The recast of the energy performance of buildings directive stipulates that by 2020
all new buildings should reach nearly zero energy levels (2019 for buildings owned or occupied
by public authorities). Therefore technicians involved in the design, conception and approval of
such buildings should be able to understand and apply nearly zero‐energy buildings (nZEB)
concepts both towards new buildings and the refurbishment of existing ones. However the
number of architects and engineers that are able to deal with new technologies and standards
might not be adequate to the increasing market demand. Additionally, at European Union (EU)
level there are differences in commitment to the EU targets and the construction of nZEB. In this
context, arose the SouthZEB project, that is an Intelligent Energy Europe (IEE) funded project,
that aims to fill this gap and address the need to develop training schemes to professionals
involved in nZEB building process, transferring successful practices and knowledge from front
runners to target – Southern EU – countries that are less advanced in this area. This paper
presents the project aims and overview.