BERLIN Platform

Background of the housing stock of social housing

Founded in 1924, STADT UND LAND is one of the six largest housing companies in Berlin, owner of nearly 48,000 flats mainly in the south and east of the city.

The types of buildings are varied - as is the social and economic status of tenants. STADT UND LAND attaches great importance to a respectful behaviour towards the environment. The company was able to achieve the European EMAS certification, a certificate which strictly controls the use of all resources.

Video material about the project

Extended version with regard to the platform implemented in Berlin, the material is only available in German. General video footage of SAVE@Work4Home is available here.

Recognition of the situation of energy management by the tenant

The tenants of STADT UND LAND are fully responsible for their electricity and gas for non-heating purposes. They are able to choose their supplier and pay their bills directly without intervention from the property owner. In the case of heating and hot water, STADT UND LAND is responsible for facilitating the service and analysis of consumption on an annual basis. Tenants can control their consumption by temperature regulators on each radiator. STADT UND LAND supports tenants by providing information on how to use resources.

The reasons and motivations for social housing to act in the field

STADT UND LAND defines sustainable use of resources as a corporate goal. To support the tenant to save energy is in line with the company policy.

To address the question of how to provide the necessary information to the tenant, we chose a technical solution (Portal on the Internet - including the option of a paper version) to be able to extend the service to the greatest number of tenants, easily and without additional cost.

The constraints of the proposed service implementation

A necessary condition for the development of services is the implementation of a radio metering system to read the consumption of heating and hot water in each apartment.

In the present context, there are only two buildings that are equipped this way, which is limiting our tests significantly.

In addition, our tenants need Internet access and essential equipment (PC) to access the tenant portal.

However, this is not an obstacle to participate in the project because the tenant can choose the paper version as a source of information. However, each tenant must agree that the data is reported more than once a year for data security reasons and protection of information.