The “HiBERatlas” online tool, developed by Eurac Research, has been awarded with the European Solar Prize 2021, an annual award that every year recognizes renewable energy innovators from across Europe.
Since 1994, the European Solar Prize has been awarded to more than 250 local and international municipalities, communities, organizations, architects, and even journalists from all over Europe. The aim is to reward those actors who support the spread of clean energy through their activities and innovations.
Thanks to the online tool HiBERatlas, Eurac Research won the Prize for the section “Education and vocational training”, which involves institutions, initiatives or individuals who provide education and training in the field of renewable energies and inform about it. The HiBERatlas is a free and accessible online database, which shows best-practice examples of how historic buildings can be renovated to achieve high levels of energy efficiency while respecting and protecting its their heritage significance. The documentation gathered provides information on the specific buildings and its their construction, heritage assessment, building material specifications, energy efficiency, building services and comfort. In addition the database also provides real-life as well as on refurbishment solutions and products. The database was released for the first time in September 2019 as a common development of two research projects, both coordinated by Eurac Research: The European Interreg Alpine Space project “ATLAS”, co-funded by the European Union, and the “IEA-SHC Task 59” within the Solar Heating and Cooling program (SHC) of the International Energy Agency (IEA).