PROJECT DESCRIPTION
BACKGROUND
The building sector is responsible for significant greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions. In order to reduce energy consumption and related GHG emissions, many technology-related actions are implemented, such as thermal renovation, development of renewable energy sources, and energy storage. Yet technological solutions do not always provide the expected results because of technical shortcomings or because they are not adapted. Moreover, the way people use large buildings, such as offices, universities and residential housing, has a significant impact on energy use and greenhouse gas emissions. The impact of people’s behaviour on the building sector is still poorly explored and generally underestimated. Different actors - communities, businesses, universities, social housing organisations have initiated user-awareness actions, which have, however, shown their limitations. Actions tend to be temporary or experimental without capitalising follow-up, in particular when actions are carried out by different stakeholders (e.g. housing or tertiary sectors, universities).
OBJECTIVES
The main objective of the Life-MaPerEn project was to implement a pioneering awareness and governance plan in the city of Lille, France to catalyse behavioural change among occupants of offices, universities and residential complexes. The project beneficiaries, representing a university, an engineering school, a city and a social housing organisation, worked together to deploy intelligent consumption measurement tools, collaborative platforms, run targeted awareness campaigns and integrate energy efficiency technologies into large-scale buildings. The aim was to reduce energy consumption and mitigate greenhouse gas emissions, thereby promoting a more sustainable urban environment.
Specific objectives were the following:
- design collaborative tools for energy performance management targeting office and residential building users;
- focus the energy performance management on cooperation, to encourage relevant users to reduce their energy consumption; and
- consolidate the governance and energy performance solutions identified and sustain them over time by integrating them into climate policy in the Lille area, and also promoting and replicating them elsewhere in France and Europe.
In terms of policy implementation, this project bases itself on implementing the 2030 climate and energy framework in the area of reducing greenhouse gas emissions and in improving energy efficiency.
RESULTS
The project achieved the following results:
- 604,463 m² spread over 279 buildings covered by the project in the city of Lille for the four partners of the project.
- Installation of intelligent energy consumption measurement and communication equipment in all the buildings covered by the project.
- 9.4% reduction in electricity consumption and a 12,9% reduction in heating consumption in the buildings concerned.
- Associated greenhouse gas emissions were reduced by 20.6%.
- In economic terms, €596k was saved thanks to these reductions.
- 25,000 occupants affected by behaviour change activities in the buildings.
- 8.5 percentage point increase in occupant “energy vigilance” particularly in the workplace.
- Increase in the use of eco-gestures, the most widespread being switching off the desk lamp when leaving the office, practised by 99% of the people surveyed at the end of the project versus 68% at the beginning of the project.
- Identification of good practices and recommendations to effectively change habits in a sustainable way in local authority administrations, university campuses and social housing estates.
- Transfer and replication ensured by maintaining the collaborative platform and replicating the experiments carried out in Lille in other regions of France and in other sectors.
