Montieri is situated in central Italy, about 2 hours’ drive from Florence. The well-preserved historical town stretches over 108 km² and has a population of 1216 people. It features a number of very old buildings with distinctive characteristics, such as stone masonry walls (filaretto natural stonework) and unusual arches and openings. These buildings are listed by the local authority as important cultural and historical symbols of Montieri.

The London ECOSTILER community is based in the London Borough of Lambeth. ECOSTILER in London has demonstrated the successful refurbishment of three high rise tower blocks that has achieved an 80% reduction in carbon emissions of a typical three bedroom flat and the landlords footprint..

Lambeth is one of a ring of fourteen inner London authorities. The Borough has its northern boundary on the river Thames and extends 11km south; Lambeth measures 4km across.

Måbjerg is situated in the Region Midtjylland in the western part of Denmark near the city of Holstebro. Agriculture and food industries are important parts of the local economy – as it is for Denmark  in general.

The agricultural sector is facing increasing problems meeting the environmental regulations – especially regarding the emissions of Nitrogen which seeps into the fields where the manure from the animal production is spread.

The ECO-Life community Høje-Taastrup is located in the western area of the municipality and includes the suburbs of Hedehusene, Fløng and Gammelsø. There is a population of 12 000, which is expected to increase due to further development in the area.

The ECO-Life demonstration site in Belgium is in Kortrijk, a city located in the Flemish province of West Flanders. The wider municipality comprises the city of Kortrijk and the seven surrounding towns with a total of 74 700 inhabitants, which makes it the seventh largest city in the Flemish region.

Trondheim is a city and municipality in Sør-Trøndelag county situated by the Trondheim fjord. With a population of 173,486 it is the third most populous municipality and city in the country. This community has a very strong environmental engagement with strong research. It has an overachieving strategy with several goals that concerns energy and energy related issues; the first aim is that the municipality should contain the Kyoto-target for Norway within themselves.

Tudela is a community  with around 35,000 inhabitants to the south of Pamplona in the region of Navarra, Spain. Tudela will put intelligent energy management at the centre of its sustainability plan.  The community of Navarra occupies an important position in the field of renewable energies, and as such, has been since 2001 the official headquarters of the National Centre for Renewable Energies (CENER).  A national training centre for renewable energy is also located in the region. Both of these institutions are lending their  expertise to the community.

Viladecans with 64,277 inhabitants is part of the complex regional web that is the metropolitan area ov Barcelona. It is a coastal community, 12 km from Barcelona. It has seen fast population growth, with a number of inhabitants moving from other parts of Spain, and planning and development in the district has been unstructured. Households in the area have lower income and higher unemployment than the regional average.

Milton Keynes already has a reputation in the UK as an energy pioneer. Designated in the 1960’s as a planned new town, it is located close to London.

The Concerto-Project will comprise 7 blocks totalling 650 dwellings, with retail and community facilities at ground floor on main frontages. All in all, nearly 3,830 people will directly benefit from the project in Milton-Keynes. Because of renewable energy supply and energy savings, the buildings they live in will produce just half the CO2 that would be produced by equivalent dwellings without the measures.

Almere is a young municipality. Its first house was completed only in 1976. It is sited on the reclaimed territory of Flevoland.

The Almere districts of Noorderplassen West and Columbuskwartier were thus obvious candidates for actions under the CONCERTO project. In these areas, 2,000 eco-homes are being built, along with commercial and public buildings. Specific innovations with these developments include the integration of renewable energy sources and the application of energy efficiency measures in city planning, area development, public tendering, architecture and building.