Business models for active buildings
File(s)energies-15-07389-v2.pdf (3.28 MB)
Published version
OA Location
Author(s)
Elliott, Tom
Geske, Joachim
Green, Richard
Type
Journal Article
Abstract
Active Buildings that allow users to adjust their demands on the grid to the needs of the energy system could greatly assist the transition to net zero, but will not be widely adopted unless the businesses involved can make money from doing so. We describe the construction, flexibility and information supply chains of activities needed to make these buildings work. Drawing on the results of an expert workshop, we set out four possible business models deserving further investigation. Developers may find it profitable to build or upgrade energy-efficient buildings with the monitoring and control equipment needed to adjust demand and energy storage as required, selling them soon after completion. Aggregators monitor the state of the building and communicate with the energy system to adjust the building’s demand while maintaining comfort levels, in return for suitable payments. Energy service companies may sell energy-as-a-service and own the equipment instead of a consumer who wishes to minimize their upfront costs, and the idea of an active, energy-efficient, building may be attractive to the tenants of the new group of all-inclusive rental companies, and hence to those companies. Our discussion shows that each is an evolution of an existing (successful) business model, but that further work will be needed to evaluate their profitability when applied to Active Buildings.
Date Issued
2022-10-08
Date Acceptance
2022-10-05
Citation
Energies, 2022, 15 (19), pp.1-17
ISSN
1996-1073
Publisher
MDPI AG
Start Page
1
End Page
17
Journal / Book Title
Energies
Volume
15
Issue
19
Copyright Statement
© 2022 by the authors.
Licensee MDPI, Basel, Switzerland.
This article is an open access article
distributed under the terms and
conditions of the Creative Commons
Attribution (CC BY) license (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/)
Licensee MDPI, Basel, Switzerland.
This article is an open access article
distributed under the terms and
conditions of the Creative Commons
Attribution (CC BY) license (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/)
License URL
Sponsor
Engineering and Physical Sciences Research Council
Identifier
https://www.mdpi.com/1996-1073/15/19/7389
Grant Number
EP/V012053/1
Subjects
02 Physical Sciences
09 Engineering
Publication Status
Published
Date Publish Online
2022-10-08