The RE-COGNITION solution stands as an ICT integration framework, on-top of established and newly developed, innovative RE-based technologies, representing a highly inter-disciplinary concept for empowering the transition towards a renewable building landscape. The framework will enable the building integration of both variable renewable energy (VRE) sources (e.g. solar, wind) and dispatchable energy sources (e.g. bio-gas, geothermal) along with energy storage and advanced energy efficient technologies to ensure that the highest possible share of the buildings energy demand is satisfied. Actually, the proposed solution goes a step further by setting the ambition towards zero-energy or even energy positive buildings, with emphasis on the small and medium sized building stock in Europe. The synergy among the RES-based technologies is achieved by means of the platform that consists in the following main parts:
1) An Automated Cognitive Energy Management Engine (ACEME), that allows harmonizing production and demand side of various energy vectors (power, heating and cooling), by proposing optimal set of control strategies, depending of the demand and the external conditions. ACEME would be able to integrate data coming from different smart meters, operating within multiple time-scales to optimally cover short-term and middle-term needs.
2) iGateway, the intelligence that allows the communication of the ACEME with the RES-based devices.
3) Building Energy Plant Planning Tool BE-PLATO, a system that assists during the planning phase; this provide decision support to the various stakeholders for selection of RE-based systems, with the aim of minimizing the operational costs by selecting RES with high utilization for the specific installation, by keeping the planning complexities as low as possible. Financial analysis has been performed considering information about equipment available on the market
