, steel

  Globalisation and technological change are transforming our lives at unprecedented speed, creating a wealth of new opportunities for Europe’s economy, businesses and citizens. Countries can produce more for less by specialising in what they do best and exploiting economies of scale in global mar...

  Globalisation and technological change are transforming our lives at unprecedented speed, creating a wealth of new opportunities for Europe’s economy, businesses and citizens. Countries can produce more for less by specialising in what they do best and exploiting economies of scale in global markets. And it is not only large companies that benefit from this process. 80 % of European exporters are small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) and every 1 billion euro of exports supports 14 000 jobs. Nevertheless, these benefits are neither automatic nor evenly distributed. The costs are often localised and some industries and regions are especially affected. The demand for skilled labour has increased but the number of jobs for those with lower level qualifications has shrunk, particularly in manufacturing. Displaced workers struggle to find jobs, especially when this means acquiring new skills. The divide between more and less advanced regions risks widening, unless the necessary mechanisms are in place to promote high quality education, training and lifelong learning. In 2016, the European Commission launched a New Skills Agenda for Europe to improve skills and keep pace with the changing needs of the labour market and society. The Blueprint for sectoral cooperation on skills brings together businesses, trade unions, education and training institutions and other stakeholders to develop skills strategies and solutions to help specific sectors grow, innovate, create high quality jobs and contribute to Europe’s prosperity. The initiative is well underway. Following a successful pilot phase launch in 2017, the selected projects started work in January 2018. The Commission is now going ahead with Wave II of the Blueprint and, based on proposals by sectoral services, has selected additional sectors. They are construction; steel; the paper-based value chain; green technology and renewable energy; additive manufacturing; and maritime shipping. In this report, we set out an updated process for developing a Blueprint for sectoral cooperation on skills and present challenges and opportunities facing the sectors approved for Wave II.

  • Published: 2018-09-25
  • Corporate Author(s): Directorate-General for Employment, Social Affairs and Inclusion (European Commission)
  • Subject: building technique, business policy, clean technology, EU employment policy, industrial manufacturing, innovation, maritime shipping, paper, professional qualifications, renewable energy, report, sectoral aid, small and medium-sized enterprises, steel, transfer of competence
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  Innovative materials for seismic and energy retrofitting of the existing EU buildings
  

  The seismic and energy retrofitting of existing European buildings with innovative materials is addressed in this report. The need for retrofitting of old buildings emanates from their substandard design in terms of both earthquake resistance and thermal insulation. This is revealed during stron...

  The seismic and energy retrofitting of existing European buildings with innovative materials is addressed in this report. The need for retrofitting of old buildings emanates from their substandard design in terms of both earthquake resistance and thermal insulation. This is revealed during strong earthquakes that result in collapses and damages of old buildings and consequently in economic losses, severe injuries and loss of human lives. Moreover, the poor energy performance of old building envelopes increases their energy consumption. The objective of this report is to explore innovative solutions for seismic and energy retrofitting of existing buildings. Towards such an objective, this report conducts a state-of-the-art review on advanced materials and solutions for enhancing the safety, energy and resource efficiency of the deficient EU residential buildings. Following the consideration of the conventional and state-of-the-art building materials and solutions, the report goes beyond the state-of-the-art by introducing. At the end the main challenges that need to be addressed in building retrofitting projects are listed (cost, sustainability, durability), and recommendations for future research activities towards sustainable buildings retrofitting are proposed. Finally, the socio-economic and environmental impact expected from such research projects is preliminary assessed.

  • Published: 2018-07-30
  • Corporate Author(s): Joint Research Centre (European Commission)
  • Personal Author(s): Bournas, Dionysios
  • Subject: advanced materials, building, building industry, building insulation, building materials, building safety, building technique, concrete, earthquake, energy efficiency, environmental impact, materials technology, research report, thermal insulation, urban renewal
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  Building active steel skin (BASSE)
  

  The objective of the project was to develop a biomimetic energy harvesting system having the dual function of being the enclosing envelope of the building and the main provider of heating, cooling and hot water requirements for buildings. The system should be suitable for three climatic regions,...

  The objective of the project was to develop a biomimetic energy harvesting system having the dual function of being the enclosing envelope of the building and the main provider of heating, cooling and hot water requirements for buildings. The system should be suitable for three climatic regions, Southern (Spain/Italy), Northern (Sweden) and Temperate Europe (UK) During the first half of the project technology options were evaluated based upon state of the art and a workshop held with industry specialists to gather important stakeholders’ requirements. From these inputs, Key Performance Indicators (KPI’s) were developed setting the objectives for further development of the BASSE system. The BASSE system as defined comprises three main elements: A sandwich panel solar collector; A heat pump system including energy storage; A control and management system. A range of concepts were developed relating to each of these subassemblies and for the system as a whole. These were evaluated, using various methods including thermal analysis, against the key performance indicators, the expertise present within the project partners and the consideration of the existing steel sandwich panel manufacturing process. A BASSE system description including the above components was developed for a residential building, to show a real world scenario for the integration of the proposed BASSE system. A prototype of the system was developed, manufactured and installed on the Kubik test facility in Derio, Spain. The installation was used to validate the theoretical models developed to predict the system performance and refine the installation procedures for the system.

  • Published: 2019-05-21
  • Corporate Author(s): Directorate-General for Research and Innovation (European Commission)
  • Personal Author(s): Garay, Roberto ; Perry, Tim ; Lindahl, Michael ; Bertucelli, Luigi ; Francesconi, Guido ; Harper, Colin ; Elguezabal, Peru ; Vairo, Guiseppe ; Holmberg, Ted ; Fuster, Almudena ; Gisbert Rueda, Jorge ; Svensson, Holger ; Toledo, Consuelo ; Simpson, Kevin ; Boudjabeur, Samir ; Rodriguez, Pilar ; Chica, Jose Antonio
  • Subject: building insulation, building materials, building technique, heating, housing, iron and steel industry, physical process, project evaluation, research report, special steels, steel
• Case T-674/13: Judgment of the General Court of 28 January 2016 — Gugler France v OHIM — Gugler (GUGLER) (Community trade mark — Invalidity proceedings — Community figurative mark GUGLER — Absolute ground for refusal — Article 52(1)(b) of Regulation (EC) No 207/2009 — Relative ground for refusal — Article 8(4) and Article 53(1)(c) of Regulation No 207/2009 — Obligation to state reasons — Article 75 of Regulation No 207/2009 — Ground raised by the Court of its own motion)

  • Published: 2016-01-28
  • Corporate Author(s): General Court (Court of Justice of the European Union)
  • Subject: building materials, building technique, EU trade mark, glass, registered trademark, trademark law
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  Experimental assessment of a three storey full-scale precast structure
  

  In the framework of the SAFECAST Project, a full-scale three-storey precast building was subjected to a series of pseudodynamic (PsD) tests in the European Laboratory for Structural Assessment (ELSA) at the Joint Research Centre of the European Commission. The mock-up was constructed in such a w...

  In the framework of the SAFECAST Project, a full-scale three-storey precast building was subjected to a series of pseudodynamic (PsD) tests in the European Laboratory for Structural Assessment (ELSA) at the Joint Research Centre of the European Commission. The mock-up was constructed in such a way that four different structural configurations could be investigated experimentally. Therefore, the behaviour of various parameters like the types of mechanical connections (traditional as well as innovative) and the presence or absence of shear walls along with the framed structure were investigated. The first PsD tests were conducted on a dual frame-wall precast system, where two precast shear wall units were connected to the mock up. The first test structure sustained the maximum earthquake for which it had been designed with small horizontal deformations. In the second layout, the shear walls were disconnected from the structure, to test the building in its most typical configuration, namely with hinged beam-column connections by means of dowel bars (shear connectors). This configuration was quite flexible and suffered large deformations under the design level earthquake. An innovative connection system, embedded in the precast elements, was then activated to create emulative beam-column connections in the last two structural configurations. In particular, in the third layout the connectors were restrained only at the top floor, whereas in the fourth layout the connection system was activated in all beam-column joints. The PsD test results showed that, when activated at all the floors, the proposed connection system is quite effective as a means of implementing dry precast (quasi) emulative moment-resisting frames.

  • Published: 2014-03-05
  • Corporate Author(s): Institute for the Protection and Security of the Citizen (Joint Research Centre)
  • Personal Author(s): Viaccoz, Bernard ; Molina, Francisco J ; Bournas, Dionysios ; Magonette, Georges ; Capéran, Philippe ; Negro, Paolo
  • Subject: building industry, building technique, earthquake, hazard science, research and development, research report, testing
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  High performance cut edges in structural steel plates for demanding applications (HIPERCUT)
  Final report

  A range of thermal cutting processes can be used during the fabrication of steel products. In some cases the cut-edge is subsequently welded, but in others the as-cut free edge forms an integral part of the final component/ structure. In such cases the overall in-service performance depends on t...

  A range of thermal cutting processes can be used during the fabrication of steel products. In some cases the cut-edge is subsequently welded, but in others the as-cut free edge forms an integral part of the final component/ structure. In such cases the overall in-service performance depends on the physical characteristics and properties of the cut edge. The principal objective of the HIPERCUT project was to quantify the influence of laser-beam and plasma-arc cutting processes on edge quality, fatigue and fracture resistance of modern steels and to evaluate process parameters for optimising in-service performance. Emphasis is on construction/earthmoving equipment (‘Yellow Goods’) and civil engineering structures such as bridges. A range of strip and plate steels of 355-890MPa yield strength and thickness 8-25mm were cut using laser-beam, plasma-arc and conventional oxy-fuel cutting methods, all with varying process parameters. Optimised process windows to achieve the highest edge quality were developed for laser and plasma cutting methods. Physical properties such as Heat Affected Zone (HAZ) hardness, surface roughness, tensile properties and residual stress were measured. The fatigue performance of the as-cut edges was evaluated using specimens with straight cut edges and cut holes and S-N fatigue design lines determined as a function of grade, thickness and cutting method. Toughness of the HAZ of cut edges was measured using a novel laminated Charpy specimen to determine transition temperature while high-rate fracture properties were determined on full-thickness specimens. Recommendations for updating the treatment of thermally-cut edges in fabrication and design codes have been suggested.

  • Published: 2016-10-13
  • Corporate Author(s): Directorate-General for Research and Innovation (European Commission)
  • Personal Author(s): Aldazabal-Mensa, Javier ; Alberto-Alvarez, Jose ; Cicero-Gonzalez, Sergio ; Klimpel, Andrzej ; Luksa, Krysztof ; Rzeznikiewicz, Agnieszka ; Bannister, Adam ; Danks, Steve ; Garcia-Perman, Tiberio ; Martin-Meizoso, Antonio
  • Subject: building technique, civil engineering, iron and steel industry, materials technology, research project, research report, resistance of materials, steel, technological process
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  Study on differences in design and actual environmental performance of buildings
  Final report

  The aim of this research project is to support the European Commission in: - the identification and characterization of the scale and nature of the gaps between design parameters and actual real performance of “sustainable buildings”; and - the development of an assessment framework with core en...

  The aim of this research project is to support the European Commission in: - the identification and characterization of the scale and nature of the gaps between design parameters and actual real performance of “sustainable buildings”; and - the development of an assessment framework with core environmental indicators by analysing the reasons for the gaps and providing guidance to address the problem pro‐actively. Based on desk research, on‐field analyses and stakeholder consultation the following research questions have been answered.

  • Published: 2016-06-03
  • Corporate Author(s): Directorate-General for Environment (European Commission) ; Vito
  • Personal Author(s): Mensinga, Peter ; De Regel, Sofie ; Peeters, Karolien ; Spirinckx, Carolin ; Debacker, Wim
  • Subject: building industry, building safety, building technique, environmental indicator, EU environmental policy, product design, research report, sustainable development
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  Seismic fragility curves for the European building stock
  Review and evaluation of existing fragility curves

  Earthquakes continue to represent a serious threat for some European countries, particularly for Mediterranean bordering countries, where these events have been triggering significant destruction and loss over the last decades. Despite the unpredictable nature of earthquakes, seismic risk assess...

  Earthquakes continue to represent a serious threat for some European countries, particularly for Mediterranean bordering countries, where these events have been triggering significant destruction and loss over the last decades. Despite the unpredictable nature of earthquakes, seismic risk assessment should be addressed having in mind the main cause of damage, which is related to the inadequate seismic resistance of the existing structures such as residential, industrial or cultural heritage buildings. A literature review on the existing methodologies for deriving fragility curves suitable to the European building stock is herein presented. Even though a brief overview of all the existing approaches for deriving fragility curves is made, this report focuses on analytical fragility curves and discusses the most relevant features inherently associated with the computation of these curves. Additionally, these methodologies are qualitatively evaluated by means of different sets of criteria. With this report it is intended to provide a clear insight about the main differences between existing analytical methodologies for deriving fragility curves, highlighting as well some of their most important advantages and drawbacks. The proposed evaluation criteria can be used further on to help not only on the selection of the most suitable fragility curves for a given geographical location and structural typology, but also for the further comparison and validation of fragility curves.

  • Published: 2016-05-04
  • Corporate Author(s): Joint Research Centre (European Commission)
  • Personal Author(s): Tsionis, Georgios ; Maio, Rui
  • Subject: building industry, building materials, building technique, earthquake, industrial research, materials technology, research report, seismic monitoring
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  Supporting study for the fitness check on the construction sector
  EU internal market and energy efficiency legislation : executive summary

  • Published: 2016-10-20
  • Corporate Author(s): BPIE ; CEPS ; DBRI ; Directorate-General for Internal Market, Industry, Entrepreneurship and SMEs (European Commission) ; Economisti Associati ; Milieu
  • Subject: building industry, building regulations, building technique, competitiveness, construction policy, economic analysis, energy efficiency, energy policy, EU law, legislation, simplification of formalities, single market, technical rule
• Written question E-000970/12 Oreste Rossi (EFD) to the Commission. Recycled tyres: crumb rubber for environmentally sustainable roads

  • Published: 2012-02-03
  • Corporate Author(s): European Parliament ; Provisional data
  • Subject: building technique, environmental protection, Framework Programme for Research and Development, pneumatic tyre, road building, road safety