EVELIXIA Research Explores the Regulatory Foundations of Smart and Flexible Buildings
EVELIXIA partner Energy Institute presented research at the DACH+ Energy Informatics Conference 2026, held in Linz from 21–23 September 2026, with Giulia Garzon and Manuela Halbartschlager contributing to the discussion on smart energy systems and flexibility.
Their contribution brought an important interdisciplinary perspective, exploring a key question: How can the technical potential of smart homes be aligned with the evolving European regulatory framework?
The research examined the interplay between the Energy Performance of Buildings Directive (EPBD), the EU Data Act and the General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR) and the technical requirements of increasingly connected buildings. Particular attention was given to interoperability and standardisation, access to energy and device data, privacy and user control, and the allocation of responsibilities among households, technology providers, aggregators and grid operators.
These aspects are particularly relevant to EVELIXIA’s vision of buildings as active and flexible participants in the energy system. Achieving this requires legal governance and technical architecture to evolve together, with interoperable interfaces, meaningful user control, secure data exchange and clearly defined responsibilities forming essential foundations for future smart energy services.
The work was also published as a peer-reviewed paper in the Energy Informatics Review 2026, contributing to the scientific discussion on how regulatory and technical frameworks can jointly support the integration of smart homes into future energy systems.
