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Notes Online Session Block Chains & Digital ToolsDate: March 31st 2020 15:05 – 17:05 CETLocation: Webex Introduction: what is blockchain? How to evaluate digital impact? And how to enlarge digital impact? University of Gothenburg (Juho Lindman)BackgroundThe potential impact of blockchain can best be valued in the light of the continuing digitalization of society. More and more domains of social life are structured around digital communication. Meanwhile (digital) infrastructures are converging to one digital infrastructure linking all different activities and media. These developments also introduce new forms of openness and decentralization to organizations, also it makes possible peer production. Peer production changes market mechanisms in knowledge and cultural production in areas such as journalism, book publishing and potentially also Blockchain. Three technological basicsBlockchain can best be seen as a trust machine that enables peer to peer transactions. Blockchain does so through three technological basics. First: it organizes a decentralized peer to peer (P2P) network. Second: it provides an immutable shared ledger. Third: it develops consensus mechanism. Distributed networkIn the decentralized peer to peer network past data is stored, the validity of added data is verified and because it functions like a distributed network, no central coordinating authority is necessary. The immutable shared ledger records the history of data states (when was which information changed), each node in the network holds a copy of this history and this history cannot be altered, it can only be extended. Finally, in Blockchain the consensus mechanism ensures that there is only one version of the “truth”. For this Blockchain has many different consensus algorithms. ExamplesThe best known Blockchain example is the crypto currency. However, Blockchain has been used more and more in the public domain, such as for identity, for asset registrations, in healthcare, for education certification and finally experiments are developed in e-voting.ConcernsNotwithstanding the exiting perspectives there are also real concerns about the (feasibility of) Blockchain. The Blockchain design space is still vague, there is still much speculation about the technology applied in Blockchain. Meanwhile many different, stand-alone Blockchain projects are developed, that only partially learn from other examples. The available Blockchain solutions are technically very complex – whereas the available Blockchain technical talent is scarce. Stronghouse perspectiveBlockchain is relevant to Stronghouse because meeting reducing emissions in general and reducing emission in the built environment in specific, requires the involvement of many actors. These different actors want and need to work together, for which however they need trust and would often prefer to work without a central coordinating authority. Blockchain and related technology can provide digital solutions to organize this trust, this cooperation and such a ‘distributed network’. Stronghouse homeowner perspectiveIndividual homeowners have a central role in reducing the emissions in the built environment. However, they often lack the necessary insight about their own technical and financial possibilities, and about their potential rewards in sustainability and comfort. Also, when they decide to invest in energy renovation, these individual homeowner, do not yet have access to private green financing, where the reduced emission warrants a substantially lower interest rate. University of GothenburgIn Stronghouse University of Gothenburg shares its Blockchain expertise and participates in the co-creation of (public) services such as the Stronghouse online self-assessment tool for individual homeowners. With this self-assessment tool homeowners gain insight in their possibilities for energy renovation, the potential CO2 reduction and their eligibility for green finance. Data driven home-owner engagement. Digital tool: Energy Manager ProjectZero (Kristina Boshkova & Nanna Winter)ProjectZero raises the awareness of citizens in Sonderborg, Denmark, about the potential of emission reduction of their homes. ProjectZero does this through sharing open data about the energy consumption, CO2 footprint and available renewable energy sources for a growing number of homes in the Sonderborg region. This City Information Open Platform is still in development and is part of the SmartEnCity project. The platform aims at citizens, business/industry and academia. The platform wants to inspire and advice citizens. Citizens can use their digital identity to log in, fill in a questionnaire and receive tailored advice about their potential for energy renovation. The platform meanwhile wants to inspire business and industry to develop products for these citizens and to see the size of the market for energy renovation. ProjectZero sees much potential of the City Information Open Platform. On the user-side, the platform can raise the awareness of citizens, businesses and other stakeholders. On the functional side, the data collection can become more efficient and data from smart device / IoT can be added. However, ProjectZero experiences also challenges, especially in citizen / stakeholder engagement, and in technical, security and privacy risks. Intervention optimization tool for homeowners Robert Gordon University (Amar Bennadij)Individual homeowners often lack the specific knowledge necessary to decide on which – often new – technical solutions will work best in their specific situations. Robert Gordon University in Stronghouse will co-develop digital tools that helps homeowners choose the technical solutions that work best in their specific situation. The Robert Gordon University shares in Stronghouse its expertise in Buildings’ retrofitting and IT assisted decision making.For this digital tool the Robert Gordon University builds on earlier experience with a tool designed for office buildings. The main elements of this tool will also be used and adjusted for the new homeowner tool: Location specifics, defining the context, defining the specific characteristics such as orientation, building size, (current) energy consumption and related CO2 emissions. With the new tool developed by the Robert Gordon University, the individual homeowner will receive a tailored recommendation for energy renovation as well as ranked alternatives. Digital self-assessment tools Spring (Andreas Nilsson & Thomas Arctaedius)Insight in the technical possibilities is only one of the prerequisites for homeowners to decide on energy renovation. Therefore, Stronghouse needs a broader framework for digital self-assessment by homeowners. Spring shares is experience with such digital self-assessment tools. Self-assessment is based on a set of pre-defined questions. These questions are connected to a pre-defined logic. They trigger interaction, give instant feedback and guide the respondent to the advisable course of action. Transparency and visualization, benchmarking and positioning results is – in the experience of Spring – key to realize impact. Digital tools for Labelling: good practice Broadband Ready Home atene KOM (Britta Schmigotzki & Peyman Khodabakhsh)Atene KOM brings to Stronghouse its experience with a label for a Broadband Ready Home. The Gütesiegel Breitband / Quality Label Broadband confirms the correct, future-oriented and high quality in-house broadband cabling of a home. A labelling tool like this could be the start for a digital empowerment journey: Starting with a Smart Home Catalogue, continuing with its Impact on Energy Efficiency, Evaluation and Certification and finally Promotion and Marketing. Online tool ‘Warm huis’ IGEMO (Anneleen Vantendeloo & Evelien Impens)IGEMO has positive experiences with the online, digital tool ‘Warm House’. It creates awareness about current energy losses, but also shows potential savings. Being interactive, it is easy to see the impact of different measures. For many homeowners who have used to tool the concrete numbers about energy consumption, emission and saving potential are an eye-opener. Essential for the functioning of the tool is that the data on energy prices, building costs, changes in bonus systems, must be updated constantly. Also, the use of the tool need consequent promotion, also by the municipalities who make it available to their citizens. Other Stronghouse partners would like to use the tool Warm Huis and adopt it to their local circumstances, local data about energy prices, building costs, grant schemes etc. In Stronghouse the development of Persona’s and the thus developed insights in the needs and wishes of homeowners makes it possible to further improve the tool Warm Huis and to expand its impact. NameOrganizationHein BraaksmaStronghouseDeirdre BuistProvincie Drenthe NLTineke SmegenProvincie Drenthe NLAnneleen VantendelooIGEMO BEEvelien ImpensIGEMO BETimo WyffelsRoeselare BEGino DehulluRoeselare BEVivien BreitruckVechta University DEDaniele LangeVechta University DENicole MiddendorfVechta University DEJens Christian MoltkeProject Zero DKCharlie LemtorpProject Zero DKKristina BozhkovaProject Zero DKNanna WintherProject Zero DKPeter RathjeProject Zero DKAndreas NilssonSpring SE Brijesh MainaliLinneaus University SEKrushna MahapatraLinnaeus University SEJuho LindmanUniversity of Gothenburg SETommy OlsenGate 21 DKAndy GrinnallRobert Gordon University UKAmar BennadjiRobert Gordon University UKPeyman Khodabakhshatene KOMBritta Schmigotzkiatene KOM ................
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