Buildings can balance the grid through proactive energy demand management and can play a leading role in transforming the EU energy market, shifting from centralised, fossil-fuel-based systems towards a decentralised, renewable, interconnected and variable system. Many actors agree that buildings have a role in shaping the Energy Market Design Initiative.

There are many benefits to fast-tracking the concept of micro energy-hubs: from empowering users to control their own renewable energy production and consumption; to cutting energy bills and facilitating the surge of renewable energy as well as electrical vehicles and even reinforcing energy security.

BPIE identifies 10 principles for buildings to become micro energy-hubs which should be the reference when re-designing our energy system. They are all important separately, but more impactful once considered together.  It is paramount to firstly maximise the buildings’ energy efficiency level in order to successfully apply other principles. These principles include:

Principle 1: Maximise the buildings’ energy efficiency first
Principle 2: Increase on-site or nearby renewable
Principle 3: Stimulate energy storage capacities in buildings
Principle 4: Incorporate demand response capacity in the building stock
Principle 5: Decarbonise the heating and cooling energy for buildings
Principle 6: Empower end-users via smart meters and controls
Principle 7: Make dynamic price signals available for all consumers
Principle 8: Foster business models aggregating micro energy-hubs
Principle 9: Build smart and interconnected districts
Principle 10: Building infrastructure to drive further market uptake of electric vehicles