Retrofitting focus reflects a significant opportunity for the industry to address decarbonisation

The Urban Land Institute (ULI) has announced that EFFIC, a specialist in residential refurbishment to improve energy efficiency in Spain, is the overall winner of the inaugural PropTech Innovation Challenge (PIC). Additionally, France’s Roofscapes, which creates accessible rooftop green spaces, has been awarded a special mention in recognition of its potential impact. The winners were revealed during the C Change Summit in Copenhagen following votes from both the expert jury and from the public vote.

L-R Simon Abboud (Director, Hines) Julio Egusquiza Gonzalez (COO, Anticipa) Lisette van Doorn (CEO, ULI Europe), Praneet Talukdar (Head of Business Development, Anticipa) and Eduard Mendiluce (CEO, Anticipa).

ULI PIC is an annual European Young Leaders-led initiative to foster innovation. It aims to identify a variety of game-changing, scalable, and competitive solutions to the built environment’s most pressing challenges developed by innovators operating across the real estate industry and the world of technology and start-ups. All solutions proposed, with varying degrees of ‘tech’ applied, must enhance how we live, work, and play in our urban environment and have the potential for transformative impact. They must also align with ULI’s mission priorities for decarbonisation and net zero, increasing housing affordability, and educating the next generation of leaders, all underpinned by a commitment to diversity, equity, and inclusion.

EFFIC, which secured the highest combined score from both jury and public voting, is focused on enabling Spain’s households to reduce their carbon footprint through retrofitting, achieving net zero emissions through part-subsidised residential refurbishment which then also contributes to savings on energy bills. The company, established from the energy efficiency expertise of Aliseda Inmobiliaria and Anticipa (Blackstone Group), is committed to quality and innovation through its investment in technology and digitalisation processes.

Eduard Mendiluce, CEO of EFFIC, said, “We all bear a responsibility to mitigate carbon emissions. In Spain, out of the 26 million homes, 14 million are over two decades old, and eighty percent have low energy performance certifications. EFFIC is committed to enhancing ESG in the residential sector, and we have the endorsement of more than 50,000 home renovations carried out in more than 3,000 Spanish cities. The capillarity within the territory, the 100% digital management and monitoring of the entire renovation process through our platform, and our leadership in top-level institutional relations for the promotion of Next Generation funds make us unique in this in the Spanish market. We are pleased that our efforts have been recognised in ULI´s first European PropTech Innovation Challenge.”

France’s Roofscapes, which received a special mention from the jury, is a start-up initiated by MIT (the Department of Architecture, the Center for Real Estate Development, and the MIT DesignX incubator) with a mission to adapt unused city roof-space into new, accessible green places by installing adaptable, modular timber platforms. It aims to mitigate the effects of climate change and provide new outdoor areas in cities, offering a sustainable solution to a building’s environmental impact.

The six regional (in-country) competition winners from the first phase of ULI PIC all took part in the European final, including aedifion (Germany), EFFIC (Iberia), Roofscapes (France), Share.P (Switzerland), Stykka (the Nordics) and Verv (United Kingdom).

ULI PIC’s co-founders and co-leads are Thibault Weston Smith, Managing Director at Realty Corporation and Chair of ULI Europe Young Leaders, and Simon Abboud, Director at Hines, and Member of the ULI Europe Young Leader Executive Committee.

Thibault Weston Smith said, “Congratulations to EFFIC and the other five pioneers who took part in the European Final. EFFIC’s expert solution was particularly inspiring as it addresses the urgent requirements for decarbonisation that we all face, by astutely assessing and tackling energy inefficiencies of existing buildings and contributing to retrofitting the residential market. We were also inspired by Roofscapes creative solution for new green spaces on roofs in cities, which helps reduce temperatures, improve air quality, and create valuable new communities for wildlife and people.”

Simon Abboud added, “The response to PIC has been phenomenal and inspiring with 100+ applications across Europe. This first year attracted many transformative solutions that are positively impacting the future of the built environment. Leveraging the ULI brand and community of practitioners allowed us to create a meaningful platform bridging the communication gap between innovators with the industry, and education gap by informing our peers on the most transformational ways to tackle some of the biggest challenges of our time. It is all about inspiring by connecting the dots; we are only playing the role of facilitators.”

The PIC final jurors included representatives from across the built environment to reflect the industry’s diversity of thought and requirements concerning innovation, and included Lars Huber (Hines, and ULI Europe Chairman); Naqash Tahir (PGIM); Hagen Knaupp (LaSalle Investment Management); Grigor Hadjiev (PIMCO); Margarida Ordaz Caldeira (Broadway Malyan); Idriss Goossens (PropTech Lab); Carmen Panadero (Impar Capital); Frank Mouwen (European Innovation Council); and Jacqui Collins and Lisette van Doorn (ULI).

Lisette van Doorn, CEO ULI Europe, comments: “We’ve been overwhelmed by the interest and positive response to the Challenge, which clearly demonstrates the importance of building stronger connections between the traditional real estate sector and proptech and startup solutions. As such, we see PIC as important in encouraging more industry wide innovation, as the built environment looks to address significant challenges including, for example, decarbonisation and increasing housing affordability.”

“The competition has showcased an exceptional standard and range of creative innovations which help advance the real estate industry and meet the many critical challenges that our industry faces. My congratulations go to this year’s winners, whose innovative solutions have demonstrated the critical importance of retrofitting buildings, which is one of the most significant opportunities the built environment has to address decarbonisation, while at the same time futureproofing our existing housing stock, which is so urgently needed. My thanks go our Young Leaders, our local jurors, champions, finalists, and all other organisations that participated in the Challenge.”

In addition to unrivalled industry exposure through the ULI international network, the winners have been awarded a one- year ULI membership providing access to research content, event, webinars, education and mentorship programs, knowledge sharing and connections with a multidisciplinary global network of a real estate and land use professionals.

Please visit: https://europe.uli.org/young-leaders-proptech-innovation-challenge-pic/

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Notes to Editors

The Urban Land Institute is a non-profit education and research institute supported by its members. Its mission is to shape the future of the built environment for transformative impact in communities worldwide. Established in 1936, the institute has over 48,000 members worldwide representing all aspects of land use and development disciplines.

ULI has over 5,000 members in Europe across 15 National Council country networks.