This autumn, IREC will launch two new European projects funded under the LIFE Programme: SOSS4EREC and REFOCUS. Both initiatives, coordinated by international consortia, will contribute to advancing the energy transition by promoting innovative support services for building renovation and citizen-led energy initiatives.

SOSS4EREC (Sustainable One-Stop-Shops for European Renewable Energy Communities) will begin in September 2026 under the coordination of Ambiente Italia. The project seeks to strengthen One-Stop Shop services that support Renewable Energy Communities across Europe by developing new services covering collective self-consumption, energy storage, building renovation, district heating and cooling, flexibility solutions and community governance.

The project will initially be implemented in four European regions, including Catalonia, before expanding its methodology to additional regions through a network of One-Stop Shops. IREC joins a consortium of 13 partners from seven countries (Italy, Spain, the Czech Republic, Austria, Portugal, France and Belgium) working to reinforce citizen participation in the clean energy transition. The institute will contribute its expertise to adapt tools that help validate shared self-consumption schemes, support building renovation strategies and facilitate the electrification of homes.

Starting in October 2026, REFOCUS (Renovation for a FOCUSed strategy on vacant homes and affordable housing solutions) aims to facilitate the energy renovation of vacant homes while helping bring them back onto the rental market, with a particular focus on affordable housing.

Coordinated by Fundació Europace, the project will develop and validate a hybrid One-Stop Shop model offering comprehensive technical, financial and administrative support to property owners. The initiative will first be piloted in the Catalan municipalities of Olot and Sant Joan de les Abadesses, before being scaled up across Catalonia and replicated in other European regions.

IREC will contribute its expertise in energy renovation as part of the seven-partner consortium, providing building modelling tools to characterise vacant buildings, support the design of renovation strategies and contribute to the development of financial models for their implementation.

Both projects will run for 36 months, and the work at IREC is led by Jordi Pascual, together with researchers Soledad Ibañez, Joana Ortiz and Marina Calcagnotto, all from the REACT Department.

These initiatives complement REAHUB, another LIFE Clean Energy Transition project that started in June to support the implementation of the revised Energy Performance of Buildings Directive (EPBD) through data-driven building renovation solutions.

Together, the three projects reinforce IREC’s commitment to developing practical and scalable solutions that accelerate the decarbonisation of buildings while empowering citizens and local communities to play an active role in Europe’s energy transition.

Acknowledgements: Co-funded by the European Union. Views and opinions expressed are however those of the author(s) only and do not necessarily reflect those of the European Union or the European Climate, Infrastructure and Environment Executive Agency (CINEA). Neither the European Union nor the granting authority can be held responsible for them.