Utility Business Model Transformation through human-centric behavioural interventions and ICT tools for Energy Efficiency

Project Information

UtilitEE

Grant agreement ID: 768600

DOI

10.3030/768600

Project closed

EC signature date 22 August 2017

Start date 1 November 2017

End date 30 April 2021

Funded under

• SOCIETAL CHALLENGES - Secure, clean and efficient energy

Total cost

€ 2 787 200,00

EU contribution

€ 1 999 977,51

Coordinated by

HYPERTECH (CHAIPERTEK) ANONYMOS VIOMICHANIKI EMPORIKI ETAIREIA PLIROFORIKIS KAI NEON TECHNOLOGION
Greece

Periodic Reporting for period 3 - UtilitEE (Utility Business Model Transformation through human-centric behavioural interventions and ICT tools for Energy Efficiency)

Reporting period: 2020-07-01 to 2021-04-30

Summary of the context and overall objectives of the project

As EU policy presses for energy usage reduction and consumers expect human-centric services, energy utilities seek new sources of revenue instead of only providing “kWhs”. In this context, the UtilitEE project develops a customer-oriented Behavioural Change Framework (BCF); Energy-as-a-Service delivery approach. The project focuses on energy waste identification communicated through personalized messages to engage users into a continuous process of awareness-raising and learning, to reduce their energy consumption.
The UtilitEE concept is based on an open ICT ecosystem integrated to the building via low cost, off-the-shelf sensors, incorporating human-centric control automations related to HVAC and lighting to minimize energy waste and maintain occupants' comfort. Key part of the UtilitEE approach is the end users' involvement in co-designing the user interfaces and their features.
UtilitEE’s impact is assessed based on different factors including; user’s behavioural change, energy savings, number of people reached and CO2 emissions reduction. The UtilitEE solution is demonstrated in 5 EU countries, at 9 commercial and 180 residential buildings participating in active pilot trials. A combination of methods such as data analytics, personalized recommendations, and behavioural triggering is used to motivate customers to improve their energy consumption behaviour and several levels of Building Intelligence (control & monitoring functionalities) are tested to assess the techno-economic feasibility of the solution.
The UtilitEE objectives fall into two main categories, the Scientific and Technological objectives and the Business & Market objectives. This combination leads to a summary of 4 main pillars:
1. Energy Savings through Persistent Energy Behaviour Change
2. Continuous Consumer Engagement through the BCF based on Intuitive, Actionable Messages
3. Novel Utility Business Models and Roles towards the transformation of current business-as-usual utility practices
4. Open Innovation Framework to support real-life Pilot Deployment & Socio-Economic Evidence.

Work performed from the beginning of the project to the end of the period covered by the report and main results achieved so far

In Reporting Period 1 (RP1) (M1 – M18), UtilitEE fulfilled its work plan objectives and delivered all deliverables planned. UtilitEE also reached the majority of the planned milestones. The UtilitEE implementation methodology adopts an iterative research and development approach. The activities performed in RP1 within the project included: a) definition of the solution requirements, b) design (architecture, specifications and novel business models), c) configuration (configuration, prototyping and fine-tuning, training documentation), and d) initiation of pilot deployment.
The first round of UtilitEE's research and development activities were a core phase of the project and delivered key scientific and technical results namely: a) the Measurement & Verification specifications, defining key performance indicators for detailed evaluation, b) the BCF methodological approach, c) the system architecture spanning from real-time data and energy use capture and processing, to the user interfaces for consumers and utilities.

In RP2 (M19-M32), the UtilitEE consortium fulfilled its work plan obligations, meeting all relevant project objectives and delivering all required deliverables. The milestones planned for the period were reached.
During RP2, the development and deployment phases of the project were in progress and the system validation activities were also initiated. In RP1 UtilitEE achieved Milestone 11 on “UtilitEE Components initial configuration” in M22, by releasing the functional first version of the UtilitEE individual components, addressing all project stakeholders. In M24, Milestone 6 on “Pilot roll-out and full deployment of the UtilitEE system” was accomplished, combining efforts of both WP3 and WP4, by releasing the UtilitEE system to the project participants ensuring that the pilot sites were prepared for the initiation of the validation phase. Milestone 9 was also reached in M24, concerning the dissemination activities of the project and a report was submitted describing the latest achievements on the project’s communication and dissemination activities, addressing the feedback received at the first review meeting.

In RP3 (M33-M42), all project obligations & objectives were fulfilled, reaching the milestones planned for the final reporting period.
All development activities were successfully completed in M36 with the release of the final version of the UtilitEE integrated system, reaching Milestone 12 and joining efforts of both WP3 and WP4. The solution validation was completed in M42 accomplishing Milestone 7. The UtilitEE Business Innovation Plan, defined in WP6, incorporated validation & market analysis outcomes along with feedback from end-users and business stakeholders and was related with the achievement of Milestone 10 in M42.
The UtilitEE validation activities revealed a significant energy saving potential with energy savings ranging from 5-10% at the pilots with lower performance and reaching up to 40% at the highest performing pilot sites. User acceptance was evaluated through explicit ratings on the received recommendations and living labs outcomes and was generally high. Additionally, high persistence was observed in relation to the end user's energy-related behavioural change achieved through the UtilitEE solution, in average reaching 75%. To disseminate the project's results to a larger audiance, a Final Handbook was published offering an overview of the project concept and implementation, and presenting its outcomes.

Progress beyond the state of the art and expected potential impact (including the socio-economic impact and the wider societal implications of the project so far)

UtilitEE proposes a universal behavioural change framework focusing on identifying energy-hungry activities, and conveying meaningful feedback to consumers engaging them into a continuous process of learning and improvement towards energy efficiency. The UtilitEE project defines and validates novel business models for future-looking retailers to transform them from commodity providers to energy as-a-service providers. The UtilitEE solution aims to assist on placing end users in the heart of the energy transition, reducing the energy cost and GHG emissions and facilitating the consumer participation in novel energy markets.
UtilitEE demonstrated significant energy savings through the project's demo activities at five pilot sites around Europe. The overall average energy savings ranged around 17%, while in some cases the achieved efficiency exceeded 40%. Highly persistent behavioural change was also observed following the UtilitEE interventions, around 75% for all pilot sites. The environmental impact of such an efficiency improvement is significant and can be translated in relative GHG emissions reductions. The user acceptance of the UtilitEE solution reached 87% in average for all pilot sites. In regard to the UtilitEE societal impact, the novel technologies introduced through concrete business plans defined in the Business Innovation Plan, are expected to reinforce the socio-economic impact of the project through new jobs creation linked with the wider implementation of the UtilitEE solution. Business opportunities for EU utilities are foreseen to expand through offering innovative services to their customers, and for third parties so far unrelated to the energy industry (hardware manufacturers/retailers/installers).

UtilitEE System Architecture