In the face of accelerating climate change and a rapidly advancing digital landscape, smart energy buildings — enhanced through immotics technologies — have become essential to the European Union’s decarbonisation and energy transition strategy. Since the European Commission’s publication of Making our homes and buildings fit for a greener future, in December 2021, regulatory frameworks have intensified, highlighting the role of buildings in achieving climate neutrality. Buildings are responsible for 40% of total energy consumption and 36% of energy-related greenhouse gas emissions in Europe.
These figures directly challenge the objectives of the European Green Deal, especially those set for 2030 and 2050. In response, the EU is driving structural reform in the construction sector through initiatives that prioritise energy efficiency, digitalisation, and sustainability. At the heart of this transformation are smart buildings—structures that integrate advanced automation and energy management technologies to reduce consumption, optimise performance, and support renewable integration.
EU Policies Accelerating Smart Energy Buildings
The revised Energy Efficiency Directive and the Energy Performance of Buildings Directive (EPBD), included in the “Fit for 55 package”, lay the regulatory groundwork for expanding the smart energy buildings model across member states.
Key legislative actions include:
- Raising the annual energy savings target from 0.8% to 1.5% for the 2024–2030 period.
- Renovating 3% of public buildings each year to achieve nearly zero-energy standards (NZEB).
- Defining more ambitious targets for primary and final energy consumption reduction (39% and 36% respectively).
- Introducing a dedicated emissions trading scheme for the buildings and road transport sectors.
Additionally, the Social Climate Fund will support vulnerable households in transitioning to smart buildings, financing modern, efficient, and clean heating and cooling systems that contribute to energy equity.
Immotics: The Brain of Smart Buildings
A central technology enabling the functionality of smart energy buildings is immotics—the intelligent automation and control of technical systems in non-residential facilities such as hospitals, industrial plants, hotels, and logistics centres.
Immotics platforms perform key functions:
- Automated and optimised regulation of HVAC, lighting, refrigeration, and air quality systems.
- Integration of predictive maintenance strategies to prevent energy losses and equipment failures.
- Centralised monitoring via Technical Building Management (TBM) systems, which generate actionable insights from real-time data and facilitate energy audits and diagnostics.
By leveraging immotics, smart buildings can achieve:
- Up to 40% energy savings in refrigeration systems.
- 60% reduction in lighting consumption and 30% in HVAC-related loads.
- Reduced operational costs and extended system lifespan.
- Improved indoor environmental quality and user comfort.
- A significant reduction in CO₂ emissions through automated optimisation.
Industrial Refrigeration: A Strategic Axis for Industrial Buildings
In energy-intensive industries—especially in agri-food processing—refrigeration is a key driver of total energy use. Smart energy buildings designed for industrial applications incorporate intelligent refrigeration management systems capable of:
- Monitoring and adjusting performance in real time.
- Detecting inefficiencies and preventing failures.
- Integrating renewable and waste heat sources to optimise thermal flows across the facility.
Advanced tools such as digital twins and supervisory platforms like Gradhoc enable data-driven operations by linking energy usage to contextual variables (ambient temperature, production load, thermal inertia). These capabilities are fundamental to ensuring that smart buildings not only meet compliance targets but also deliver long-term economic and environmental value.
Smart energy buildings are not a distant aspiration—they are rapidly becoming the normative model across Europe’s built environment. Through the convergence of automation, energy intelligence, and sustainable design, they provide a scalable solution to climate, economic, and regulatory pressures.
In this evolving paradigm, energy-intensive systems such as refrigeration, heating, and ventilation must be fully integrated within intelligent building architectures. This ensures that Europe’s commercial, industrial, and public infrastructure remains competitive, resilient, and aligned with net-zero objectives.
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