In its climate and energy policy towards 2030, the European Union has set ambitious goals for its energy system. The building sector accounts for over 40% of the total final energy consumed in the EU. As a major actor of the EU energy system, it must contribute significantly to the achievement of the EU 2030 goals: buildings must become more efficient and more flexible, and host more renewable generation.
Improving the energy efficiency of existing buildings can and should be achieved through deep renovation. However, smart technologies can increase the efficiency and flexibility of buildings in the shorter term and with much less investment. Smart services can improve the energy performance of buildings through two processes: 1) thanks to smart services, facility operators and occupants get a better understanding of their buildings as an energy system, and, consequently, change their behaviour or decide to invest in a more efficient energy infrastructure, and 2) closed-loop control improves efficiency and flexibility.
Digitisation of buildings in Europe is progressing: nearly all new appliances ranging from light bulbs to heat pumps feature a data interface and an app. However, digitisation progresses in an uncoordinated way: services are offered as silo solutions usually operated by appliance / device manufacturers. This approach has two drawbacks. First, the multiplication of services degrades the user experience, as multiple systems, each with their own presentation logic and access control, must be delt with. Secondly, silo solutions are not appropriate for energy management, which requires the coordination of multiple processes like photovoltaic generation, space and domestic hot water heating, the heat pump, electrical vehicle charging, energy grids, and energy markets.
In this context, the domOS project elaborates an ecosystem enabling 1) the integration of multiple energy devices and appliances of multiple vendors within a building into an coherent information system, and 2) the decoupling of the smart service layer and of the infrastructure layer in buildings. domOS considers the heterogeneity of communication interfaces of digital appliances as a fact. Integration requires only that the communication interfaces are described in a machine-readable document. The domOS ecosystem is a specification based on established and emerging IoT standards. It has been designed so that stakeholders (smart service developers, IoT platforms operators, system integrators) can implement it with a limited effort. A broad adoption of the domOS ecosystem would lead to an “industrialisation” of the smart building scene in Europe, with the advent of more specialised actors offering complementary products and services. This will promote the uptake of digital energy services in buildings first by lowering prices, and secondly by allowing a phased investment.
