HORIZON-CL5-2026-09-D4-01

Researching the technical, social & economic factors impacting the energy performance of Smart Buildings (Built4People Partnership)

Status
open for submission
Programme
Horizon Europe (HORIZON)
Action type
HORIZON Research and Innovation Actions
Opens
5 May 2026
Deadline
15 Sep 2026
Fetched
15 Jul 2026, 07:18 UTC
Plain-language summary

Research technical, social & economic factors affecting energy performance of smart buildings for diverse user groups.

This call seeks research on how smart building technologies impact energy use and occupant comfort across different social and economic groups. Projects should study various building types in multiple countries and develop user-centric recommendations. The goal is to improve smart building design and operation for energy efficiency and occupant well-being.

Likely relevant for

  • Researchers in smart building technologies
  • Social sciences experts on user behavior
  • Energy efficiency and sustainability researchers
  • Building design and architecture professionals
  • Policy makers in energy and housing sectors

Project signals

Focus on smart building user interaction and energy useInclusion of socio-demographic and economic group analysisDevelopment of actionable stakeholder recommendationsContribution to Built4People partnership objectives

What it funds

  • Research on technical, social, and economic factors influencing smart building energy performance
  • Analysis of user interaction with smart building systems across diverse demographic groups
  • Whole-life cycle impacts of smart buildings from design to end-of-life
  • Validation of findings in at least three building categories in different EU Member States or Associated Countries
  • Development of recommendations for stakeholders like equipment providers, architects, and facility managers
  • Integration of Social Sciences and Humanities (SSH) expertise to enhance societal impact

Expected outcomes

  • Improved understanding of factors affecting smart building energy use and occupant satisfaction
  • Enhanced design and operation of user-friendly, effective smart building systems
  • Evidence-based recommendations tailored to diverse social and economic groups
  • Contribution to Built4People partnership goals and KPI monitoring

Who can apply / participate

  • Research organisations
  • Higher education institutions
  • Private companies
  • Public bodies
  • Non-profit organisations
  • Single-stage submission
  • Consortium composition must comply with Horizon Europe rules
  • Eligible entities from EU Member States and Associated Countries
  • Legal entities established in China are not eligible under this destination
  • SSH expertise involvement is mandatory
  • Projects must align with Built4People partnership objectives
  • Specific consortium size and composition requirements
  • Exact eligibility of third countries beyond stated exclusions

Must check before shortlisting

  • Eligibility of participant countries especially non-EU/non-associated
  • Compliance with lump sum funding model
  • Involvement of SSH disciplines as required
  • TRL levels targeted (4-5 by project end)

Money

Total budget around €15.75 million for 2026 with expected grants of approximately €5.25 million each.

  • Total budget for 2026 — 15750000EUR
    Allocated for this specific topic under Horizon Europe
  • Minimum and maximum grant per project — 5250000EUR
    Lump sum funding model applies

Application notes

  • Single-stage submission model with lump sum grant agreement.
  • Proposal page limits and layout as per Horizon Europe General Annexes
  • Eligible countries as per Annex B of Horizon Europe Work Programme
  • Use of Copernicus and/or Galileo/EGNOS data if satellite-based earth observation is involved
  • Financial and operational capacity requirements as per Annex C
  • Evaluation criteria and process as per Annex D and F
  • Prepare proposal following specific application form in Submission System
  • Submit before deadline 15 September 2026
  • Ensure inclusion of SSH expertise and alignment with Built4People partnership
  • Consider involvement of JRC for scientific advice and testing infrastructure
  • Legal entities established in China are not eligible
  • Projects must achieve TRL 4-5 by end of project
  • JRC participation possible with zero funding
  • Lump sum funding requires compliance with specific rules

Derived from official EU Funding portal source · updated 22 Jun 2026, 15:23 UTC. Use this as a shortlisting aid; the official call text remains authoritative.

Related calls

These funding calls are closely related and may be worth considering as part of the same funding landscape.

Official source text

Fine print from the EU source record. Expand when you need the original wording.

Topic description

Expected Outcome: Project results are expected to contribute to all of the following expected outcomes: Increased evidence of factors such as physiological, behavioural, social, environmental and cultural that influence how different user and demographic groups perceive and use smart, secured, integrated energy efficient building systems, and how it affects the building whole-life cycle and energy savings, as well as occupant satisfaction, health and well-being; The design and operation of smart building systems and smart buildings are improved making them more user-friendly and effective. Scope: Significant investments have been made in developing hardware and software for smart buildings. There is still limited understanding how smart buildings solutions impact the energy performance of buildings and users’ comfort in practice. Research is required on the technical, social, and economic factors that influence how different groups – defined by their social, educational, age, and financial status – use and interact with smart buildings and systems. The whole-life cycle impacts of smart building have to be better understood, from design and construction to operation, maintenance, end-of-life and circular re-use, to ensure delivery of sustainable and cost-effective smart building solutions. Proposals are expected to address all of the following: Research and quantify how existing and novel smart building solutions meet the needs of different social and economic groups (based on their gender, age, educational and financial status, etc.); Identify major barriers and enablers for the use of smart building solutions among different socio-demographic and socio-economic groups, and research how it impacts the energy performance of buildings; Validate of findings in at least three different categories of existing buildings (e.g. private residential, social housing, commercial building, office building, etc.), each one in a different Member State or Associated Country. Develop actionable recommendations tailored to key stakeholders (such as equipment providers, architects, building owners and facility managers) to support the design, deployment and operation of inclusive, user-centric smart building solutions. This topic requires the effective contribution of SSH disciplines and the involvement of SSH experts, institutions as well as the inclusion of relevant SSH expertise, in order to produce meaningful and significant effects enhancing the societal impact of the related research activities. This topic implements the co-programmed European Partnership on ‘People-centric sustainable built environment’ (Built4People). As such, projects resulting from this topic will be expected to contribute to the objectives of Built4People, transfer knowledge to its network of innovation clusters [1] and report on results in support of the monitoring of the Built4People KPIs. Selected proposals could consider the involvement of the European Commission's Joint Research Centre (JRC) whose contribution could consist of scientific advice and technical analysis of solutions and technologies, support to the transfer of research output to standards, and access to the European Laboratory for Structural Assessment research infrastructure for full-scale testing of buildings. null Activities are expected to achieve TRL 4-5 by the end of the project – see General Annex B. Activities may start at any TRL. [1] https://built4people.eu/b4pic_network/

Destination

This Destination targets the energy demand side, notably a more efficient use of energy in buildings and industry. It contributes to the activities of the Strategic Energy Technology Plan (SET Plan) and its implementation working groups. This Destination contributes directly to the Strategic Plan’s Key Strategic Orientations ‘ Green transition ’, ‘ Digital transition ’ and ‘ A more resilient, competitive, inclusive and democratic Europe ’. In line with the Strategic Plan, the overall expected impact of this Destination is to contribute to the ‘Using energy in buildings and industry in an efficient, affordable and sustainable way’ . The main impacts to be generated by topics under this Destination are: Highly energy-efficient and climate neutral European building stock The energy performance of the European building stock is improved at an accelerated pace, contributing to the EU's energy security, while the buildings and the built environment have reduced climate and environmental impact throughout their life cycle. The energy renovation and construction of buildings are cost-efficient, affordable and less disruptive. The buildings are increasingly interacting with the users, energy system and their environment while operating in an integrated, resilient, secure, smart and flexible manner. The buildings and the built environment are more climate resilient, accessible, inclusive and delivers multiple benefits which improve the quality of life, health and well-being for all users. Industry The energy efficiency of EU energy intensive industries is improved, their consumption of fossil fuel and their GHG and other pollutants emissions are drastically reduced, notably through cost-effective electrification, use of renewable energy, heat recovery, thereby preserving / enhancing their global competitiveness. Legal entities established in China are not eligible to participate in both Research and Innovation Actions (RIAs) and Innovation Actions (IAs) falling under this destination. For additional information please see “Restrictions on the participation of legal entities established in China” found in General Annex B of the General Annexes.

Conditions and documents

General conditions

1. Admissibility Conditions: Proposal page limit and layout

described in Annex A and Annex E of the Horizon Europe Work Programme General Annexes.

Proposal page limits and layout: described in Part B of the Application Form available in the Submission System.

2. Eligible Countries

described in Annex B of the Work Programme General Annexes.

A number of non-EU/non-Associated Countries that are not automatically eligible for funding have made specific provisions for making funding available for their participants in Horizon Europe projects. See the information in the Horizon Europe Programme Guide.

3. Other Eligible Conditions

If projects use satellite-based earth observation, positioning, navigation and/or related timing data and services, beneficiaries must make use of Copernicus and/or Galileo/EGNOS (other data and services may additionally be used).

The Joint Research Centre (JRC) may participate as member of the consortium selected for funding as a beneficiary with zero funding, or as an associated partner. The JRC will not participate in the preparation and submission of the proposal - see General Annex B.

described in Annex B of the Work Programme General Annexes.

4. Financial and operational capacity and exclusion

described in Annex C of the Work Programme General Annexes.

5a. Evaluation and award: Award criteria, scoring and thresholds

are described in Annex D of the Work Programme General Annexes.

5b. Evaluation and award: Submission and evaluation processes

are described in Annex F of the Work Programme General Annexes and the Online Manual.

5c. Evaluation and award: Indicative timeline for evaluation and grant agreement

described in Annex F of the Work Programme General Annexes.

6. Legal and financial set-up of the grants

Eligible costs will take the form of a lump sum as defined in the Decision of 7 July 2021 authorising the use of lump sum contributions under the Horizon Europe Programme – the Framework Programme for Research and Innovation (2021-2027) – and in actions under the Research and Training Programme of the European Atomic Energy Community (2021-2025) [[This decision is available on the Funding and Tenders Portal, in the reference documents section for Horizon Europe, under ‘Simplified costs decisions’ or through this link: https://ec.europa.eu/info/funding-tenders/opportunities/docs/2021-2027/horizon/guidance/ls-decision_he_en.pdf]].

described in Annex G of the Work Programme General Annexes.

Specific conditions

described in the [specific topic of the Work Programme]

Support information

Online Manual is your guide on the procedures from proposal submission to managing your grant. Horizon Europe Programme Guide contains the detailed guidance to the structure, budget and political priorities of Horizon Europe. Funding & Tenders Portal FAQ – find the answers to most frequently asked questions on submission of proposals, evaluation and grant management. Research Enquiry Service – ask questions about any aspect of European research in general and the EU Research Framework Programmes in particular. National Contact Points (NCPs) – get guidance, practical information and assistance on participation in Horizon Europe. There are also NCPs in many non-EU and non-associated countries (‘third-countries’). Enterprise Europe Network – contact your EEN national contact for advice to businesses with special focus on SMEs. The support includes guidance on the EU research funding. IT Helpdesk – contact the Funding & Tenders Portal IT helpdesk for questions such as forgotten passwords, access rights and roles, technical aspects of submission of proposals, etc. European IPR Helpdesk assists you on intellectual property issues. CEN-CENELEC Research Helpdesk and ETSI Research Helpdesk – the European Standards Organisations advise you how to tackle standardisation in your project proposal. The European Charter for Researchers and the Code of Conduct for their recruitment – consult the general principles and requirements specifying the roles, responsibilities and entitlements of researchers, employers and funders of researchers. Partner Search help you find a partner organisation for your proposal.

Raw budget overview
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