Table 3 Overview of DPs for a BEEMS
From: From bricks to bytes: Verifiable data for decarbonizing the building sector
ID | Design Principle | Aim | Context | Mechanism | Rationale | Literature |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
DP1 | End-to-end energy and emission data collection | The BEEMS should collect, receive, and pre-process production and energy consumption-related data at a sufficient level of granularity for the stakeholder’s use cases and enrich this data to establish a solid foundation for comprehensive analysis and decision-making. | Initiation, Development, Operation | Monitor energy consumption, constantly collect operational data, and trace emissions and further information. Add additional information about energy input and outputs on the building level, forecast future emissions and energy consumption, and store building characteristics while leveraging accessible Building Information Management (BIM) data. | A high-quality database with reasonable accuracy is critical for attaining related objectives and use cases of the BEEMS. | Cavalheiro and Carreira 2016; Gräuler et al. 2013; Hilpert et al. 2013; Melville and Whisnant 2014; Zampou et al. 2022 |
DP2 | Interoperability and flexibility | The BEEMS should be able to integrate and run in parallel with external work- and data flows from existing or future energy information systems and market requirements (i.e., regulations). Additionally, it should demonstrate adaptability to address both current and evolving requirements and objectives of the BEEMS effectively. | Initiation, Development | Maintain and operate an interoperable and modular architecture that can connect with other IT systems and other (public) resources (e.g., master data register) through clear and well-structured interfaces and enable flexible integration of new applications and functionalities. | Compatibility with related systems and public resources enables resilience, avoids fragmentation, and allows for keeping an innovative information system. | Gräuler et al. 2013; Hoang et al. 2017; Melville and Whisnant 2014; Zampou et al. 2022 |
DP3 | Scalable and efficient data processing | The BEEMS, along with all its components, should autonomously manage (i.e., collect, store, and process) energy data and corresponding actions to reduce the reliance on human-operated tasks and enhance overall efficiency. | Development, Operation | Design of a BEEMS that acts highly autonomously executes workflows and processes automatically, performs complex analyses to calculate energy/emission key performance indicators, and derives a thorough data basis for emission-related actions. | Autonomous information systems reduce costs and avoid errors (esp. human error) and dependencies on third parties to provide frictionless processes and high data quality as a solid basis for following processes. | Arnesano et al. 2018; Hilpert et al. 2013; Hoang et al. 2017; Silpa et al. 2020; Wehkamp et al. 2020; Zampou et al. 2014 |
DP4 | Data sovereignty and zero trust policy | The BEEMS should follow a data sovereignty approach and ensure the confidentiality, integrity, authenticity, verifiability, and availability of the processed data and information according to the jurisdictional framework. Further, the system shall be enriched by a continuous verification (i.e., zero-trust) concept to prevent unauthorized access to the data. | Initiation, Development, Operation | Comply with applicable laws and regulations to guarantee the stakeholders’ data sovereignty and privacy and protect the data and the BEEMS with a zero-trust model and state-of-the-art security mechanisms against malicious acts. | Protect the rights, interests, and data of tenants, landlords, and other stakeholders against third parties. | |
DP5 | Data verifiability and information reliability | The BEEMS should enable traceability, validity checks, and verifiability of the energy and emissions data and the processing flow to enhance trust in the data and the information derived. | Initiation, Development, Operation | Operate according to defined and transparent standards and norms and control the correctness of the workflow and underlying data through internal self-mechanisms and external audit functions at any time while considering state-of-the-art technological solutions. | Establishing reliability and reliance on the system and comprehensibility and comparability of its data. | Hilpert et al. 2013; Kranz et al. 2021; Melville and Whisnant 2014; Zampou et al. 2022 |
DP6 | Usability for all stakeholders | The BEEMS should provide sufficient usability to leverage the user’s system acceptance. This entails ensuring that BEEMS adheres to the individual application purposes of the stakeholders and considers the different asset types. | Initiation, Development | Implement different user types related to the underlying asset types to follow the specific application purposes of (1) Building owners/residents (property manager; private owner; institutional owner); (2) Energy (service) provider (grid operator; energy producer); (3) External Stakeholders (Regulators; financial institutions) by providing different functionalities and visualization formats | Focus on the users’ needs to foster the application of the information system. | Ali et al. 2020; Gimpel et al. 2020; Kranz et al. 2021; Melville and Whisnant 2014; Zampou et al. 2022 |