The Challenge of European Building Renovation
Like many European Union countries, Ireland also faces a monumental challenge in achieving its climate neutrality goals by 2050. The continent’s building stock spans approximately 20 billion square meters, with 85% built before 2000. Buildings consumed 42% of EU energy in 2021, yet the current renovation rate of just 1% per year falls far short of what’s needed.
Traditional energy retrofit methods are time-consuming, highly disruptive to occupants, and often unpredictable. While prefabrication offers a promising solution to accelerate renovations, it remains underutilised across Europe because of several barriers that make prefabrication unprofitable for many SMEs:
- high variability in building types,
- missing information from ageing structures,
- fragmented communication between stakeholders,
- inadequate logistical planning
Additionally, renovation processes often disregard occupant needs, leading to resistance that can derail projects.
During the conference “National Retrofitting Conference 2025” that reunited representatives from the construction, energy companies, local and national government, energy agencies and academics sectors, Carlos Ernesto Ochoa Morales, Senior Researcher at Tyndall National Institute and IERC, presented DIGIFAB on how the innovation developed in the project can overcome the renovation and prefabricated challenges.
DigiFab: Revolutionizing Energy-Efficient Building Renovations in Europe
The DigiFab project represents an ambitious effort to overcome these barriers and transform how Europe approaches building energy renovation. Launched in January 2025, this four-year initiative brings together 15 partners from seven EU member states, spanning academia, research centres, construction and prefabrication industries, and social sciences.
A Comprehensive Digital Solution
Dr Carlos Ernesto Ochoa Morales displayed the DigiFab’s approach that centres on interconnected innovations designed to streamline the entire renovation process while addressing the key obstacles that have limited prefabrication adoption.
1. Digital Process Chain and Data Collection
Building on IEA ECBCS Annex 50 work, DigiFab creates a unified cloud-based information system accessible to all stakeholders from project start to delivery. Laser scanning and surveying technology generate detailed point clouds of building surfaces, capturing precise measurements and identifying features like balconies. This data feeds into BIM models that serve both energy analysis and manufacturing needs, eliminating the information fragmentation that has plagued traditional approaches.
2. Automated Analysis and Stakeholder Engagement
The system translates BIM data into energy simulation models, establishing baseline performance and recommending optimal prefabricated technologies to achieve target ratings. Meanwhile, a co-creation process documents occupant expectations and preferences throughout the renovation journey. The process identifies features to preserve and determines optimal timing to minimise disruption.
3. Innovative Technologies and Installation
DigiFab develops cutting-edge prefabricated solutions, including lightweight concrete panels with recycled materials, bio-based panels, active heating/cooling façade elements, and plug-and-play PV panels with smart energy management. All technologies are customised to site-specific requirements and designed to reduce carbon footprint compared to conventional alternatives.
Digital data optimises panel divisions using Design for Manufacture and Assembly, Just-in-Time delivery, and lean manufacturing principles. Each piece receives QR code tracking and clear labelling, with installation instructions accessible via the data cloud.
4. Enhanced Safety and Sustainability
Safety sensors on worker clothing and helmets monitor proximity to dangerous machinery and noise exposure levels. Construction and demolition waste management is planned in advance to maximise material recovery for recycling or reuse, substantially reducing landfill contributions.
Progress to Date
Since launching in January 2025, the project has completed important groundwork. Researchers have conducted a comprehensive study of the EU legal framework and identified barriers to applying prefabrication for energy renovation, using the Level(s) Framework to structure their analysis. Interviews with occupants at demonstration sites are nearing completion, providing insights that will shape the co-design approach.
DigiFab aims to demonstrate dramatic improvements across multiple dimensions. Installation times should drop significantly, with 200 square meters of surface renovated in just two days. Overall costs are projected to decrease by 30% through reduced labour time, lower soft costs, and material optimisation.
Energy performance should improve through better-studied building information and reduced thermal bridging. Perhaps most importantly, user satisfaction and cooperation should increase thanks to less disruptive renovation processes.
While highlighting the positive aspects of the project, what was key during the panel was to discuss with key stakeholders involved in the retrofitting plans in Ireland to discuss current problems and possible solutions to achieve the goals, and also to link the project to what is done in Ireland and the rest of Europe
