It's a brand new sector: the first steps date back to 2012. Today energy crowdfunding is a way of financing solar panel or wind turbine projects.

In the late 1980s, the German-born chemist Michael Grätzel literally tied his name to an invention that is hailed as a  revolution in renewable energy .

To date, European consumers pay more for energy from renewables than for energy from conventional resources. One of the reasons is still the immaturity of the technology used for harnessing and distributing renewable energy.

Traditionally our electricity grids were designed to move power from large nuclear and fossil fuel power plants to consumers, but renewable energy will see changes to allow smaller power generation from wind and solar to be hooked up to the grid.

The European grid already faces transmission challenges, as the alternative current (AC) infrastructure has almost reached its transport capacity.

To tackle climate change, new buildings are required to consume as little energy as possible . That’s because, in Europe, buildings are responsible for about 40% of our energy consumption.

Those who live in low-energy buildings are not experts. But energy professionals have been aware of the importance of meeting their needs, right from conception stage.

A well-accepted measure for climate protection involves reducing greenhouse gas emissions . And buildings have the greatest energy saving potential, according to the official EU Energy Efficiency Plan 2011 .

The construction of a building does not only start with its design by architects and engineers.

Ulrich Filippi Oberegger is a senior researcher in the energy management in buildings group of the Institute for Renewable Energy of EURAC Research . He tells youris.

The building sector has traditionally been fragmented. Many different actors are involved at different stages, from the design to the performance monitoring stage.

EnginSoft , is an Italian consultancy specialised in computer-aided-engineering. It has experience of contributing to the development of low energy buildings, under the EU-funded DIRECTION research project.

To make a building sustainable, taking into account its climatic conditions is key. No better examples than the three showcase buildings under the EU funded  DIRECTION project.

Carlos Bárcena, head of R&D Projects at the Spanish construction Company  DRAGADOS .

A new Directive, dubbed the energy performance of buildings Directive (EPBD), brings the new concept of net -zero energy buildings (NZEB) meaning buildings with a zero energy balance that have a better level of energy performance than the standard energy efficiency requirements in current building codes.

Going from modern energy efficient houses to historic buildings must have been a big leap for you.

Maguy Soldevila is a former art teacher. Some years ago, she quit the frenzy and the pollution of the French city of Lyon to move into a typical house of the 1960s, in the small village of Sail-sous-Couzan.

Francesco is an Italian lawyer. He lives in Rome and is now about to move into a new apartment. “It’s a way to get closer to my office,” he says. “I don’t have a car, I just ride bicycle.

The economic consequences of the Covid-19 pandemic should not delay the European Union's ambitious climate change measures. The Commission has confirmed that the work on long-term policy priorities such as the Green Deal is continuing.

From home automation to bill management, our relationship with the electric systems in buildings is nowadays mainly based on the use of applications .