Cleantech Energy Crossing promotes cross-border cooperation in the development of cleantech innovations, focusing on the sustainability in the built environment (including the local energy infrastructure). Purpose of this project is the realization of sustainable technologies in the following thematic priorities of the "Strategic Initiative" Energy/low-CO2 economy of the INTERREG V Programme: Energy Efficiency; Smart Future; Generation of Renewable Energy; and Conversion, Storage and Distribution of Energy. The focus on these themes is due to the fact that the built environment is responsible for 30-40% of total energy consumption in Germany and the Netherlands. The energy transition in the built environment is not easy: New and renewable technologies have to compete against existing (and often cheaper) fossil alternatives and present new challenges to the existing energy infrastructure. To achieve the climate goals of both countries, there is a need for the development of market-oriented customer products which reduce the energy consumption and/or make it more sustainable. With this goal in mind are stichting KIEMT and EnergieAgentur.NRW collaborating in a consortium of more than 30 SMEs, universities and research institutions to boost product innovation and strengthening the knowledge transfer from universities to SMEs. This project increases the innovative capacity of the 'green' SMEs and promotes the employment rate (development and then production and marketing). The geographic focus of this project lies in the border of North Rhine-Westphalia with the Dutch province of Overijssel, Gelderland, Brabant and Limburg.