Energy: At the start European platform for "smart" contracts

Making building energy performance contracts more flexible thanks to the role of "smart" consumers played by owners. This is the objective of the project European AmBIENCe (Active Managed Buildings with Energy Performance Contracting), which comprises seven partners from four countries: ENEA for Italy; VITO, BPIE and Energinvest for Belgium; IK4 for Spain; INESC TEC and EDP CNET for Portugal.

The energy performance contract, also known as EPC - Energy Performance Contract, an energy service company (Energy Service Company - ESCO), makes it mandatory to carry out interventions and services aimed at the energy requalification of a building against a payment calculated on the amount of energy savings or the level of efficiency improvement.

"The innovative approach of AmBIENCe lies in encouraging building owners to take on a role of active consumers, managing their consumption in a smart way through appropriate demand-response programs, which reward consumers in exchange for a temporary reduction in their energy consumption on request”, Marialaura Di Somma, researcher at the ENEA Research Center in Portici and scientific manager of the project, pointed out.

The project will define a new EPC contract, with its associated business model, providing the platform for the calculation of savings and related incentives.

"The platform we are working on will be tested in two pilot buildings in Portugal and Belgium and ENEA main task is to carry out an analysis of existing energy performance contracts and demand-response services for buildings in Europe and develop optimal energy management algorithms ", Di Somma continued.

The project AmBIENCe will also provide guidelines and recommendations for policy makers and regulators in order to facilitate the implementation of EPC contracts for a wide range  of buildings belonging to the residential, commercial and tertiary sector.

“Specific advantages are also foreseen for the business sector, with contract models that offer customer-oriented solutions capable of determining an optimal balance between energy investment costs and savings. This will be possible thanks to an active control of demand and a performance guarantee. This will favor investments for the energy requalification of buildings, such as building envelopes and production plants, photovoltaic systems, energy storage systems, electrification of heating and installation of home charging stations for electric vehicles ”,  Di Somma concluded.

For more information please contact:

Marialaura Di Somma, ENEA  Smart Grid Energy Networks Laboratory, Energy Technologies Department , marialaura.disomma@enea.it