Challenge

Social housing represents an important area for reducing Europe’s energy consumption, costs and emissions. However, residents and housing providers often lacked clear information about energy and water use, while differences in buildings, infrastructure and tenant needs made standardised solutions difficult to implement.

Solutions

BECA and eSESH tested 17 ICT-based energy-awareness and management solutions in approximately 20,000 dwellings across European pilot sites. Smart meters, online platforms and building-management systems helped tenants understand their consumption and enabled housing providers to monitor buildings, detect faults and optimise energy use. The projects applied common evaluation methods and an EC-aligned cost-benefit tool. empirica developed resident use cases, coordinated recruitment and good-practice exchange, conducted CAPEX/OPEX analysis, produced replication guidelines and worked closely with Housing Europe and EURHONET.

Results

The BECA pilots achieved average savings of 15% in heating energy, 11% in cold water and 17% in hot water, avoiding approximately 117 tonnes of CO₂ emissions. The project estimated a potential net benefit of  €1.7 million over ten years. The project showed that ICT can reduce consumption, improve building management and support better investment decision. They also produced tools and guidelines to help other housing organisations replicate the solutions across Europe.