Demand Response: Moving beyond the Technical and Physical Context of Buildings

This paper discussed the demonstration experiences from an EU funded H2020 project called “Demand Response in Blocks of Buildings” (DR-BOB). The project developed a Demand Response solution and demonstrated that solution at four blocks-of-buildings sites. Based on a comparative analysis of qualitative results from four pilot sites at which the DR BOB solution was demonstrated, we present key lessons that are relevant to consider when initiating demand response at the level of blocks-of-buildings. What has become clear is that organisational (including user-related) conditions are highly relevant—but understudied—for successful DR at a BOB. In order to reflect this finding, we present a framework to assess three key readiness levels of blocks-of-buildings (BOB) for demand Response (DR) in which organisational readiness is included—next to physical, technological and market readiness.