Issues tackled

A Sustainable Plus Energy Neighbourhood thrives on the synergy between innovative technologies at the neighbourhood level, energy-efficient and flexible buildings, high architectural and spatial quality, housing affordability, and active citizen participation.

Four real-life plus-energy demonstration neighbourhoods—three of which are led by social and public housing providers—are designed for different climatic zones. These projects are developed, analysed, optimised, and monitored to showcase the viability of the plus-energy neighbourhood concept across Europe. 

Fondo, Santa Coloma de Gramenet in Spain is a newly built urban development featuring a multi-family building with 38 housing units, developed and managed by the public housing provider INCÀSOL.

In Salzburg, Austria, a newly built and renovated development comprising 250 social housing dwellings and a kindergarten, constructed by Heimat Österreich, with 40 apartments allocated by Caritas to residents with special needs.

Loopkanstraat, Uden in the Netherlands is a newly built development featuring 39 social housing dwellings, with 24 managed by the Dutch social housing provider, Area Wonen and 16 by Labyrint Zorg & Werk for residents with special needs.

Responsible colleague: Clara Mafé

The Syn.ikia project has received funding from the European Union’s Horizon 2020 research and innovation programme under grant agreement No. 869918.

Official website

Innovative energy-efficient social housing receives its first tenants in Barcelona

In a significant milestone this October, 38 new social housing rental units have been handed over to their new tenants. This handover marks the culmination of a long and innovative initiative that began in 2020 under the EU-funded syn.ikia project, of which Housing Europe is a partner. Developed by the Catalan Institute of Land (INCASÒL) and the Catalan Institute for Energy Research (IREC), this pioneering initiative demonstrates that social housing can play a vital role in contributing to a fair and sustainable transition.

The Nature of Housing – biodiversity and climate adaptation in public, cooperative, and social housing

While the voting for the new European Parliament was just starting in the Netherlands and the election campaign was often missing the answers to the core concerns of Europeans, Housing Europe focused on what matters.

When sustainability is not only about the green transition, but also about ensuring the well-being of residents in affordable housing

If you are not a researcher working on the topic of energy efficiency, Sustainable Plus Energy Neighbourhoods (SPEN) probably does not mean much to you, so let’s break down the meaning of the EU-funded project, syn.ikia of which Housing Europe and social housing providers are part of. Below, our Communications Junior Officer, Andreea Nacu, will tell you more about syn.ikia, a Horizon2020 project that started in 2020, aiming at achieving predominantly social housing neighbourhoods that not only will have a reduced energy use, but by using renewables and state-of-the-art technology, will produce surplus energy.

Advancing the work in Plus Energy Neighbourhoods with social housing

One of the four Plus Energy Neighbourhood demos of our EU-funded project syn.ikia is near Den Bosch in the Netherlands and so far, this is the most advanced as future social housing tenants will be able to move in already in May 2022.

Social housing in Spain, advancing innovation in energy efficiency

In April, Housing Europe travelled to Barcelona to meet partners of syn.ikia – the EU-funded Horizon project that aims to scale up the model of Sustainable Plua Energy Neighbourhoods (SPEN), based on energy efficiency and social sustainability.

A newly-launched online space aims at boosting Sustainable Plus Energy Neighbourhoods in Europe

The COVID-19 crisis has brought sharper focus on our buildings, our neighbourhoods and their importance for our lives. The challenge is how we boost access to affordable housing while at the same time reducing emissions. The Horizon 2020 project, syn.ikia of which Housing Europe is part of, believes that public, cooperative and social housing providers together with relevant experts and policymakers can collaborate together to overcome the bottlenecks in front of Positive and Zero Energy Districts development.