Latest News from WP4: Coordination of Demonstrators in DeCO2

Since the start of the DeCO2 project, Work Package 4 (WP4) has been steadily building the backbone for the project’s demonstration activities. WP4 brings together three real-life demonstrators and one digital demonstrator, ensuring alignment in timing, methodology and knowledge exchange, while maintaining close interaction with all other work packages.

From Concept to Implementation

During the early project phase, WP4 focused on defining the roles, scope and interfaces of each demonstrator, establishing coordination structures and setting up regular exchanges between technical, social and digital partners. With these foundations in place, the demonstrators have now moved decisively from planning into implementation and testing.

Demo 1 – Limerick, Ireland: Advancing Sustainable Construction

At the Irish demonstration site in Limerick, progress continues across multiple technical workstreams. Since project start, successive insulation prototypes have been developed and tested, with the fourth insulation panel now undergoing on site testing under real-world conditions. In parallel, green roof test beds (intensive and extensive) are being specified to assess environmental and structural performance.

Material innovation remains a key focus: work is ongoing to replace polymer-based components in green roof systems with more sustainable alternatives, and a major milestone has been reached in bio-based insulation development. Following successful cultivation, the team has begun scaling up Turkey Tail mushroom mycelium insulation panels, moving a promising circular material solution closer to practical application. Energy efficiency improvements at the site, including upgraded lighting and the evaluation of a window replacement tender, further support the retrofit objectives.

Demo 2 – Valencia, Spain: Timber Innovation Takes Shape

In Spain, the WP4-coordinated timber demonstrator has reached an important milestone with the selection of the winning design for the experimental timber structure. Developed through an academic design competition in collaboration with the Maderamen Chair at the Universitat Politècnica de València, the winning concept “3X3 TIMBER” exemplifies modularity, reusability and low-carbon construction.

The design provides a flexible timber frame for testing and monitoring innovative construction technologies developed within DeCO2. Over the coming months, the design will be further refined and constructed during a Design & Build workshop, after which it will serve as a living lab for real-life assessment of decarbonisation solutions.

Demo 3 – Graz-St. Peter, Austria: Co-Creation with Residents

Demo 3 highlights the social dimension of decarbonisation. Since September 2024, a Living Lab has been successfully established in the Graz-St. Peter terraced housing estate, enabling continuous engagement with residents. To date, 16 workshops have been held with a core group of residents who have organised themselves into working groups to prioritise renovation measures and co-create guidelines for selecting demonstration apartments.

Broader stakeholder integration has been achieved through surveys, community events and informal engagement formats, reaching approximately 26% of residents. These activities ensure that technical innovations are aligned with residents’ needs, expectations and acceptance, strengthening the social robustness of the project’s solutions.

Demo 4 – Digital Demonstrator: BIM-Based LCA Goes Live

The digital demonstrator has evolved into one of the methodological pillars of DeCO2. The CemBOX digital twin with integrated LCA module now enables automated, BIM-based life cycle assessments covering construction and operational stages. By dynamically linking BIM data with environmental databases and real energy consumption, the tool provides up-to-date environmental impact results, supporting early design decisions and scenario comparisons. Ongoing development will further expand the tool’s capabilities, including dynamic decarbonisation scenario simulations and closer integration with DeCO2’s circularity tools.

Looking Ahead

With all demonstrators now actively producing results, WP4 continues to focus on cross-demonstrator learning, consistency and feedback loops between physical and digital solutions. The coming phase will strengthen integration across work packages, ensuring that insights from each demonstrator contribute directly to the development, validation and scaling of DeCO2’s decarbonisation pathways.