New European Bauhaus Prizes 2023

Project category

Identify the award category for which this project is being submitted
Shaping a circular industrial ecosystem and supporting life-cycle thinking

Email user
jana.simcinova@cvut.cz

Basic information
Project title
Envilop

Full Project Title
Fully prefabricated lightweight wood based facade system - Envilop

Please provide a short, catchy description of your project to be used in communication towards the public.
Envilop is an innovative prefabricated lightweight timber-based envelope. It is designed for low carbon renovations of larger public buildings. It replaces commonly used metal structures with timber elements and is designed for passive houses. Prefabrication allows for quick and clean replacement of the building envelope. Its first major implementation was on the complete renovation of a secondary school in Prague. The building achieved a zero energy standard, also thanks to the use of Envilop.

What was the geographical scope of your project?
National

Where was your project implemented?
Member State(s) and Western Balkans
Czechia

If relevant, insert names of region(s)/municipality(ies) involved
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Does your project address mainly urban or rural issues?
Mainly urban

Does your project refer to a physical transformation of the built environment or other types of transformations (hard or soft investments)?
It refers to a physical transformation of the built environment (hard investment)

Has your project benefited from EU programmes and/or funds?
Yes

Which fund(s)?
ERDF : European Regional Development Fund

Here you can provide more details about the name of the specific programme, strand/action line as relevant, and the year
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Has your project won an EU prize with a monetary value awarded?
No

Is your project fully completed
Yes

Please indicate a date (mm/yy)
2015-06-30

On whose behalf are you submitting the application?
As a representative of an organisation
Please provide the contact details for the project promoter (the individual or representative of the organisation authorised to represent the project)
- Name of the organisation(s): University Centre for Energy Efficiency Building, CTU in Prague
  Type of organisation: University or another research institution
  First name of representative: Jana
  Last name of representative: Simcinova
  Gender: Female
  Nationality: Czechia
  If relevant, please select your other nationality: Czechia
  Function: Marketing manager
  Address (country of permanent residence for individuals or address of the organisation)<br/>Street and number: Trinecka 1024
  Town: Bustehrad
  Postal code: 27343
  Country: Czechia
  Direct Tel: +420 605 924 801
  E-mail: jana.simcinova@cvut.cz
  Website: http://uceeb.cvut.cz
Social Media accounts (Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn, Instagram, etc.)
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In case my project is selected as a finalist of the NEB Prizes 2023, I agree to share the name (individual and/or organisation’s), email address, website and social media accounts indicated above with other NEB Prizes finalists. I also agree to publish the name (individual and/or organisation’s), website and social media accounts indicated above next to the public description of my project in the channels of the European Commission.
Yes

How did you hear about the New European Bauhaus Prizes?
New European Bauhaus or European Commission websites

Description of the project
Please provide a summary of your project.
The Envilop was developed of a system solution for replacement of old curtain walls at nonresidential buildings from sixties and seventies 20th century. The main idea was to develop a prefabricated system using modern wood products as an alternative to usual metallic constructions. Envilop is a lightweight wood-based envelope developed at the Czech Technical University in Prague. By maximizing prefabrication, it allows for very fast on-site implementation, its thermal insulation properties are designed for energy passive and zero-energy homes, and most importantly, its carbon footprint and primary energy consumption is 50-80% lower than conventional metal-based envelopes. In 2022, the first implementation for the complete renovation of a secondary school in Prague was completed. Also thanks to Envilop, this school has been made energy-plus in the normal seasons.

Please indicate the main themes of your project with 5 key words.
wooden building envelope

Please indicate the main themes of your project with key words
curtain wall

Please indicate the main themes of your project with key words
energy retrofit

Please indicate the main themes of your project with key words
embodied values

Please indicate the main themes of your project with key words
low carbon buildings

Please give information about the key objectives of your project in terms of sustainability and how these have been met. Please highlight how the project can be exemplary in this context.
The main objective of developing a lightweight wood-based envelope has been achieved. The implementation on a large site has demonstrated realistic possibilities and has shown significant savings in time and transport of building elements to site. In addition, a large part of the panel production can be automated on robotic production lines. Today, similar solutions are beginning to emerge and are already required by investors in many European countries.

Please give information about the key objectives of your project in terms of aesthetics and quality of experience for people (through design, positive emotions and cultural benefits) and how these have been met. Please highlight how the project can be exemplary in this context.
Envilop is a lightweight envelope for larger buildings. Its outer surface can be made up of a visual timber cladding (but does not have to be). The visibility of wood, both interior and exterior, has been shown to improve the mental state of occupants.
In addition, Envilop primarily uses locally sourced and sustainable materials - wood.

Please give information about the key objectives of your project in terms of inclusion (ranging from accessibility and affordability for all to inclusive governing systems, design for all principles or new societal models) and how these have been met. Please highlight how the project can be exemplary in this context.
Envilop has been designed to be cost-competitive with conventional metallic envelopes. Its aim is to enable the rapid energy renovation of the building envelope of older buildings and to significantly extend their service life. Often these are medical facilities, ambulances, police stations and school buildings (which often contain harmful asbestos).

Please explain the way citizens benefiting from or affected by the project and civil society have been involved in the project and what has been the impact of this involvement on the project
The project involved manufacturers of wooden structures and products for wooden buildings.

Please explain how different stakeholders at various levels (local, regional, national, European) were engaged in the design and implementation of the project. Please highlight what the added value of their engagement was.
Local authorities were asked how many suitable buildings for renovation with our system they manage and what are the most common problems of these buildings.

Please explain which disciplines and/ or knowledge fields were reflected in the design and implementation of your project. Please explain how representatives of these different fields interacted with each other, and what the added value of this process was.
The project involved mainly civil engineers, wood building technologists and experts in the life cycle of building products and sustainability.

Please give information on the results, outcomes and impacts achieved by your project in relation to the category you apply for. This includes also benefits from the project for direct and indirect beneficiaries
The results of the project have been presented at many national and international professional conferences. The main real result is the implementation of the renovation of the high school, completed in 2022.

Please provide documents showing the results, outcomes and impacts of your project
Web link
Web link
- https://www.refsite.info/property/cz/skola-ceskobrodska/overview
- https://www.woodrise.cz
Please highlight the innovative character of the project, when compared to mainstream actions in the field of the project
The development of the Envilop lightweight envelope was especially important because it was not only a research proposal, but also its implementation in practice was verified.

Please describe the methodology or approach used in your project.
Research, development and testing. During the design process, many prototypes were realized and tested for airtightness, watertightness, fire resistance and acoustics.

Please describe which elements of your project could be replicated or transferred to other places, groups of beneficiaries and context. This may involve for example aspects of the methodology, technology, processes, products, learnings etc.
The whole final product can be applied in any region.

Please explain what kind of global challenges the project addresses by providing local solutions
The project primarily addresses the reduction of the carbon footprint of building construction and operation which reduces climate change. It also maximises the use of renewable and local resources.
Please attach at least 6 high resolution images (or other types of visual representations, if images are not possible) to your application.
If you would like to upload additional documentation, please upload or write below
- Envilop_EN_leaflet_UCEEB.pdf
- Envilop_dataposter_UCEEB.pdf
By submitting your application you confirm that you are the copyright owner of the images provided and that they can be used by the European Commission for the purposes of promoting the New European Bauhaus on all platforms (websites, print, social media and other).
Yes

By ticking this box, you declare that you are not in in one or more of the exclusion situations foreseen under Article 136 of the Financial Regulation.
Yes

By submitting this application, I declare that I am not related to the entities subject to EU restricted measures under Article 29 of the Treaty on the European Union (TEU) and subject to Article 215 of the Treaty on the Functioning of the EU (TFEU)1, and entities covered by Commission Guidelines No 2013/C 205/05), which are not eligible to participate in any capacity.
Yes

By ticking this box, you declare that all the information provided in this form is factually correct, that you assume sole liability in the event of a claim relating to the activities carried out in the framework of the contest, that the proposed project has not been proposed for the New European Bauhaus Prizes in any other category or strand and that it has not been subject to any type of investigation, which could lead to a financial correction because of irregularities or fraud.
Yes

By submitting your application, you guarantee that you are the author or have the rights to proceed with the application and to authorise the use of the project and that you have obtained any necessary consents, licenses or assignments from third parties and included copyright notices when necessary.
Yes

By submitting your application, you understand that all the applications that meet the eligibility requirements will be shared for the purposes of the selection processes, and notably published on the secured platform prizes.new-european-bauhaus.eu and for the purposes of the promotion of these on the New European Bauhaus website and/or other European Commission communication channels. In this sense, the applications would be widely available. Applicants should ensure that they present their projects, in such a way that they could be shared without giving rise to intellectual property related concerns. If your submission is selected as one of the finalists, it will additionally be shared for the purpose of the public vote that will take place. The European Union is granted a licence to use and share your application with the general public and the official external experts for the purposes of the selection process, including the voting. The European Union has the right to use the images and visual materials and the description provided in the application for communication purposes related to the contest and beyond. Rights granted comprise the right to store, reproduce, display, publish and communicate or distribute copies in electronic or digital format, including, but not only, through the internet. Unless you have disclosed your name, the European Commission has no obligation to share your name when using or disseminating your contribution to the public. The European Union cannot be held responsible in case any submitted project, is found to infringe third party’s rights. The European Union shall be neither responsible for the use that third parties may do of the applications or related content.
Yes

By submitting your application, you acknowledge that you read and understand that the ‘Guide to Applicants’ of the NEB Prizes 2023, available online in the website of the NEB Prizes 2023, is an integral part of this application form and that it must therefore be observed when completing and submitting your application.
Yes