Periodic Reporting for period 2 - SENSEI (Smart Energy Services Integrating the Multiple Benefits from Improving the Energy Efficiency of the European Building Stock)
Reporting period: 2021-03-01 to 2023-02-28
The EPC model has attracted investments for large-scale energy efficiency projects, while energy efficiency programs offer an alternative to expand interventions in buildings. However, upfront payments and complex regulations hinder innovation. SENSEI proposes a solution by developing concepts and business models that generate additional benefits and attract private financing. Using the pay-for-performance concept, SENSEI has devised EU-wide P4P schemes for financing energy efficiency. These schemes will integrate with the EPC model to finance building value gains. Through negotiation games and stakeholder support, SENSEI aims to launch the first P4P pilots in the EU and disseminate insights for implementation.
The objectives of SENSEI are:
Objective 1: Quantify the market value of energy savings from the energy providers’ perspective.
Objective 2: Produce guidelines for designing P4P schemes to compensate energy efficiency as an energy resource.
Objective 3: Design variants of P4P schemes that attract third party investors.
Objective 4: Design the smart services to substantiate the integrated P4P and EPC model.
Objective 5: Engage and support stakeholders to design the first P4P pilots in the EU.
Objective 6: Design the business models to support P4P.
The objectives of SENSEI are:
Objective 1: Quantify the market value of energy savings from the energy providers’ perspective.
Objective 2: Produce guidelines for designing P4P schemes to compensate energy efficiency as an energy resource.
Objective 3: Design variants of P4P schemes that attract third party investors.
Objective 4: Design the smart services to substantiate the integrated P4P and EPC model.
Objective 5: Engage and support stakeholders to design the first P4P pilots in the EU.
Objective 6: Design the business models to support P4P.
The SENSEI project aimed to tackle the challenges associated with scaling up energy efficiency interventions in buildings by introducing innovative business models based on the pay-for-performance (P4P) approach, that would enhance the value of energy retrofit projects.
The project conducted an in-depth analysis of the market value of energy savings, developed useful tools such as EEVALUE, and provided comprehensive guidelines for designing effective P4P schemes. By examining existing P4P pilots outside the EU and identifying the factors that enable or hinder their implementation, the project generated widely downloaded reports and recommendations for replicating successful pilots within the EU. These activities served as a foundation for establishing P4P schemes in the EU, highlighting their benefits and providing practical tools to motivate their adoption.
Building upon the established Energy Performance Contracting (EPC) model, SENSEI went beyond traditional approaches by designing a transaction model that compensates energy efficiency based on its actual impact on the power system. This involved selecting building data, conducting assessments, and deriving P4P arrangements that aligned the interests of stakeholders while considering compensation structures. Additionally, the project explored the interplay between P4P and demand response, showcasing their complementarity. SENSEI developed guidelines and a business model for energy efficiency aggregation, addressing benefit allocation, engaging third-party investors, and exploring policy developments within the EU.
To support the implementation of these innovative smart energy services, SENSEI developed an advanced M&V tool named EENSIGHT. This tool accurately measures energy savings, while the SENSEI Platform integrated various web tools for building data monitoring, estimating savings potential, and assessing grid friendliness. The project also considered standards and data privacy considerations to ensure compatibility and compliance. Moreover, SENSEI analyzed policy developments and technology advancements as potential risks and opportunities, aiming to adapt the P4P business model to ensure social acceptability.
The project organized diverse activities, including workshops, conferences, and online events, to engage stakeholders and gather valuable input. Communication and dissemination efforts were also a priority for SENSEI, as key messages were formulated, and various channels, including a dedicated website and social media profiles, were utilized to reach policymakers, building owners, ESCOs, energy providers, and investors. The project provided support activities such as webinars, workshops, an e-learning platform and capacity building events to stakeholders interested in initiating P4P pilots.
Overall, the SENSEI project achieved its objectives successfully. Noteworthy accomplishments include the development of advanced open-source tools like the EEVALUE tool for quantifying the market value of energy savings and the EENSIGHT tool for measuring energy savings. The project contributed to rethinking energy-saving accounting methods and facilitated the design of pilot P4P schemes in Northwest Europe (via Interreg) and the UK. Moreover, it fostered applied research activities related to P4P through partner-led exploitation efforts. At a higher level, SENSEI influenced EU policy documents and national-level discussions by advocating for P4P, offering supportive documentation for establishing relevant business models, and providing tools and platforms to support learning and adoption.
The project conducted an in-depth analysis of the market value of energy savings, developed useful tools such as EEVALUE, and provided comprehensive guidelines for designing effective P4P schemes. By examining existing P4P pilots outside the EU and identifying the factors that enable or hinder their implementation, the project generated widely downloaded reports and recommendations for replicating successful pilots within the EU. These activities served as a foundation for establishing P4P schemes in the EU, highlighting their benefits and providing practical tools to motivate their adoption.
Building upon the established Energy Performance Contracting (EPC) model, SENSEI went beyond traditional approaches by designing a transaction model that compensates energy efficiency based on its actual impact on the power system. This involved selecting building data, conducting assessments, and deriving P4P arrangements that aligned the interests of stakeholders while considering compensation structures. Additionally, the project explored the interplay between P4P and demand response, showcasing their complementarity. SENSEI developed guidelines and a business model for energy efficiency aggregation, addressing benefit allocation, engaging third-party investors, and exploring policy developments within the EU.
To support the implementation of these innovative smart energy services, SENSEI developed an advanced M&V tool named EENSIGHT. This tool accurately measures energy savings, while the SENSEI Platform integrated various web tools for building data monitoring, estimating savings potential, and assessing grid friendliness. The project also considered standards and data privacy considerations to ensure compatibility and compliance. Moreover, SENSEI analyzed policy developments and technology advancements as potential risks and opportunities, aiming to adapt the P4P business model to ensure social acceptability.
The project organized diverse activities, including workshops, conferences, and online events, to engage stakeholders and gather valuable input. Communication and dissemination efforts were also a priority for SENSEI, as key messages were formulated, and various channels, including a dedicated website and social media profiles, were utilized to reach policymakers, building owners, ESCOs, energy providers, and investors. The project provided support activities such as webinars, workshops, an e-learning platform and capacity building events to stakeholders interested in initiating P4P pilots.
Overall, the SENSEI project achieved its objectives successfully. Noteworthy accomplishments include the development of advanced open-source tools like the EEVALUE tool for quantifying the market value of energy savings and the EENSIGHT tool for measuring energy savings. The project contributed to rethinking energy-saving accounting methods and facilitated the design of pilot P4P schemes in Northwest Europe (via Interreg) and the UK. Moreover, it fostered applied research activities related to P4P through partner-led exploitation efforts. At a higher level, SENSEI influenced EU policy documents and national-level discussions by advocating for P4P, offering supportive documentation for establishing relevant business models, and providing tools and platforms to support learning and adoption.
SENSEI has delivered two important tools and a guides regarding the value of energy efficiency
The online book Rethinking Measurement and Verification of Energy Savings is available on https://hebes-io.github.io/rethinking. This material has been produced to aid understanding of measuring and verifying energy savings. It is presented in the form of a combination of text, software code, and plots, ensuring that every argument and result is transparent and replicable.
EENSIGHT is an open-source tool developed by SENSEI project to improve advanced Measurement and Verification (M&V) methods for energy efficiency projects. It offers new ways to frame the M&V task and its fundamental calculations, providing insights necessary for all parties involved in up-scaling energy efficiency to quantify and share benefits based on metered savings. EENSIGHT is designed to better understand a building's energy consumption and estimate energy savings from interventions and can thus help professionals accurately estimate the benefits of energy efficiency interventions. EENSIGHT is available as a reproducible open-source project at https://github.com/hebes-io/eensight.
EEVALUE is an open-source methodology that quantifies the value of energy efficiency projects as a grid resource. The methodology helps identify retrofit projects that persistently modify the power system's load shape in ways that align with the system operator's goals, quantifying and rewarding this value as a grid resource. The methodology uses the same process and tools that power system operators use for capacity adequacy studies, recognizing energy efficiency's seasonal/temporal characteristics that may decrease or increase the total cost of the power system's operation. EEVALUE is a useful tool for professionals exploring the importance of energy efficiency for the power system and can be accessed at https://github.com/hebes-io/eevalue.
Two of the major impacts of the SENSEI project has been its contribution to setting up two pilot projects: The RetroMeter project in the UK, where SENSEI provided trainings on M&V also offering the open-source code of the EENSIGHT tool. Additionally, the e-real project is being considered by NW Europe Interreg. The project will implement pilots and develop the relevant methodologies and a policy framework to promote metered energy savings with a focus on social housing and energy poverty. The project will be making use of SENSEI results, and aiming to achieve policy impacts on the national and local levels.
The online book Rethinking Measurement and Verification of Energy Savings is available on https://hebes-io.github.io/rethinking. This material has been produced to aid understanding of measuring and verifying energy savings. It is presented in the form of a combination of text, software code, and plots, ensuring that every argument and result is transparent and replicable.
EENSIGHT is an open-source tool developed by SENSEI project to improve advanced Measurement and Verification (M&V) methods for energy efficiency projects. It offers new ways to frame the M&V task and its fundamental calculations, providing insights necessary for all parties involved in up-scaling energy efficiency to quantify and share benefits based on metered savings. EENSIGHT is designed to better understand a building's energy consumption and estimate energy savings from interventions and can thus help professionals accurately estimate the benefits of energy efficiency interventions. EENSIGHT is available as a reproducible open-source project at https://github.com/hebes-io/eensight.
EEVALUE is an open-source methodology that quantifies the value of energy efficiency projects as a grid resource. The methodology helps identify retrofit projects that persistently modify the power system's load shape in ways that align with the system operator's goals, quantifying and rewarding this value as a grid resource. The methodology uses the same process and tools that power system operators use for capacity adequacy studies, recognizing energy efficiency's seasonal/temporal characteristics that may decrease or increase the total cost of the power system's operation. EEVALUE is a useful tool for professionals exploring the importance of energy efficiency for the power system and can be accessed at https://github.com/hebes-io/eevalue.
Two of the major impacts of the SENSEI project has been its contribution to setting up two pilot projects: The RetroMeter project in the UK, where SENSEI provided trainings on M&V also offering the open-source code of the EENSIGHT tool. Additionally, the e-real project is being considered by NW Europe Interreg. The project will implement pilots and develop the relevant methodologies and a policy framework to promote metered energy savings with a focus on social housing and energy poverty. The project will be making use of SENSEI results, and aiming to achieve policy impacts on the national and local levels.