Balanced European Conservation Approach – ICT services for resource saving in social housing

Solutions developed

In BECA, ICT-based services for social housing tenants have been evaluated in 7 pilots in 7 countries across Europe as depicted in the map. More than 5,000 social housing tenants have access to BECA Resource Awareness and/or Resource Management Services in the pilots, which are designed to evaluate the impact on overall residential energy consumption. In each pilot site an integrated approach is followed, involving a team of different partners with corresponding skills and expertise working together to successfully implement and operate the different services. Typically, a pilot site team includes a social housing provider, an IT service provider responsible for the development and implementation of the web-based services and in some cases also a utility and energy provider.

Main results

The BECA solution is based on Smart Meters measuring amounts of energy or water flowing through them and capable of communicating the readings autonomously every few minutes to a centralised server. Two major service categories are distinguished: Resource Awareness Systems (RUAS), which provide tenants with greatly enhanced, timely feedback about their energy use, and Resource Management Systems (RMS), enabling end users (tenants), housing providers and/or energy providers to manage energy consumption in smart ways, leading to greater efficiency and lower GHG emissions.