BuildON’s Greek pilot brings a car dealership in Athens and an office site in Volos into a European trial of connected sensors, energy meters and automated controls. The project is examining how existing commercial buildings can improve energy management without replacing all their equipment.
The upgrades are intended to help operators detect waste, adjust heating and cooling, and respond to changing indoor conditions. BuildON’s published Greek pilot description sets out the equipment and objectives, but provides no measured energy savings or financial payback for the two sites.
The opportunity extends across a large stock of older properties. The European Commission estimates that buildings account for around 40% of EU energy consumption. About 85% were built before 2000, and roughly 75% have poor energy performance. Those figures cover the wider building stock, including homes.
Sensors connect energy use to conditions inside
The Greek pilot specification identifies an 850-square-meter conditioned area at a Volvo dealership in Athens and a 400-square-meter office area associated with Campari in Volos. Their different uses give the project more than one operating pattern to examine.
Specified upgrades include dimmable LED lighting, temperature and humidity sensors, carbon dioxide and light sensors, energy meters, and controllers for ventilation equipment and variable-speed drives. These drives adjust the speed of motors used in equipment such as fans.
In ordinary operation, the purpose is to connect measurements with decisions. If a room is empty, lighting or temperature settings may be adjusted. If equipment runs outside its scheduled hours, an operator can investigate. Ventilation must still meet the building’s requirements; lower electricity use alone is not evidence that a system is operating properly.
The US Department of Energy’s guidance on checking heating, ventilation and air-conditioning systems recommends examining operating schedules, controls and ventilation performance. Finding incorrect settings or faulty equipment can be as relevant as buying new technology.
BuildON presents its Greek pilot in the following video.https://www.youtube.com/embed/ILsS0jAFElk
Existing equipment has to work together
Connecting older systems is part of BuildON’s wider technical work. Its project plan includes an interoperability framework, a way for equipment and software using different systems to exchange information.
A meter can reveal unusual consumption, but changing it requires a working connection to the relevant controls or someone who can correct the fault. Operators also need to understand what an alert means and who should act on it.
The Greek pilot’s objectives include artificial intelligence-based controls and digital twins. A digital twin is a software representation of a real building or system, informed by operating data. It can help model performance and assess possible adjustments before they are applied to equipment.
Using forecasts to inform building controls has a longer research history. Our earlier coverage of weather-informed energy management examined work on incorporating uncertainty in weather forecasts into heating and cooling decisions.
Europe’s Smart Readiness Indicator assesses whether a building can use technology to improve its operation, respond to occupants and adapt to signals from the electricity grid. A higher score describes capabilities; it is not a measurement of the building’s actual energy savings.
Grid flexibility also differs from using less energy. Moving some consumption away from a busy period can reduce peak demand without necessarily reducing total consumption. Any benefit to the owner’s bill depends on the tariff and how the equipment is operated.
The investment case requires measured savings
Earlier deployments provide evidence that analytics can help. In 2020, Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory reported median annual energy savings of 9% among participants in a US campaign whose energy-management efforts used fault-detection and diagnostic software.
That software identifies operating problems and helps staff find remedies. The result concerns participating organizations using analytics as part of their energy-management work. It is neither a forecast for BuildON nor a saving every building can expect from installing sensors.
Owners assessing an upgrade need a baseline for consumption, installation and integration costs, recurring software charges, and the staff time required to respond to faults. Comparing bills alone can be misleading if energy prices, weather or occupancy have changed.
The Department of Energy’s measurement guidance describes methods that account for weather, occupancy and operating changes when assessing whole-building savings. Comfort and equipment reliability also need checking alongside consumption.
According to the EU’s CORDIS project record, BuildON began in May 2023 and is scheduled to end on October 31, 2026. Its total budget is approximately €6.74 million, including about €5.60 million from the EU. Those amounts fund the wider project, not just the Greek installations. Site-level savings and operating costs will be needed to establish the return on those upgrades.
