TOOLS TO SUPPORT SUSTAINABLE ENTREPRENEURSHIP IN ENERGY POSITIVE NEIGHBOURHOODS

In an Energy Positive Neighbourhood (EPN) the annual energy demand is lower than annual energy supply from local renewable energy sources. Short-term imbalances in energy supply and demand are corrected with national energy supplies. In this paper the early stages of the development - the specifications - of the tools for intelligent management of energy positive neighbourhoods are presented. These tools include an energy management tool for real-time management of the energy flows, user interfaces that support energy efficient behavior of the users in the neighbourhood and an urban planning decision support tool. The specifications and tools are the result of European co-operation, and are designed so that they can easily be adopted in different European countries with minimum changes(1).