INTEGRATES - Intelligent Digital Tools for Green Renovation, Assessment, Transformation, Efficiency and Sustainability
INTEGRATES helps the European construction sector meet EU climate and circularity goals by tackling fragmented and inaccessible digital solutions, especially for SMEs. The project develops an intelligent framework linking BIM, Digital Twins, and data-driven services through a neuro-symbolic knowledge architecture.
It delivers user-centric AI tools and an integrated platform aligned with Digital Product Passports and Digital Building Logbooks. The solutions are validated in four pilots in Italy, Bulgaria, Belgium and Spain, covering building renovation, demolition, operation and new construction.
With 15 partners from 8 countries, the project supports SME adoption of digital tools, energy efficiency, material reuse and long-term sector transformation.
Innovative framework with an intelligent knowledge architecture
The construction sector faces unprecedented challenges in meeting EU climate and circularity goals, with buildings accounting for 40% of energy consumption and 36% of CO2 emissions. Despite the availability of digital technologies, the industry struggles to implement sustainable construction practices, particularly among SMEs which represent more than 90% of the sector. Current digital solutions remain fragmented and often inaccessible, creating barriers to the widespread adoption of digital tools for sustainable buildings.
INTEGRATES addresses these challenges by developing an innovative framework that connects Building Information Modelling (BIM), Digital Twins, and data-driven services through an intelligent knowledge architecture. The project creates a unified digital ecosystem that transforms how buildings are designed, constructed, operated and managed across their entire lifecycle. It makes advanced digital tools practical, accessible and valuable for all stakeholders in the construction sector.
Three innovations
INTEGRATES will achieve this through three key innovations:
1. Neuro-symbolic knowledge framework
INTEGRATES develops a unified framework that seamlessly bridges existing building data standards (IFC, BRICK, SAREF) while actively contributing to their evolution.
This system does more than just store data, it works intelligently to:
- Automatically extract and check building information
- Greatly reduce documentation effort
- Keep data accurate throughout every stage of a building’s lifecycle
- Follow EU frameworks such as Digital Building Logbooks and Digital Product Passports
2. AI-powered user-centric tools
INTEGRATES designs digital tools that work for small and medium-sized enterprises by making advanced technology simple to use.
These tools offer:
- Natural language interaction – allowing users to work with building data in plain English
- AI-powered optimisation
- Easy integration with software and workflows SMEs already use
- Step-by-step adoption that grows with one’s digital experience
3. Integrated lifecycle platform
The INTEGRATES platform connects all stages of the building process through:
- Digital Product Passports that track materials from beginning to end
- Real-time performance monitoring and predictive maintenance
- End-of-life planning that turns waste into valuable new resources
- Standardised APIs that ensure compatibility with EU-wide digital initiatives
Six services for the construction sector
INTEGRATES develops six services to directly address the everyday needs of construction firms, simplifying complex tasks, automating time-consuming processes and making sustainable practices easier to adopt.
- Interdesign: AI-assisted design optimisation
- Foresight: Lifecycle impact assessment
- Planner: Mobile site collaboration tool with natural language interface
- Performa: Real-time energy optimisation
- Maintain: Predictive maintenance
- Loop: Digital Product Passport and AI-assisted deconstruction planning
Demonstration across Europe
These innovations will be validated through four complementary demonstration cases spanning different building types.
- Bolzano, Italy: transforming a public building demolition into a digital material recovery model
- Genk, Belgium: optimising energy performance in a residential neighbourhood with 27 houses
- Madrid, Spain: demonstrating seamless collaboration between SMEs and large contractors in a new construction project
- Sofia, Bulgaria: simplifying digital workflows for residential renovation contractors
What INTEGRATES aims to achieve
With 15 partners from 8 countries, INTEGRATES targets a reduction in renovation planning time, an increase in material reuse rates, improved energy efficiency and active implementation by local SMEs. Through participation in standardisation committees and regional networks, INTEGRATES will drive lasting change in the European construction sector.
How VITO contributes to INTEGRATES
VITO/EnergyVille leads the dedicated work package on service development, with a focus on translating scientific excellence into scalable, market-ready solutions. Within INTEGRATES, VITO/EnergyVille develops two energy-efficiency-related services - Performa and Maintain - which will be demonstrated and validated in the Belgian pilot.
Building on our experience in digital twins and urban/district energy modelling, VITO/EnergyVille will further develop the digital twin of the Nieuw-Texas district in Genk, building on work within the oPEN Lab project. By integrating monitoring and metered data, the team aims to create a calibrated and dynamic digital twin that allows stakeholders to test, validate and deploy innovative tools and services in a lower-risk environment.
VITO/EnergyVille also contributes its expertise in life cycle analysis and circularity to the development of the Foresight service, which will be demonstrated and validated in the Italian pilot.
