The current shortage of manufacturing capacity, disruption of supply chains, unaffordable housing for young people and slow response to technological and societal change are just some of the trends that are creating pressure for an accelerated transformation of the construction industry. The construction sector, which directly employs more than 13 million workers in the EU, must respond.

One of the initiatives that has stepped forward to support the transformation of the construction industry is the Build-up-Skills (BUS) initiative. BUS is an EU-wide initiative to support the implementation of a ‘renovation wave’ in EU Member States, which aims to double the rate of building renovation in EU countries.

The DoubleDecker project aims to create a strategic basis for the transformation of the construction industry in the Czech Republic and Slovakia. The project will take place in two main phases. In the first phase, a status quo analysis will be prepared under the leadership of the Architecture and Construction Industry Development Foundation (ABF) and in Slovakia under the leadership of the Slovak Innovation and Energy Agency (SIEA) and the Association of Construction Entrepreneurs of Slovakia (ZSPS). In a second phase, national development plans will be developed under the leadership of the ViaEuropa Competence Centre and SEVEn, The Energy Efficiency Centre. The preparation of these strategic documents will be intensive over the next 18 months and will be completed in March 2024.

The project kick-off meeting took place on 12 and 13 October in Prague and focused on specific actions in the coming months to help build capacity to implement energy efficiency requirements for buildings and to meet European expectations associated with the Renovation Wave.