Vulnerable consumer empowerment in a smart meter world (SMART-UP)

SMART-UP is an European project to prove how it is possible to fight the economic and social phenomenon of the "energetic poverty" (fuel poverty), of which an increasing number of vulnerable consumers suffer, thanks to a training action addressed to social workers and / or energy operators and continuous support to vulnerable consumers both in terms of infrastructure at their disposal (smart meter and in-home display to monitor energy consumption) and in terms of direct assistance to deepen domestic energy consumption and behaviors and habits.

SMART-UP, funded under the Horizon 2020 program - energy efficiency (Contract No. 649669) was launched on the 1^st of March 2015 and lasts three years.

Project Objectives

SMART-UP aims to increase awareness of vulnerable families on household energy consumption (how much and how they consume) and to help them in adopting new energy efficient consumption habits through training of and assistance / information from social workers and energy technicians (e.g. installer of smart meters) working directly with vulnerable consumers (frontline staff).

The final target of SMART-UP are vulnerable consumers but the direct target of the project actions are frontline staff.

Through direct training action of frontline staff on how to identify vulnerable consumers and how help them overcome the specific difficulties they encounter on their energy consumption - meet their energy needs (heating of home, household appliances use such as refrigerators) keeping sustainable energy consumption and bills - they can support vulnerable consumers in a more targeted way and allow them to adopt more sustainable and efficient habits of energy consumption.

The project is coordinated by a French organization, with the involvement of five organizations from five different European countries.

Top

SMART-UP Partners

AISFOR SRl (AISFOR) - Italy - Marina Varvesi - varvesi@aisfor.it

Alpheeis SAS (Alpheeis)-  France

National Energy Action (NEA) - United Kingdom

Asociacion Ecoserveis (ECOSERVEIS) - Spain 

Projects In Motion Ld (PIM) - Republic of Malta 

Top

Planned Activities

SMART-UP has a three years work plan structure including a pilot project to prove how it is possible to fight the problem of fuel poverty, with a preparatory phase at the start of the pilot and an evaluation phase at the end of it.

In the initial phase AISFOR, in synergy with social workers and energy utilities will:

- create a network of national operators to support vulnerable consumers, to discuss and evaluate together the actions to be developed and the best methods and timing;

- collect inputs of the national network members, to adapt and deliver training courses already developed in the UK for social workers and energy technicians (mainly installers of smart meters);

- test several combined actions to combat fuel poverty and supervise and analyze results.

AISFOR is the Italian partner of the project, responsible for developing all the actions in Italy including the experimental phase.

Top

Expected Results

- Definition of training courses for social workers and energy technicians to identify and support vulnerable consumers suffering from fuel poverty and to assist them to have more efficient and sustainable household energy consumption.

- Deliver at least two editions of training courses and train 30/60 frontline staff.

- Direct assistance to about 1000 vulnerable consumers in each country (5000 in total) from the trained frontline staff (each expert witness about 20/25 vulnerable consumers).

- Involvement of 130 vulnerable consumers in a social research to tackle fuel poverty.

- Reduction of energy bill of vulnerable consumers attended.

Top

SMART-UP Social

For more information about the project visit the website: http://smartup-project.eu/ or follow the facebook  Smart-up community

To stay updated on the activities of the project in Italy follow us on facebook on 6_1_consumatore_smart?

To request information on SMART-UP activities and on smart meter write to usmartconsumer@aisfor.it

Download Documents

Project Presentation (in Italian)