STAR*track Project

**STAR*track** stands for Support and Networks to Accelerate the Construction and Renovation Innovation track to market.

STAR*track is a three-year Coordination and Support Action (CSA) funded by the European Union (EU) under Horizon Europe (HE) within the Built4People (B4P) Partnership.

STAR*track aims to expand the Built4People Innovation Cluster (B4PIC) Network developed in the HE project Nebula. The project also aims to strengthen and support B4PICs and their members to deliver sustainable and people-centric European innovation and to accelerate uptake by regional value and supply chains.

To reach the overarching goal and quantified targets of the project, five concrete objectives have been defined:

Expand and strengthen the B4PIC Network by integrating new B4PICs in order to reach the B4P contractual target of 10-15 fully mature B4PICs by 2028
Create enabling conditions for B4PICs to help them foster the development and implementation of sustainable construction and renovation innovation, including training and ICT tools
Accelerate the development and demonstration of holistic and inclusive solutions with high market potential
Facilitate access to funding for the demonstration and upscaling of solutions and advocate for green procurement practices towards local/regional authorities
Pave the way for the replication and widespread use of the supporting tools and services and promote the continuous expansion of the B4PIC Network

Discussions at the STAR*track second General Meeting held in in Athens, Greece in October 2024.

Background

Built4People (B4P) is a co-programmed public-private partnership in Horizon Europe’s Cluster 5 (Climate, Energy and Mobility).

The partnership brings together the European Commission (EC) and two leading associations — ECTP and WorldGBC Europe — with a membership base of actors in the built environment.

The B4P partners co-programme European Union (EU) research and innovation funding in Cluster 5 for the built environment, ensuring it is invested in projects which aim to accelerate innovations towards decarbonisation and the people-centric transformation of Europe’s built environment.

First Nebula, and now STAR*track, are two Coordination and Support Action (CSA) projects that have supported/support the B4P Partnership in its goals.

Nebula and STAR*track: Developing Built4People Innovation Clusters and their networks

Through connecting the Built4People Partnership with the New European Bauhaus (NEB); an EU movement that pushes for a beautiful, sustainable and inclusive built environment, the Nebula project aimed to transform the built environment by:

Fostering the dissemination & adoption of the New European Bauhaus values and principles towards the construction sector
Facilitating access to funding and networking opportunities for innovators via the B4P Partnership
Setting up a network of B4PICs to enhance collaborations between various innovation actors across countries, and disciplines

A B4PIC is a group of innovation-driven stakeholders, typically formed by one or two local or regional clusters or networks, that engage in a transformative maturing process to foster EU-scale, multidisciplinary and sustainable innovation in the built environment.

Nebula supported a first group of existing and emerging clusters to increase their maturity along six dimensions:

Full value-chain coverage
Multi-objectives
Cross-sectoral integration
Combined local and national/EU networking
Cross-border connections
Access to testbeds and demo spaces such as pilot buildings and living labs

Building upon the foundational work of Nebula, STAR*track aims to expand and strengthen the network of Built4People Innovation Clusters (B4PICs), and, in particular, to provide the B4PICs and their members with Information Communication Technology (ICT) tools, access to funding opportunities and training and support on sustainable and inclusive development.

Project Activities

STAR*track intends to reach out to B4PIC stakeholders—in particular small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs)—to increase their innovation capacity and awareness. Additionally, STAR*track aims to provide stakeholders with tailored innovation support to boost the development and market entry of climate-neutral products and solutions for the built environment.

STAR*track also aims to provide tools to give insights on Research, Development and Innovation (RDI) requirements and processes, to aid in the set up and implementation of RDI projects, and to deliver information on private financing and public funding targeted at innovative companies.

Additionally, the project will work to increase the rapid demonstration and scale-up of innovation. STAR*track intends to accelerate time-to-market by providing access to testing facilities, testing services, and demonstration sites in close collaboration with three European Open Innovation Testbeds for Building Envelopes: METABUILDING Labs, Iclimabuilt, and MEZeroE.

Finally, STAR*track also will aim to facilitate collaboration and business opportunities within and between B4PICs (local value chains), as well as to integrate these networks into national and European innovation ecosystems within the METABUILDING platform.

Partners

STAR*track is coordinated by NOBATEK/INEF4