HORIZON-CL5-2027-05-D4-07: Integrating circularity in LCA-based modelling frameworks for… — expected outcomes, evaluation and traps

Topic	HORIZON-CL5-2027-05-D4-07
Status	Forthcoming
Call	HORIZON-CL5-2027-05 — BATTERIES and ENERGY
Destination	Using energy in buildings and industry in an efficient, affordable and sustainable way (2026-27)
Type of action	Innovation Actions · lump sum
Opening	5 May 2027
Deadline	15 September 2027
Budget	around EUR 6.75 million per project · 4 projects expected · EUR 27 million in total
TRL at the end	TRL 6–8
Part B page limit	45 pages (standard application form; check your call)
Template	Work Programme 2026–2027 application form

Expected outcomes

Projects should contribute to all of the expected outcomes. The topic says: “Project results are expected to contribute to all of the following expected outcomes:”

EO1 Demonstration of measurable reductions in material flows, life cycle energy use and GHG emissions in building renovations that integrate circularity strategies to contribute to achieving net-zero whole life carbon buildings.
EO2 More robust approach to current modelling frameworks to comprehensively reflect the complexity of circularity strategies in life cycle assessments at building scale.

Expected impacts named in the destination

The wider, long-term effects the destination seeks. Your outcomes feed them; they are not project deliverables.

EI1 The energy performance of the European building stock is improved at an accelerated pace, contributing to the EU's energy security, while the buildings and the built environment have reduced climate and environmental impact throughout their life cycle.
EI2 The energy renovation and construction of buildings are cost-efficient, affordable and less disruptive.
EI3 The buildings are increasingly interacting with the users, energy system and their environment while operating in an integrated, resilient, secure, smart and flexible manner.
EI4 The buildings and the built environment are more climate resilient, accessible, inclusive and delivers multiple benefits which improve the quality of life, health and well-being for all users.
EI5 The energy efficiency of EU energy intensive industries is improved, their consumption of fossil fuel and their GHG and other pollutants emissions are drastically reduced, notably through cost-effective electrification, use of renewable energy, heat recovery, thereby preserving / enhancing their global competitiveness.

What evaluators will look for in this topic

Expected outcomes

Projects should contribute to all of the expected outcomes.
For each outcome (EO1 to EO2), name who will use or adopt your results (a specific group, not “industry” or “society”), how they get them, and the indicator that shows the change, with baseline, target and date.
Use the topic's own words for each outcome, so the evaluator can tick it off.

What the scope asks for

Evaluators check the proposal against these sentences of the scope. Answer each one visibly, in the call's own words.

“Proposals should address all of the following:.”
“Circularity strategies should include reuse and/or recycle, as well as at least one of the following: reduce, repair, refurbish, remanufacture, and repurpose.”

Conditions that shape the proposal

Part B, sections 1–3: 45 pages (standard application form). Text beyond the limit is not read; tables and figures count.
Lump sum: the budget is fixed per work package and paid when each work package is completed. Every work package needs activities and deliverables an evaluator can verify, and the effort must match the money.
TRL: the topic expects TRL 6–8 by the end of the project. State where you start and the evidence for it.
Innovation action: evaluators expect a plausible path to commercialisation and named first users or customers.

Impact pathway and traps

The scope expects pilots or demonstration. Name the sites, the partners who run them and what is measured there.
Life-cycle or safe-and-sustainable-by-design assessment is expected. Name the method and where in the work plan it runs.
Keep outputs, outcomes and impacts apart: what you deliver, what changes when others use it, and the long-term effect.
For each destination impact you claim, show which of your outcomes feeds it. Destination impacts are long-term effects, not project deliverables.
Name the barriers outside the project (regulation, markets, user behaviour) that could block uptake, and what you will do if they do.
Section 2.3 (the summary canvas) is optional on this call; the old split into scientific, economic and societal impact is no longer required.

The scope, as published

European buildings are increasingly adopting circularity strategies in renovations to reduce life cycle environmental impacts and improve resource efficiency in response to the requirements based on current frameworks, such as Level(s) and WLC models used by Member States based and EN 15978 standard. The complexity of these circularity strategies, such as material reuse and recycling, and addressing the changing nature of assessed systems with long life cycles are critical for achieving more reliable assessment results. Further work is needed to advance and achieve more detailed modelling frameworks that integrate circularity assessment with life cycle assessment, supporting the delivery of net-zero whole-life carbon buildings. Proposals should address all of the following: Develop a comprehensive modelling framework that integrates circularity assessment in life cycle, covering cradle to cradle system boundary; Apply the developed modelling framework to at least three real-life buildings in different climatic regions in different Member States or Associated Countries, for which renovation project developers have adopted ambitious circularity strategies to achieve zero whole-life carbon buildings. Circularity strategies should include reuse and/or recycle, as well as at least one of the following: reduce, repair, refurbish, remanufacture, and repurpose; Assess the embodied emissions (from materials, products, and construction processes) and operational emissions (from energy use for HVAC, DHW, electrical appliances, lighting) of the real-life buildings subjected to renovations during their entire life cycle, referencing life cycle stages in EN 15978. This topic implements the co-programmed European Partnership on ‘People-centric sustainable built environment’ (Built4People). As such, projects resulting from this topic will be expected to contribute to the objectives of Built4People, transfer knowledge to its network of innovation clusters and report on results in support of the monitoring of the Built4People KPIs.

Technology readiness, as published

Activities are expected to achieve TRL 6-8 by the end of the project – see General Annex B. Activities may start at any TRL. https://built4people.eu/b4pic_network/

Source and attribution

Topic text from the official topic page on the EU Funding & Tenders Portal, retrieved 19 October 2026. © European Union, reused under Commission Decision 2011/833/EU (CC BY 4.0). Changes: the expected outcomes and impacts are split into numbered statements, long passages are shortened, and the evaluator checklist is GrantWise's own commentary. Your call and the Work Programme always win; check them before you submit. GrantWise is independent and not affiliated with, endorsed by, or acting on behalf of the European Commission.

Integrating circularity in LCA-based modelling frameworks for renovation of buildings (Built4People Partnership)

Expected outcomes

Expected impacts named in the destination

What evaluators will look for in this topic

Expected outcomes

What the scope asks for

Conditions that shape the proposal

Impact pathway and traps

Other topics in HORIZON-CL5-2027-05

Source and attribution