On September 1, 2023, the MAI-HOME project was launched. This project will use Artificial Intelligence (AI) to fight energy poverty and carbon emissions from homes. But the project is not only looking for the solution in technology. The project also focuses on the investment policies of housing associations and the behavior of residents. The Open Universiteit coordinates this Interreg project in which Dutch and Flemish parties (both Limburgs, North Brabant and Antwerp) work together.
After renovation, declining motivation
Vulnerable target groups often live in poorly or moderately insulated housing. Tenants depend on the landlord to make their homes more sustainable. When renovations are completed, the emissions are higher than expected, partly due to the tenant's housing behavior. After the renovation, residents are less motivated to save energy and consumption increases. In short: to combat energy poverty and achieve CO₂ reduction, more is needed than renovation, policy or technology.
Introducing lasting changes in living behavior
MAI-Home aims to understand more about, and get a better grip on, the housing behavior of vulnerable people with the goal of combating energy poverty and the reduction of carbon emissions. The project installs a set of sensors in pilot homes of housing corporations in the Netherlands and Belgium. On the one hand, to gain insight into the living behavior. A self-learning algorithm will advise residents how they can reduce their energy bills by adjusting their behavior. Residents are then encouraged, partly with the aid of gamification and social learning, to adjust their behavior. Privacy, cyber security and sustainability are ongoing concerns.
Increasing the sustainability of homes
At the end of the project, there will, thus, be a view of how technology in the home can support residents in their residential practices. But it doesn't stop there. Housing associations are also learning from the project. They learn what combination of investments in homes and digital technology leads to a faster response in addressing energy poverty and an increase in the sustainability of their homs. They know which interventions are most likely to succeed in making residents more aware of their residential behavior.
Partnership
In the MAI-HOME project, five housing corporations in the Netherlands and Flanders are working together with SMEs, social institutions and knowledge institutions. Each partner contributes its own knowledge and questions related to their field. The pilot houses are located in the two provinces of Limburg and the provinces of North Brabant and Antwerp.
Role of the Open Universiteit
The Open Universiteit is project manager and also the leader of three work packages, namely the work package "Technology, behavior and learning," the work package "IoT, data and privacy," and the work package "monitoring, data warehouse and dashboards, ideation workshops and MOOC. The workshops target municipalities and governments, and the MOOC (an online course) targets employees of all housing associations and social housing companies.
This cross-border project is financially supported by the Interreg Flanders-Netherlands program of the European Union, the Province of Limburg and the Ministry of Economic Affairs.
Consortium partners are:
- Open Universiteit (Heerlen)
- Technische Universiteit Eindhoven
- Hogeschool PXL (Hasselt)
- SATIJNplus Architecten (Born)
- Van de Kreeke Beheer BV (Nuth)
- Calculus (Zutendaal)
- Weller Wonen (Heerlen)
- Wonen Zuid (Roermond)
- Tiwos (Tilburg)
- Wonen in Limburg (Hasselt en Genk)
- LeefGoed (Geel)
- SAAMO Limburg (Heusden-Zolder)
