Policies to Enforce the TRAnsition to Nearly Zero Energy buildings in the EU-27

Context
European legislation such as the Energy Performance of Buildings Directive (EPBD) and the Renewable Energy Directive (RED) require member states to develop ambitious policies in the building sector. The intelligent design of integrated policy packages supporting nearly zero-energy buildings (NZEB) and renewable heating and cooling (RES-H/C) will be crucial for achieving ambitious energy and CO2 savings in the building sector. In particular, this holds for the refurbishment of existing buildings. 
The re-cast EPBD requires that from 2019 onwards all new buildings occupied and owned by public authorities are nearly zero-energy buildings (nZEBs) and by the end of 2020 all new buildings are nZEB.  However, acknowledging the variety in building culture and climate throughout Europe, the EPBD does not prescribe a uniform approach for implementing nZEB. It requires Member States to draw up specific national roadmaps reflecting national, regional or local conditions.
Project Objectives
The objective of the ENTRANZE project was to actively support policy making by providing the required data, analysis and guidelines to achieve a fast and strong penetration of nZEB and RES-H/C within the existing national building stocks. The project intended to connect building experts from European research and academia to national decision makers and key stakeholders with a view to build ambitious, but reality proof, policies and roadmaps. 
The core part of the project was the dialogue with policy makers and experts and focused on nine countries, covering >60% of the EU-27 building stock. Data, scenarios and recommendations were also provided for EU-27 (+ Croatia and Serbia).
Content
The project allowed for evidence based policy making by providing
An online data mapping tool allowing user friendly access to building data, energy demand indicators and scenario results; 
Analyses regarding cost-optimal levels of NZEB; 
An overview of principle integrated policy sets that aim at the NZEB standard;
Model-based scenarios up to 2030 (for different policy settings built on the discussions with policy makers); 
International comparative policy analyses. 
Dissemination activities have transfered results to other countries and the EU-level.
Benefits
Policy makers and other key stakeholders
Gained a deep understanding of the impact of policy instruments for supporting deep renovation and RES-H/C increases and their specific design (detailed elements of policy implementations have been elaborated); 
Got accesses to a broad set of data relevant for decision making. This provides transparency and assures confidence in the long-term perspective of this sector;
Were strongly involved in the process, and in in-depth discussion; 
Learnt from the experience in other countries. 
We hope that this provided a stable ground for increasing the penetration of NZEB and RES-H/C in particular in building refurbishments.