Smarter buildings as part of the energy system for increased efficiency and flexibility – Societal Readiness Pilot

Project results are expected to contribute to all of the following expected outcomes:

• Measurable reduction in buildings’ energy demand together with a reduced gap between their as-designed and as-built energy performance;
• Measurable increase in the number of building typologies with smart grid connected renewable energy sources (RES) and energy storage together with increased flexibility in grid/network management and operations;
• Measurable enhancement of the smart readiness of buildings as rated by the Smart Readiness Indicator and/or other relevant building rating systems;
• Improved responsiveness by the relevant stakeholders to the needs and concerns of users from a diversity of social groups, including vulnerable and disadvantaged ones, involved in or potentially affected by the smart buildings, thereby increasing the potential for beneficial societal uptake and building trust in outcomes.

The construction sector and the building subsector remain among the least digitised. Smart buildings can contribute to reducing energy demand, curbing operational CO2 emissions, integrating RES and enhancing grid flexibility through optimised energy usage. At the same time, it is essential that smart buildings are flexible and adaptive to changing needs and usage patterns and are user-friendly to encourage widespread adoption of these technologies by grid operators, construction professionals, building facility managers and users. Furthermore, to ensure the societal benefits of the smart building technologies there is a need for increased user knowledge, acceptance and satisfaction.

Proposals are expected to address all of the following:

• Develop solutions that enhance the smartness of buildings by using and facilitating the upgrade of existing Building (Energy) Management Systems (BMS/BEMS) and/or other technical equipment;
• Ensure that the proposed solutions are user-friendly and provide the expected indoor environmental quality, as well as user satisfaction and occupant comfort;
• Demonstrate the proposed solutions in at least three pilots. These pilots should collectively cover at least three different climatic zones, three different building types (residential, tertiary etc.), and three different technical building systems;
• Develop a methodology to measure the achieved energy demand reduction, increased flexibility in the grid, and enhanced interoperability, compared to current best practices;
• Investigate the cost-effectiveness and replicability of the proposed solutions.

This topic is a Societal-Readiness pilot:

• Proposals should follow the instructions applying to the Societal readiness pilot, as described in the introduction of the Horizon Europe Main Work Programme 2025 for Climate, Energy and Mobility. They entail the use of an interdisciplinary approach to deepening consideration and responsiveness of research and innovation activities to societal needs and concerns.
• This topic requires effective contribution of the relevant SSH expertise, including the involvement of SSH experts in the consortium, to meaningfully support Societal Readiness. Specifically, SSH expertise is expected to facilitate the socio-technological interface and enable the design of project objectives with Societal Readiness related activities.