About us

EFdeN is a Romanian educational NGO concerned with bringing sustainability closer to students, young professionals and the general public. We specifically target urban regeneration, energy-efficient and green architecture as the main interests of our project.

• EFdeN Sustainable City in Bucharest, an ongoing prototype hosting our previous projects for Solar Decathlon Competitions and many other points of interest, the first prototype of a sustainable city in Romania.
• Finalists in the Solar Decathlon Europe 2021/2022 competition with the EFdeN VATRA prototype.

Our activity is closely tied to the educational purpose we aim to achieve. In this sense, we represent a complementary educational resource to universities and faculties. Students gain practical experience through volunteering and learn about sustainability from people already in the project, advisors and other professionals we closely work with.

Since 2013 EFdeN has been helping students and young professionals find a sense of direction while providing an environment to apply their creative energy through a trial and error process. Facilitated by the Solar Decathlon competitions, the team has attempted to be at the forefront of everything related to sustainability, from law & policymaking to education and the development of our cities. Briefly: 10+ projects implemented with 600+ volunteers, 50+ awards, 300+ partner companies involved.

The EFdeN name comes from the mathematical function f[N] – where N is Nature. Nature is at the core of everything the team does as we try our best to protect it and bring it closer to people so that they are much more considerate towards it. The story of EFdeN is unique.

What started as a singular project 8 years ago, with the occasion of the participation in the Solar Decathlon Europe 2014 competition, is now the most important sustainability NGO in Romania and the only one in the country to develop solar homes for educational and research purposes, along with sustainable products and educational modules for students, specialists and the general public. At the end of 2016, EFdeN became a finalist in the Solar Decathlon Middle East 2018 competition, among other 17 projects worldwide. After these two years, we returned to Romania with 4 awards and reassembled our prototype “EFdeN Signature”. During this period, more than 100 students grasped information about sustainable development while having hands-on experience with a green rating certification system.

After two previous participations in the Solar Decathlon competition (SDE 2014, Versailles & SDME 2018, Dubai), the EFdeN team is tackling the most important challenge so far in a disruptive way by designing a new prototype, EFdeN VATRA, for urban revitalization while developing our own living lab in Bucharest, EFdeN Sustainable City.