The NEED4B demonstration site in Sweden features two buildings, which represent pre-fabricated low-energy wooden framed villas of between 140 and 200 m2. The houses were manufactured beforehand and then assembled at the selected locations. One building was assembled in a new attractive residential area near Varberg and used as display house for a time. The second building of the same kind was assembled at a research facility in Borås and used as a full-scale test lab for energy-efficient technologies and construction details, with artificial user-behaviour loads.

The NEED4B pilot site in Lecce (Italy) is located in a central and strategic part of the city, a few metres away from the historic centre and in front of a recreational space for students. It is a mixed-use building composed of four floors above ground and three floors underground. The first floor underground and the ground floor consist of shops and commercial spaces, while the first, second and third floors above ground are for offices. The building is surrounded by green spaces, a private parking area for the offices, and a bus stop.

The demonstration site is located in Stambruges, 24 km from the city of Mons. It consists of a wood-based envelope house aimed at demonstrating the construction of passive house. The key design strategies are a wood-based structure, large insulation, efficient glazing and a passive house concept. The house might be further developed to be a positive energy house thanks to the installation of photovoltaic panels. The energy performance of the building is determined by a complete measurement system with data acquisition and treatment.

The city of Munich participated in the DIRECTION project that aimed at demonstrating how the use of very innovative and cost-effective energy-efficiency technologies can lead to the achievement of very-low-energy new buildings. This objective, along with the effective adoption of low-energy buildings, was achieved by switching to a model whereby energy efficiency provides value to the market and represents an attractive asset across the whole of the value chain.

The city of Valladolid, located in central Spain with a Mediterranean continental climate, participated in the DIRECTION project that aimed at demonstrating how the use of very innovative and cost-effective energy-efficient technologies can lead to the achievement of very-low-energy new buildings. This objective, along with the effective adoption of low-energy buildings, was achieved by switching to a model whereby energy efficiency provided value to the market and represented an attractive asset across the whole of the value chain.