Digitalisation as a central opportunity for energy efficiency in buildings

The application of modern information and communication technologies (ICT) is growing more and more in many areas of industry and society in Germany. The potential offered by digitalisation is also highlighted within the scope of the Energiewende, the German energy transition. For example, the "Green Paper on Energy Efficiency" identifies digitalisation as one of the key opportunities for increasing energy efficiency in industry, commerce and private households.

Given this background, the Federal Ministry of Economic Affairs and Energy (BMWi) commissioned a consortium consisting of adelphi, the German Energy Agency (dena), Ecofys, the Fraunhofer Institute for System and Innovation Research (ISI) and PricewaterhouseCoopers (PwC) to conduct a study on the role of digitalisation in the building sector. The main question of the study was: What options for energy policy are relevant to promote and shape digitalisation in the building sector in pursuit of the goals of the energy transition? The following two thematic blocks were to be especially considered: Digital tools for the energy-optimized planning, realisation and operation of buildings as well as an increase in energy efficiency through information and communication technology.

For the study, the consortium analysed the following in detail,

• which potentials exist to increase energy efficiency and the use of renewable energies.
• to what degree must buildings become automated in order to make digitalisation possible,  
• which digital systems exist on the market to optimise the operation of buildings in energy terms,
• which specific barriers exist, and how can these be broken down,
• which stakeholders and user groups would have to be addressed.

adelphi took the lead in analysing the application of digitalisation in the building sector, of the state of the art, the introduction/implementation, as well as the classification of its potential for increasing energy efficiency and the use of renewable energies