Is Europe ready for the smart buildings revolution?
An analysis by the Buildings Performance Institute Europe (BPIE) on the readiness of EU countries to transition to smart buildings concludes that no Member State is fully prepared to take advantage of the benefits that smart building technologies will entail. BPIE assesses aspects such as dynamic operability, energy-system responsiveness, renewable energy uptake as well as dynamic and self-learning control systems to judge how well prepared Europe is for an increasing share of smart buildings. Smart buildings are flexibly connected and interacting with the energy system, being able to produce, store and/or consume energy efficiently. The leading countries in terms of a smart-readiness, Sweden, Finland, Denmark and the Netherlands, have implemented enabling policies. But most countries show little progress in opening the market to demand response or in encouraging the penetration of energy storage capacity in buildings. The report presents a series of progressive policies and innovative front-runner projects which prove the economic viability of smart buildings.