Vulnerable consumer empowerment in a smart meter world (SMART-UP)
SMART-UP, funded under the Horizon 2020 – energy efficiency programme (Contract Number 649669), was launched on 1 March 2015 and has a duration of three years. SMART-UP is a European project to combat the economic and social phenomenon of “fuel poverty”, from which an increasing number of consumers suffer. SMART-UP providestraining for operators (social and/or energy) and support for consumers both in terms of the systems at their disposal (smart meters and displays in the home to monitor energy consumption) and in terms of direct assistance to learn more about their domestic energy consumption and identify their consumption behaviors and habits.
Objective
SMART-UP aims to increase the awareness of familieson domestic energy consumption (how much and how they consume) and to help them adopt new consumption habits to be more efficient through an umbrella path of training and assistance/information by operators and energy technicians (front-line operators) who work directly with consumers.
The final target of SMART-UP is consumers but the direct target of the project’s training actions are front-line operators.
Front-line operators, thanks to the participation of the training course, will be able to become SMART-UP operators and support consumers in a more targeted way and allow them to adopt more sustainable and efficient energy consumption habits. The training course will allow them to learn more about social and technical issues, such as energy poverty, consumer vulnerability, tools to assist consumers in overcoming the specific difficulties they encounter in terms of energy efficiency – i.e. how to meet their energy needs (heating the home, use of household appliances such as refrigerators, etc.) while maintaining sustainable energy consumption and bill costs.
The SMART-UP operators, coordinated by AISFOR, will meet the consumers involved in the SMART-UP initiative to analyze with them their energy consumption and consumption habits in their homes. Based on the indications provided, SMART-UP operators will provide individual consumers with personalized advice on consumption habits to adopt to have a more efficient energy consumption (e.g. reduce their energy bill or better meet their energy needs).
The project, coordinated by a French institution, involves five entities from five different European countries.
Partner SMART-UP
AISFOR srl (AISFOR) – Italy – Marina Varvesi – varvesi@aisfor.it
Alpheeis SAS (Alpheeis)- France
National Energy Action (NEA) – UK
Asociación Ecoserveis (ECOSERVEIS) – Spain
Projects In Motion Ld (PIM) – Malta
Planned activities
SMART-UP includes a three-year work plan structured around the pilot project to demonstrate how it is possible to combat the phenomenon of fuel poverty, with an initial preparatory phase for the pilot and an evaluation phase at the end of the pilot.
In the preparatory phase, AISFOR, in strong synergy with social operators and energy utilities, aims:
– the creation of a national network of SMART-UP operators to support consumers in discussing and evaluating the actions to be developed and the related methods and timing,
– the adaptation and delivery of training courses developed in the United Kingdom for social workers and energy technicians,
– the testing of different combined actions to combat fuel poverty and the monitoring and analysis of results.
AISFOR is the Italian partner of the project, responsible for developing all the actions in Italy and is also responsible for the experimentation phase.
Expected results
– The construction of training courses for operators (social and energy) to identify consumers suffering from energy poverty and to assist them to have more efficient and sustainable domestic energy consumption.
– The provision of at least two editions of training courses and training among 30 / 60 SMART-UP operators.
– Direct assistance to 1000 consumers in each country (5000 in total) by SMART-UP operators.
– The involvement of 60 consumers in the experimentation to combat fuel poverty.
– The reduction of the energy bill of assisted consumers.
SMART-UP Social
For more information on the project visit the http://smartup-project.eu/it/ website or follow the Facebook account of the Smart-up Community project
To be always updated on the activities of the project in Italy, follow us on the Facebook account of 6_1_consumatore_smart?
To request information on SMART-UP activities and smart meters, write to smartup@aisfor.it