EnergyView: a practical e-energy project to help municipalities

The EnergyView platform is intended to help Swiss municipalities to save energy. Cofinanced by The Ark Foundation, this e-energy initiative has achieved the distinction of being given "Lighthouse Project" status by the Swiss Federal Office of Energy (SFOE). The concept is based on extracting and viewing public authorities' accounting data. Using EnergyView, a municipal council can easily and inexpensively identify its major energy consumers and make informed decisions concerning municipal facilities and buildings. This project is also a wonderful showcase for Valaisan expertise in this field.

The project's partners also include the HES-SO Valais Wallis, two SMEs – TI-Informatique (Groupe T2i) and CimArk – and the Valais Canton (Energy and hydraulic power department), in addition to the SFOE and The Ark. EnergyView thus offers Swiss municipal authorities a decision support tool that enables them to implement practical energy-saving initiatives (renovation work, energy audits, etc.).

The platform offers a multi-utility "energy cockpit" with readings given in CHF and kWh. This cockpit presents details of the consumption of different forms of energy by municipal facilities, in a clear, easily-understandable format. The information is obtained semi-automatically from the municipality's accounts or from its energy distributors.

Easily understandable information
Expressed in CHF, the information in the energy cockpit can be easily understood by municipal decision-makers and enables them to decide on practical initiatives to save energy. These same data, converted into kWh and aggregated for several municipalities within the same canton, enable the cantonal authorities to develop their tools to support municipalities in the field of energy efficiency.

The support from the SFOE includes an initial pilot project, which aims to involve 50 Swiss municipalities by the end of 2018. Municipalities that want to express their interest in the initiative and the system can do so now via the email address info@energyview.ch.

A "Lighthouse Project"
EnergyView is supported by the SFOE as a Lighthouse Project. The SFOE's Lighthouse Projects have a high degree of visibility and enjoy a significant reputation within and beyond Switzerland. They give specialists and the general population a practical understanding of Switzerland's energy future and they provide tremendous impetus to the partners involved in implementing energy innovation.

This distinction of being a Lighthouse Project provides valuable recognition of the different types of expertise built up through this initiative, including computer software (TI‑Informatique), data display (HES-SO Valais-Wallis) and the development of innovative products (CimArk). This expertise has all been created exclusively in Valais.

More information: www.energyview.ch