Advanced data platforms to integrate whole life carbon in building information tools, assessments, and certification (Built4People Partnership)

The Horizon Europe call for proposals is titled "Advanced data platforms to integrate whole life carbon in building information tools, assessments, and certification," and has the identifier HORIZON-CL5-2026-09-D4-03. It falls under the Built4People Partnership and aims to improve sustainability in the built environment by developing advanced digital platforms that integrate whole life carbon data. This innovation action, classified as HORIZON-IA, offers a total funding pool of €15.75 million, expecting to award around three grants of €5.25 million each.

The expected outcomes from this initiative include enhanced building information tools and assessments utilizing digital data exchange platforms, accurate life cycle inventories of embodied environmental flows, and better integration of sustainability standards with EU legislation—specifically aligned with the Energy Performance of Buildings Directive and Construction Products Regulation.

Eligible applicants include legal entities from EU member states and associated countries, encompassing a diverse mix of universities, research institutes, private companies, public entities, and professional bodies in the construction and energy sectors. The call emphasizes collaborative consortia involving various stakeholders along the construction value chain, requiring validation in at least three large-scale pilot projects.

The application process is open and structured as a single-stage submission, with a planned opening date on May 5, 2026, and a deadline on September 15, 2026. The funding mechanism is a lump sum grant, which simplifies financial management for beneficiaries.

The project aims to develop digital platforms for comprehensive assessment of building carbon footprints, effective integration with current building standards, and promotion of sustainable construction practices. It intends to leverage advanced analytics to enhance data interoperability among building performance certifications.

By achieving these goals, the initiative supports broader EU climate objectives, promoting a transition towards energy-efficient and climate-neutral buildings. The successful projects will not only contribute to knowledge within the Built4People network but also align with strategic EU priorities surrounding green and digital transitions, sustainable construction, and resilience in the built environment. Eligibility excludes entities based in China, while projects must validate their platforms against diverse climatic and regional conditions across Europe.

The EU Funding and Tenders Portal presents a call for proposals under the Horizon Europe Programme, specifically within the BATTERIES and ENERGY (HORIZON-CL5-2026-09) call. The topic is titled "Advanced data platforms to integrate whole life carbon in building information tools, assessments, and certification (Built4People Partnership)" and its identifier is HORIZON-CL5-2026-09-D4-03.

This is a HORIZON Innovation Action (HORIZON-IA) with a HORIZON Lump Sum Grant [HORIZON-AG-LS] type of Model Grant Agreement (MGA). It follows a single-stage deadline model. The planned opening date is 05 May 2026, and the deadline for submission is 15 September 2026 at 17:00:00 Brussels time.

The expected outcomes of the projects resulting from this call are: an increased number of building information tools, assessments and/or certificates that utilize digital data exchange platforms; more accurate and reliable EU-aligned life cycle inventories of embodied environmental flows in construction materials and products; an increased number of existing building standards and certification schemes referencing Global Warming Potential (GWP) to support national decarbonization strategies aligned with European legislation (Energy Performance of Buildings Directive, Construction Products Regulation, delegated acts, voluntary label for carbon footprint of steel, Delegated Act for carbon removal certification in long-lasting products); and improved data availability and interoperability for whole life carbon assessments across different building lifecycle stages.

The scope of this topic focuses on the Energy Performance of Buildings Directive (EPBD) recast, which emphasizes whole life carbon and the calculation of the global warming potential (GWP) of buildings. The call aims to build upon existing data analytics tools that integrate building energy performance certificates (EPCs) with other tools like the Smart Readiness Indicator (SRI), Building Renovation Passports (BRPs), and Digital Building Logbooks. It calls for further integration of whole life carbon data in energy information tools to capture both operational carbon (energy used during the building's use phase) and embodied carbon (associated with extraction of raw materials, manufacturing, transportation, construction, and eventual disposal or recycling), as well as the (potential for) carbon removal in sustainably sourced construction products. The call also highlights the need for robust life cycle assessments based on accurate and reliable national and international life cycle inventories of embodied environmental flows to establish a solid construction digital product passport system.

Proposals should demonstrate digital data exchange platforms for buildings to enable the development of comprehensive building information tools, assessments, and/or certificates. These platforms should incorporate data from whole life carbon assessments, national/international databases of embodied flow coefficients for construction materials and products, Digital Product Passports, Energy Performance Certificates, Smart Readiness Indicators, Building Renovation Passports, and Digital Building Logbooks. Advanced data analytics and existing recognized data standards should be used to exchange data and ensure interoperability with real-time digital twins and BIM-based models. The proposed platforms must be validated in at least three large-scale pilots encompassing a range of building types (residential, commercial, educational, etc.) and addressing diverse use cases (energy monitoring, renovation optimization, etc.).

This topic implements the co-programmed European Partnership on ‘People-centric sustainable built environment’ (Built4People). Projects are expected to contribute to the objectives of Built4People, transfer knowledge to its network of innovation clusters, and report on results in support of the monitoring of the Built4People KPIs.

This call contributes to the destination of "Using energy in buildings and industry in an efficient, affordable and sustainable way (2026-27)", targeting the energy demand side and efficient energy use in buildings and industry. It aligns with the Strategic Energy Technology Plan (SET Plan) and its implementation working groups. It also contributes to the Strategic Plan’s Key Strategic Orientations ‘Green transition’, ‘Digital transition’ and ‘A more resilient, competitive, inclusive and democratic Europe’.

The main impacts of this destination are expected to be a highly energy-efficient and climate-neutral European building stock and improved energy efficiency in EU energy-intensive industries. 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.

General conditions for participation include admissibility conditions, eligible countries, other eligible conditions, financial and operational capacity and exclusion, evaluation and award criteria, submission and evaluation processes, indicative timeline for evaluation and grant agreement, and legal and financial set-up of the grants. Specific conditions are described in the specific topic of the Work Programme.

Application and evaluation forms and model grant agreements (MGA) are available in the Submission System. Additional documents include the HE Main Work Programme 2026-2027, HE Programme Guide, HE Framework Programme, HE Specific Programme Decision, EU Financial Regulation, Decision authorizing the use of lump sum contributions, Rules for Legal Entity Validation, and the EU Grants AGA.

The budget overview indicates that for the HORIZON-CL5-2026-09-D4-03 topic, the budget is 15,750,000 EUR, and the indicative number of grants is around 3.

Partner search announcements are available for those seeking partners to collaborate on this topic. The submission system is planned to be opened on the date stated on the topic header.

This funding opportunity aims to foster the development and validation of advanced data platforms that integrate whole-life carbon assessments into building information tools. By leveraging digital data exchange, advanced analytics, and recognized data standards, the goal is to create a comprehensive and interoperable framework for assessing and improving the sustainability of buildings throughout their entire lifecycle. This initiative supports the objectives of the Energy Performance of Buildings Directive (EPBD) and the Built4People partnership, ultimately contributing to a more energy-efficient, climate-neutral, and sustainable built environment in Europe. The focus is on creating digital tools and platforms that can accurately assess the carbon footprint of buildings, from the extraction of raw materials to the end-of-life disposal or recycling, and to promote the use of sustainable construction products and practices. The successful projects will demonstrate these platforms in real-world pilot settings, ensuring their applicability and effectiveness across various building types and use cases.

Eligible Applicant Types: The eligible applicant types are not explicitly stated, but based on the nature of Horizon Europe calls, they typically include a mix of legal entities such as universities, research institutes, SMEs, large enterprises, and other organizations capable of conducting research and innovation activities. Given that this is an Innovation Action, the focus is likely on entities that can demonstrate and validate new technologies or solutions.

Funding Type: The funding type is a grant, specifically a HORIZON Lump Sum Grant, as indicated by the Type of MGA (Model Grant Agreement) being "HORIZON Lump Sum Grant [HORIZON-AG-LS]".

Consortium Requirement: The opportunity does not explicitly state whether a single applicant or a consortium is required. However, given the scope of the projects, which involves demonstrating digital data exchange platforms, using advanced data analytics, and validating platforms in large-scale pilots, it is highly likely that a consortium of multiple applicants with diverse expertise is expected.

Beneficiary Scope (Geographic Eligibility): The geographic eligibility is primarily focused on EU member states and associated countries participating in Horizon Europe. The general conditions mention eligible countries as described in Annex B of the Work Programme General Annexes, and that 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.

Target Sector: The primary target sectors are energy, buildings, construction, and ICT, with a focus on the built environment, digital technologies, and data analytics. Specifically, it targets the integration of whole life carbon data into building information tools, life cycle assessments, and digital platforms.

Mentioned Countries: China is explicitly mentioned as 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. The primary geographic focus is on the EU and associated countries.

Project Stage: The expected maturity of the project is at the innovation action stage, which involves demonstration, piloting, and validation of new technologies or solutions. The call specifically mentions validating proposed platforms in at least three large-scale pilots.

Funding Amount: The budget overview provides specific budget allocations for different topics within the call. For the topic "HORIZON-CL5-2026-09-D4-03 - HORIZON-IA," which is the focus of the detailed description, the budget is EUR 15,750,000, and the indicative number of grants is around 3. This suggests that the funding range per project is approximately EUR 5.25 million. Other topics have different budget allocations and indicative numbers of grants.

Application Type: The application type is an open call, as indicated by the single-stage submission process and the forthcoming deadline model.

Nature of Support: The beneficiaries will receive money in the form of a lump sum grant to support their research, development, and innovation activities.

Application Stages: The application process involves a single stage, as indicated by the "single-stage" deadline model.

Success Rates: The success rates can be inferred from the "Budget overview" section, which provides the "Indicative number of grants" for each topic. For example, topic HORIZON-CL5-2026-09-D4-03 has an indicative number of 3 grants. The actual success rate would depend on the number of proposals received, which is not provided in the document.

Co-funding Requirement: The document does not explicitly mention a co-funding requirement. As Horizon Europe grants typically fund a significant portion of the project costs, co-funding may not be mandatory but could strengthen the proposal.

Summary:

This Horizon Europe call, under the BATTERIES and ENERGY theme (HORIZON-CL5-2026-09), focuses on "Advanced data platforms to integrate whole life carbon in building information tools, assessments, and certification" within the Built4People Partnership. The call aims to enhance building sustainability by integrating whole life carbon data into energy information tools and promoting robust life cycle assessments. The specific topic, HORIZON-CL5-2026-09-D4-03, is an Innovation Action (HORIZON-IA) with a budget of EUR 15.75 million, expected to fund around 3 projects.

The core objective is to develop and demonstrate digital data exchange platforms for buildings, incorporating data from various sources like whole life carbon assessments, Digital Product Passports, Energy Performance Certificates, and Building Renovation Passports. These platforms should utilize advanced data analytics and recognized data standards to ensure interoperability with real-time digital twins and BIM-based models. Projects must validate their platforms through at least three large-scale pilots, encompassing diverse building types and use cases.

Eligible applicants should form consortia capable of demonstrating digital platforms, conducting life cycle assessments, and executing large-scale pilots. The call contributes to the Strategic Energy Technology Plan (SET Plan) and aligns with the EU's Green and Digital Transition objectives. Legal entities from China are not eligible for this call. The funding mechanism is a lump sum grant, and the application process is a single-stage submission. The call seeks to improve the energy performance of the European building stock, reduce climate and environmental impact, and enhance the quality of life through more sustainable and efficient buildings.