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

Overview

The HORIZON-CL5-2026-09-D4-01 grant opportunity under Horizon Europe focuses on researching the technical, social, and economic factors affecting the energy performance of Smart Buildings. This initiative is part of the Built4People Partnership, aimed at creating a user-centric, sustainable built environment. A total budget of €15.75 million is allocated for this call, supporting approximately three projects with a maximum contribution of €5.25 million each.

Eligible applicants include universities, research institutions, SMEs, large enterprises, public entities, and non-profit organizations that can contribute to the research. The application process is structured as a single-stage submission, with a planned opening on May 5, 2026, and a submission deadline on September 15, 2026.

The project targets sectors related to energy efficiency and sustainable building practices, emphasizing the inclusion of Social Sciences and Humanities (SSH) expertise. Proposals must evaluate how various socio-demographic and socio-economic factors influence user interaction with smart buildings. Applicants are required to validate findings across at least three distinct categories of buildings in different EU Member States or Associated Countries.

The objective is to generate actionable recommendations for stakeholders, such as equipment providers and facility managers, while also ensuring broader contributions to EU policy priorities, including climate and energy targets. Collaborations with the European Commission's Joint Research Centre may provide additional technical support and access to research facilities.

Overall, the call seeks innovative projects that bridge the gap between the development of smart building technologies and their practical application, ensuring these solutions are effective, user-friendly, and accessible to diverse populations.

Detail

This is a Horizon Europe call, specifically HORIZON-CL5-2026-09-D4-01, focusing on researching the technical, social, and economic factors impacting the energy performance of Smart Buildings under the Built4People Partnership. It falls under the broader BATTERIES and ENERGY (HORIZON-CL5-2026-09) call within the Horizon Europe (HORIZON) program. The action type is HORIZON-RIA, which stands for Horizon Research and Innovation Actions, and the Model Grant Agreement (MGA) type is HORIZON Lump Sum Grant [HORIZON-AG-LS].

The call is forthcoming with a single-stage deadline model. The planned opening date is May 5, 2026, and the deadline for submission is September 15, 2026, at 17:00:00 Brussels time.

The expected outcomes of projects funded under this call are:

Increased evidence of factors such as physiological, behavioral, social, environmental, and cultural aspects that influence how different user and demographic groups perceive and use smart, secured, integrated energy-efficient building systems. This includes understanding how these factors affect the building's whole-life cycle, energy savings, occupant satisfaction, health, and well-being.
Improved design and operation of smart building systems and smart buildings, making them more user-friendly and effective.

The scope of the call is as follows:

Despite significant investments in smart building hardware and software, there's a limited understanding of how these solutions impact energy performance and user comfort in practice.
Research is needed on the technical, social, and economic factors influencing the interaction of different groups (defined by social, educational, age, and financial status) with smart buildings and systems.
A better understanding of the whole-life cycle impacts of smart buildings is required, from design and construction to operation, maintenance, end-of-life, and circular re-use, to ensure sustainable and cost-effective solutions.

Proposals should address all of the following:

Research and quantify how existing and novel smart building solutions meet the needs of different social and economic groups, considering gender, age, educational and financial status.
Identify major barriers and enablers for the use of smart building solutions among different socio-demographic and socio-economic groups, and research their impact on building energy performance.
Validate findings in at least three different categories of existing buildings (e.g., private residential, social housing, commercial building, office building), each in a different Member State or Associated Country.
Develop actionable recommendations tailored to key stakeholders (equipment providers, architects, building owners, facility managers) to support the design, deployment, and operation of inclusive, user-centric smart building solutions.

The call emphasizes the importance of Social Sciences and Humanities (SSH) disciplines and expertise to enhance the societal impact of the research activities. It also implements the co-programmed European Partnership on ‘People-centric sustainable built environment’ (Built4People), expecting projects to contribute to its objectives, transfer knowledge to its network of innovation clusters, and report on results supporting the monitoring of Built4People KPIs. Selected proposals may involve the European Commission's Joint Research Centre (JRC) for scientific advice, technical analysis, support for transferring research output to standards, and access to the European Laboratory for Structural Assessment research infrastructure.

This call falls under the destination of "Using energy in buildings and industry in an efficient, affordable and sustainable way (2026-27)," targeting the energy demand side and contributing to the Strategic Energy Technology Plan (SET Plan). It aligns with the Strategic Plan’s Key Strategic Orientations: ‘Green transition’, ‘Digital transition’, and ‘A more resilient, competitive, inclusive and democratic Europe’. The expected impacts include 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 setup of the grants. Eligible costs will take the form of a lump sum.

Application forms, evaluation forms, model grant agreements, and additional documents such as the Horizon Europe Programme Guide, Framework Programme, Specific Programme Decision, EU Financial Regulation, and rules for legal entity validation are available on the Funding & Tenders Portal.

The budget overview indicates that the HORIZON-CL5-2026-09-D4-01 topic has a budget of 15,750,000 EUR for the year 2026, and it is expected to fund around 3 projects with a contribution of around 5,250,000 EUR each. Other related topics under the same call are also listed with their respective budgets and indicative number of grants.

Partner search announcements are available for those seeking collaboration on this topic. The submission system is planned to open on May 5, 2026.

In summary, this Horizon Europe call seeks research and innovation projects that address the socio-economic and technical aspects of smart buildings to improve their energy performance, user-friendliness, and overall sustainability. It emphasizes the importance of considering diverse user groups and the whole-life cycle impacts of smart building solutions. The call aims to contribute to the EU's goals of achieving a highly energy-efficient and climate-neutral building stock and promoting a people-centric sustainable built environment.

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Breakdown

Eligible Applicant Types: The eligible applicant types are not explicitly defined in the provided text. However, based on the nature of Horizon Europe Research and Innovation Actions (RIA) and Innovation Actions (IA), eligible applicants can include universities, research institutes, SMEs, large enterprises, and other legal entities capable of conducting research and innovation activities. The Joint Research Centre (JRC) can participate as a member of the consortium.

Funding Type: The primary financial mechanism is a grant, specifically through HORIZON Research and Innovation Actions (RIA) and HORIZON Innovation Actions (IA). The eligible costs will take the form of a lump sum.

Consortium Requirement: The text does not explicitly state whether a single applicant or a consortium is required. However, given the scope and nature of Horizon Europe projects, a consortium of multiple applicants is generally expected, although single applicants might be eligible in some cases. The Joint Research Centre (JRC) may participate as member of the consortium.

Beneficiary Scope (Geographic Eligibility): The primary geographic eligibility is focused on EU Member States and Associated Countries as 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.

Target Sector: The program targets the following sectors: energy, buildings, industry, climate, green transition, digital transition, and research and innovation. Specifically, it focuses on energy efficiency in buildings and industry, smart buildings, and the built environment.

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. Other countries are implicitly included through the eligibility of EU Member States and Associated Countries.

Project Stage: The project stages targeted include research, development, and innovation. The program aims to bridge the gap between hardware/software development and real-world energy performance in smart buildings, suggesting a focus on validation and demonstration as well.

Funding Amount: The funding amounts vary depending on the specific topic within the call. The indicative budgets for the listed topics are:
HORIZON-CL5-2026-09-D2-01: EUR 28,300,000 (around EUR 7,100,000 per grant, 4 grants)
HORIZON-CL5-2026-09-D2-04: EUR 9,400,000 (around EUR 9,400,000 per grant, 1 grant)
HORIZON-CL5-2026-09-D3-03: EUR 93,000,000 (around EUR 93,000,000 per grant, 1 grant)
HORIZON-CL5-2026-09-D4-01: EUR 15,750,000 (around EUR 5,250,000 per grant, 3 grants)
HORIZON-CL5-2026-09-D4-02: EUR 28,000,000 (around EUR 7,000,000 per grant, 4 grants)
HORIZON-CL5-2026-09-D4-03: EUR 15,750,000 (around EUR 5,250,000 per grant, 3 grants)
HORIZON-CL5-2026-09-D4-04: EUR 15,000,000 (around EUR 5,000,000 per grant, 3 grants)
HORIZON-CL5-2026-09-D4-08: EUR 18,000,000 (around EUR 9,000,000 per grant, 2 grants)

Application Type: The application type is an open call with a single-stage submission process.

Nature of Support: Beneficiaries will receive monetary support in the form of a lump sum grant. 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.

Application Stages: The application process involves a single stage.

Success Rates: The success rates are not explicitly mentioned, but the indicative number of grants for each topic provides some insight into the potential success rate, which would depend on the number of proposals received.

Co-funding Requirement: The text does not explicitly mention a co-funding requirement.

Summary: This Horizon Europe call, part of the BATTERIES and ENERGY program (HORIZON-CL5-2026-09), focuses on "Researching the technical, social & economic factors impacting the energy performance of Smart Buildings (Built4People Partnership)." It aims to address the limited understanding of how smart building solutions affect energy performance and user comfort. The call invites proposals for Research and Innovation Actions (RIA) and Innovation Actions (IA) that research and quantify how existing and novel smart building solutions meet the needs of different social and economic groups, identify barriers and enablers for smart building solution use, validate findings in various building categories across different Member States or Associated Countries, and develop actionable recommendations for stakeholders. The call emphasizes the contribution of Social Sciences and Humanities (SSH) disciplines and the involvement of SSH experts. The indicative budgets for the topics range from approximately EUR 9.4 million to EUR 93 million, with a single-stage application process and a planned opening date of May 5, 2026, and a deadline of September 15, 2026. 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.

Short Summary

Impact
This funding aims to research and quantify how smart building solutions meet the needs of different social and economic groups, identify barriers and enablers for their use, and develop actionable recommendations for stakeholders.
Applicant
Applicants should possess expertise in social sciences, humanities, and technical fields related to smart buildings, energy efficiency, and user-centric design.
Developments
Funding will support research into the technical, social, and economic factors impacting the energy performance of smart buildings, focusing on user interaction and satisfaction.
Applicant Type
Universities, research institutes, SMEs, large enterprises, public institutions, and non-profit organizations are eligible to apply.
Consortium
A consortium is required, involving multiple beneficiaries from different entities across at least three Member States or Associated Countries.
Funding Amount
€5,250,000 per project, with a total budget of €15,750,000 for this call.
Countries
Projects must validate findings in at least three different Member States or Associated Countries, but no specific countries are mentioned.
Industry
The funding targets the energy and buildings sector, specifically focusing on smart buildings and energy efficiency.

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