UfU expert dialog at the Berlin Energy Days

Overcoming legal and practical hurdles in energy monitoring!

In the expert dialog at the Berlin Energy Days, we will discuss specific obstacles in municipal energy management. Particular attention will be paid to the collection of energy consumption data from public properties. The aim is to identify possible solutions for establishing consistent, seamless data collection (monitoring) at high frequency and prompt evaluation and publication (controlling) in the municipalities in future.

The expert dialog will take place on 22 May 2023 from 10.00-11.30 a.m. as part of the Berlin Energy Days. Participation is free of charge, registration is still possible under the following link:

Background

In recent years, the federal and state governments have formulated numerous ambitious climate targets and legal requirements to achieve them. The Climate Protection Act, Building Energy Act, Berlin Energy and Climate Protection Act are just some of these laws. However, these regulations not only affect private households and businesses, for example, but also the public sector itself. The numerous public properties are of particular interest to our institute in this context. Due to their special functionality and complex user behavior, public buildings and schools in particular have particularly high energy consumption and are difficult to convert into sufficient buildings. However, the building sector in particular is one of the key areas, alongside transport and energy, in which major changes need to take place in the coming years. Unfortunately, these changes are already failing in the early stages. Intensive monitoring is required in order to transform public buildings in a targeted manner and make them sufficient. The complex user behavior of the numerous different user groups – for schools, think of teaching staff, parents, pupils, administrative staff, canteen and cafeteria staff, building cleaning staff, etc. – makes it essential to identify peak consumption precisely. Although most public buildings are already equipped with smart meters, monitoring usually fails due to data protection. Even in publicly funded energy-saving projects, the necessary figures are not made available or only after extremely complex coordination.

Points to be discussed:

• Better understanding of smart meter technology:
  • What technical requirements must be met?
  • What role do smart meters play in the electricity system?
  • How and where data is transmitted
• Understanding of administrative processes in municipalities in the area of energy management:
  • Who collects the data?
  • Who processes the data?
  • Which legal and administrative standards are applied or serve as a basis?
  • What legal restrictions can prevent data collection?
  • What legal requirements must be met for external service providers to be allowed to collect and process the data?
  • What standards for data collection, frequency and timeliness of data apply to municipal energy management?