Roles of different actors in the development of energy positive neighbourhoods

This paper presents results from an ongoing (Nov. 2012 - Oct. 2015) European FP7 project entitled IDEAS - Intelligent NeighbourhooD Energy Allocation & Supervision. The IDEAS consortium consists of research, business and local city government organisations from the UK, Finland, France and Israel. The project is informed by partner organisations expertise in the fields of energy, IT and sustainable construction. The IDEAS project will demonstrate how energy positive neighbourhoods can be cost effectively and incrementally implemented by designing, testing and validating: 1) a neighbourhood energy management tool to optimise energy production and consumption, 2) user interfaces that engage communities and individuals in the operation of energy positive neighbourhoods, 3) a decision support urban planning tool to optimise the planning of neighbourhood energy infrastructures and 4) business models to underpin energy positive neighbourhoods that engage end users, public authorities and utility companies. The tools and business models developed will be demonstrated in two neighbourhoods: a newly built residential area in Finland and a University campus in France. The research presented in this paper focuses on the business and community requirements in the demonstration areas. The data collection involved literature reviews, interviews and workshops. The business requirements and opportunities of the intended users of the developed tools (facility managers, energy companies, city authorities and people living in energy positive neighbourhoods) are identified. The main results include 1) value propositions for the service providers involved in the demonstrations, i.e. the value that will be gained from providing services required for energy positive neighbourhoods, and 2) user requirements identifying the services that people living in the communities involved in the demonstration sites require to inform their energy consuming behaviours. The paper draws a conclusion as to how the findings from this work can inform the cost effective and incremental rollout of energy positive neighbourhoods within the EU and beyond.