Innovation & Research at Builtrix
Driving the future of Energy and ESG intelligence through European R&D
At Builtrix, innovation is the backbone of how we shape the future of sustainable buildings. From pioneering AI-powered energy virtual disaggregation to enabling Energy Communities and demand-side flexibility, our work across leading European R&D programs directly informs our product evolution. Each project has strengthened our ability to deliver a trusted, data-driven platform for real-time energy visibility, optimization, and ESG compliance. This innovation-first approach ensures that our technology is not only future-ready but also capable of supporting Europe's green and digital transition at scale.
Why Innovation Matters?
AI for energy optimization
Automated ESG compliance
Interoperable energy data
Climate impact through smart buildings
Our R&D activities shape the future of sustainable buildings. With every project, we sharpen our platform and ensure we meet the latest regulations across energy, ESG, and digitalization.
WeForming (Horizon Europe)
Accelerating the formation of Renewable Energy Communities across Europe through digital innovation and citizen engagement
Duration
2024-2027
3-year iniciative
Partners
Builtrix, MOVIDA, R&D Nester + 27 partners
Across 10 countries
Scope
European
Portugal, Spain, Greece, Germany, Belgium, Luxemburg
Project Focus
WeForming is a Horizon Europe-funded initiative (2024–2027) designed to accelerate the formation of Renewable Energy Communities (RECs) across Europe. The project develops digital tools, collaborative platforms, and regulatory frameworks to foster active citizen and stakeholder participation in community energy systems. WeForming brings together 17 partners across 9 countries, with demonstrations in Portugal, Spain, Greece, and beyond.
Focus: Empowering Renewable Energy Communities through digital innovation and citizen engagement.
Builtrix Role & Contribution
Data Intelligence & Monitoring Leadership
Builtrix is leading the data intelligence and monitoring activities for the Portuguese pilot (Demo 2), focused on Palácio do Gelo in Viseu. Our role is to deploy data-driven tools that support real-time energy visibility, community-scale analytics, and collaborative decision-making. We’re providing forecasting models, benchmarking dashboards, and virtual disaggregation technologies integrated into a central platform.
Core Technologies
Integration Platform
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Real-time energy visibility tools
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Community-scale analytics
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Forecasting models
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Benchmarking dashboards
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Virtual disaggregation technologies
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Central platform integration
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Collaborative decision-making tools
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Data-driven insights
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Community engagement features
Pilot Site: Palácio do Gelo, Viseu
Site Overview
Gross Area
175,000m²
The demonstrator transforms Palácio do Gelo - a multi-story shopping center with 175,000m² gross constructed area and 73,500m² leasable space - into an active Smart Energy Hub. With over 164 stores, advanced thermal systems, EV chargers, CHP and gas power plants, and PV installations, the site is ideal to test demand flexibility and energy optimization at scale.
Stores
164+
Leasable Space
73,500m²
Domain
Electricity, Gas
Core Assets
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4 MW gas power plant (3 DEUTZ generators)​
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Cold water chemical reactor, heat exchangers, and gas boilers
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9 chillers, 42-tank ice storage cooling system
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4 swimming pools with advanced thermal management​
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Central EMS (Siemens Desigo Insight) and Schneider
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Electric monitoring tools
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Controllable HVAC per zone/floor
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Smart EV chargers: 2 fast (60kW) + 4 normal (22kW)
Key Goals & Objectives
Adapt, integrate, and demonstrate the Common Energy Management Platform (CEMP)
Develop AI/ML - based analytics for consumption forecasting and anomaly detection
Enable energy savings through virtual disaggregation
Demonstrate grid balancing and flexibility market participation
Position the building as a Flexibility Service Provider (FSP)
Expected Impact & Benefits
Technical Achievements
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Turn a retail complex into a utility-grade, flexible energy node
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Optimize interaction with the DSO/TSO using AI-driven insights
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Demonstrate smart integration of renewable energy and storage
Business & Social Impact
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Lower operational costs through intelligent energy monitoring
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Showcase new revenue streams through grid services and energy communities
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Promote ecological awareness and social innovation in energy use
InterConnect (Horizon 2020)
Virtual disaggregation, system interoperability, and demand-side flexibility in smart buildings
Duration
2022-2023
Completed initiative
Partners
50+
European partners
Scope
European
Energy systems digitalization
About the Project
InterConnect is a Horizon 2020 initiative that aims to enable an interoperable and intelligent ecosystem of smart devices, platforms, and services across Europe's energy systems. It brings together more than 50 partners to ensure digitalization of the electricity sector with user-centric, flexible, and standardized solutions. Focus: Virtual disaggregation, system interoperability, and demand-side flexibility in smart buildings.
Builtrix Role & V-Flex Solution
V-Flex Advanced Virtual Disaggregation Module
Builtrix developed the V-Flex solution, an advanced virtual disaggregation module integrated within the InterConnect platform. V-Flex disaggregates aggregated energy data into appliance-level insights, enabling enhanced flexibility, interoperability, and optimized energy management.
Key Innovations
Virtual Disaggregation
Breaks down total energy usage into appliance-level data to detect inefficiencies, forecast demand, and support flexibility offers.
​Semantic Interoperability
Leverages RDF and SAREF ontologies for standardized data exchange across systems, platforms, and devices.
Integration with InterConnect Platform
Seamless communication with other services and devices, enabling collaborative energy optimization and grid responsiveness.
Project Impact
Technical Impact
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Supported demand-side flexibility at building and appliance level
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Improved interoperability with DSO/TSO and aggregators for energy balancing
Operational Impact
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Enabled more granular energy monitoring and real-time anomaly detection
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Empowered commercial buildings to participate in flexibility markets
Societal Benefits
Environmental Impact
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Reduced reliance on fossil fuels and grid congestion
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Enhanced energy efficiency in commercial buildings
User Benefits
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Enabled cost savings and smarter energy behavior among end-users
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Promoted energy awareness through user dashboards and behavioral nudges
Business Value for Builtrix
Platform Enhancement
Strengthened Builtrix's platform with deep appliance-level insights
Competitive Advantage
Improved competitive edge via advanced energy intelligence capabilities
Market Expansion
Expanded market access to buildings requiring flexibility and grid services
Customer Satisfaction
Increased customer satisfaction through actionable, real-time data insights
EUHUBS4Data
Energy optimization, inefficiency detection, and decarbonization using AI
Duration
2022
EnergAI experiment
Network
12 DIHs
From 10 countries
Scope
Cross-border
Data experimentation
About the Project
EUHubs4Data (EUH4D) is a European federation of leading Data-Driven Innovation Hubs aimed at accelerating the development of cross-border and cross-sector data experimentation. It serves as a reference for the establishment of the Common European Data Spaces by providing a federated catalogue of data services, fostering collaboration, and enabling data sharing in a secure and trusted manner. Initially composed of 12 DIHs from 10 countries, the network continues to expand. Focus: Energy optimization, inefficiency detection, and decarbonization using AI.
Builtrix Role & EnergAI Experiment
Selected in 2nd Open Call
Selected in the 2nd open call, Builtrix led the EnergAI experiment with support from CeADAR (Ireland), Know-Center (Austria), and Aragon DIH (Spain). The goal was to extend Builtrix's energy intelligence capabilities and validate its energy analytics platform using the EUH4D data infrastructure.
Builtrix Role & V-Flex Solution
AI-Powered Analytics
Deliver AI-powered analytics to detect inefficiencies and enable energy savings in buildings
Scalable Data Pipeline
Leverages RDF and SAREF ontologies for standardized data exchange across systems, platforms, and devices.
Interoperability Testing
Test interoperability with European energy datasets and support cross-border experimentation
Key Innovations
Hardware Independence
Hardware-independent, AI-based energy monitoring solution​
EU Compliance
Fully compliant with EU strategies for data interoperability and sovereignty​
Dataset Integration
Integration of EUH4D datasets to enhance model training and validation
Key Exploitable Results (KERS)
Platform Upgrade
Upgraded Builtrix's platform to a pan-European service level
Model Performance
Improved ML model accuracy and big data processing performance
Real-World Validation
Demonstrated real-world feasibility using new datasets from multiple EU regions
Project Impact
Environmental Impact
Contributed to energy savings and decarbonization
Economic Impact
Promoted new job creation in data and energy analytics
Social Impact
Supported gender balance initiatives in the PropTech and smart city sectors
REACH Incubator
Deep learning-based energy disaggregation and AI-powered building intelligence
Duration
2021–2022
DeepEnD development
Support
100+ SMEs
3.5€M in funding
Partners
CERTH & Cascais
Greece & Portugal
About the Project
To take a leading position in the Data Economy, Europe is focused on breaking down "data silos" while promoting secure and trusted data access, sharing, and reuse. REACH Incubator positioned itself as a key innovation catalyst by supporting over 100 SMEs with €3.5M in funding. It fostered multi-stakeholder, cross-sector experimentation through Europe's premier data-driven Digital Innovation Hubs (DIHs), propelling the development and commercialization of sustainable, data-driven solutions. Focus: Deep learning-based energy disaggregation and AI-powered building intelligence.
Builtrix Role & DeepEnD Solution
DeepEnD: Virtual Energy Disaggregation Module
We developed "DeepEnD," a scalable Virtual Energy Disaggregation module based on advanced AI and Transfer Learning (TL) methods. This solution disaggregates smart meter data to estimate appliance-level consumption in commercial and municipal buildings — without deploying new IoT devices. The technology reduces cost and complexity for customers while enabling actionable insights for decarbonization.
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Our approach used time-series imaging (Gramian Angular Field, Markov Transition Field) and CNN models to extract appliance behavior patterns. The DeepEnD system was integrated into the Builtrix platform, deployed on elastic cloud infrastructure, and tested in real settings.
Data Partners
CERTH (Greece)
Research and technology data collaboration
Municipality of Cascais (Portugal)
Municipal building data and real-world testing
Key Outcomes
High-Accuracy Model
Developed a high-accuracy deep learning model for virtual disaggregation
Transfer Learning Integration
Integrated Transfer Learning to enhance scalability and performance
Cloud Deployment
Deployed architecture using Dockerized, elastic cloud services (e.g., AWS, Azure)
Real-World Testing
Enabled real-world testing in both Greece and Portugal
Impact & Technology Readiness
Project Impact
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Reduced dependence on expensive submetering hardware
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Enabled insights into power peak contributors for load shaving
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Opened new commercial opportunities across municipal and real estate segments
Technology Readiness Level (TRL)
TRL Advancement
Increased TRL of the disaggregation module toward commercial pilot deployment
PLATOON
AI-enabled Advanced Energy Management Systems for Smart Cities
Duration
2020–2021
Roma Capitale deployment
Validation
7 Pilots
Across 4 countries
Scale
2,000+
Municipal buildings
About the Project
The EU-funded H2020 project PLATOON aimed to digitalise the energy sector and unlock greater operational excellence by deploying cutting-edge technologies. Validated across 7 pilots in 4 countries, PLATOON focused on enabling smart grid services through data exploitation - helping modernize Europe's electricity grid, support sustainability, and offer affordable energy to consumers. The project also established a well-structured open call system to encourage further market adoption. Focus: AI-enabled Advanced Energy Management Systems for Smart Cities.
Builtrix Role & Roma Capitale Solution
Intelligent Municipal Energy Management
Builtrix developed an intelligent solution for Roma Capitale (RC) to overcome their challenges with energy monitoring, benchmarking, and forecasting. Our goal was to support municipal energy managers in detecting anomalies and implementing the right actions to improve performance and reduce carbon emissions. RC owns over 2,000 buildings - including schools, offices, 70 sports facilities, and 800 residential buildings with 27,000 apartments - many of which require energy audits and upgrades.
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We designed a cloud-native, plug-and-play solution for the PLATOON platform to automatically process data from 6,500 electricity meters, gas meters, and 160 photovoltaic (PV) plants across RC's portfolio. This solution included advanced benchmarking tools, forecasting capabilities, and anomaly detection, ultimately enabling RC to explore the development of local Energy Communities.
Project Partners
Roma Capitale, Engineering, Atos, ENGIE, TECNALIA, Fraunhofer, and others
Key Outcomes
Monitoring & Insights
Enabled monitoring and predictive insights across 2,000+ municipal buildings
Benchmarking Dashboards
Delivered benchmarking dashboards for energy consumption and performance
Forecasting Capabilities
Forecasted building energy usage for planning and anomaly detection
PV Optimization
Assessed PV potential and self-consumption optimization for Energy Communities
Use Cases Delivered
Spatial Reporting
​GIS and WebGIS visualization of energy consumption and performance (EC & EP)
Benchmarking Analysis
Consumption comparisons across buildings and reference models
Anomaly Detection
Alerts and visual tools to guide maintenance and energy interventions
Forecasting
Scenario simulations based on occupancy and control settings
Energy Communities
​PV potential modeling and storage sizing for shared energy ecosystems
Toolset Developed
Analytics & Detection
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Load profiling and pattern recognition
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Occupancy-based consumption correlation
Optimization & Planning
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Peak detection and grid cost minimization
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What-if simulations for policy and investment support
Our Innovation Focus
Trusted by Europe's top R&D programs
Standards-based and API-first
GreenTech aligned with ESG goals
Open to new pilots and collaboration
