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Policy Priorities

Why Energy & Water Data Management

Resource efficiency is fundamental to achieving Europe’s climate neutrality goals. Buildings account for a significant portion of global energy consumption and water use. Without accurate data on these resources, managing and optimising these resources becomes impossible. By enabling precise measurement, monitoring, and allocation of resource usage, energy and water data management empowers building owners, operators, and occupants to make informed decisions.

Smart data management systems benefit in multiple ways:

 

  • Optimising resource use, by identifying inefficiencies and reducing waste.
  • Enhancing transparency, by providing timely consumption information, and fair and accurate billing through submetering.
  • Supporting policy implementation, by facilitating compliance with EU directives like the Energy Efficiency Directive (EED) and the Energy Performance of Buildings Directive (EPBD).
  • Enabling digitalisation and decarbonisation, driving the transition to smarter, greener buildings equipped with future-ready technologies.

Energy Efficiency

As buildings account for 40% of Europe’s total energy use and 34% of greenhouse gas emissions, with heating and cooling making up 70% of their energy demand, they constitute a major target for improvement. Making them more efficient and reducing their energy demand is an essential step to meet the EU climate targets.

 

A more energy-efficient building stock is the most logical solution to the challenges Europe faces today. By cutting waste, lowering energy bills, reducing emissions, and decreasing reliance on energy imports, energy efficiency benefits everyone: from consumers, businesses, to the environment.

 

To accelerate the decarbonisation of heating and cooling systems and maximise energy efficiency in buildings, leveraging the submetering provisions in the Energy Efficiency Directive is essential. Safeguarding these provisions post-2030 ensures legal stability and adequate roll-out of smart heat meters in buildings.

Smart metering can also deliver on cross cutting issues related to energy efficiency, such as building optimisation and housing affordability.

To learn more, read our responses to the Calls for Evidence on:

Post-2030 Energy Efficiency Framework
Housing Supply and Affordability
AccelerateEU

Water Efficiency

Water covers 70% of our planet, yet less than 1% is available for human use. With the global population set to be nearing 10 billion by 2050 and climate change intensifying, the pressure on freshwater resources is reaching a critical point. The World Economic Forum warns that by 2030, global demand for freshwater will exceed supply by 40%, putting billions at risk. Today, already four billion people face water scarcity, and global demand is expected to rise by 55% by 2050.

 

Europe is not exempt: One-third of its territory faces seasonal water stress, with renewable water resources per capita having dropped by 24% in the past 50 years. In response, the European Commission published the Water Resilience Strategy in 2025, aiming to restore and protect the water cycle, build a water-smart economy and ensure access to clean and affordable water for all.

 

Data-driven technologies, such as smart water meters, can help modernise water management and improve efficiency. Scientific evidence supports this approach: WE Data Europe’s open-ended study shows that apartments equipped with individual smart water meters can reduce consumption by up to 25%. By providing frequent consumption feedback, direct financial incentives, and enabling rapid leak detection, these technologies empower users to optimise their water use and significantly reduce avoidable losses.

 

The European Union needs to mainstream the role of smart waters meters in its water and building policies.

To learn more, read our responses to the Calls for Evidence on:

European Water Resilience Strategy
EU Taxonomy
Digitalisation Action Plan of the Water Sector
Techem

Techem is a leading service provider for smart and sustainable buildings. The company’s services cover energy management and resource conservation, residential health and process efficiency in real estate. Founded in 1952, the company is now active in 18 countries with a strong focus on the EU, where we are present in 15 member states. Techem has over 4.000 employees and services more than 13 million dwellings. Techem offers efficiency improvements along the entire value chain of heat and water in real estate. As the market leader in remote radio detection of energy consumption in homes, Techem continues to drive networking and digital processes in real estate. Modern radio smoke detectors and modern multi sensor devices with remote inspection and services related to improving drinking water quality in properties complement the solution portfolio for the housing industry.

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Ocea
Ocea Smart Building is a leading French company specializing in sub-metering for collective housing. With 550 employees and 29 agencies across the country, the company offers solutions for sub-metering on cold water, hot water, and heating for condominiums and social landlords. Ocea provides remote reading solutions along with data analysis and processing platforms. Additionally, Ocea offers complementary IoT solutions and financed solutions for replacing gas or fuel collective boilers with heat pump systems, particularly geothermal ones.
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Ista

We give buildings a future. We make this happen with products and services that help to reduce the CO2 emissions of buildings. We manage data and processes that make properties more climate-friendly, safer and more comfortable. The base for our products and services is digital. We ensure that we make it easy for everyone to switch to our sustainable technologies. This allows everyone to make their contribution to climate protection.

We already have over 45 million wireless devices in operation around the globe and develop solutions for energy-efficient and futureproof buildings. We employ over 6,300 people across 20 countries and our products and services are used in over 14 million homes and commercial properties worldwide – by more than 460,000 customers. In 2024, the entire Ista Group recorded sales of EUR 1,220 million euros.

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Ista.com
Kalorimeta

KALO (Kalorimeta GmbH) is the partner for the smart energy transition in residential properties. As a Hamburg-based pioneer in the digitalization of building infrastructure with over 60 years of experience, we provide end-to-end solutions for the housing industry to make energy consumption transparent and energy and CO₂ reduction actionable.

Our broad service portfolio is ranging from submetering and smart metering to digital services that provide building owners and managers with the necessary data to comply with legal requirements, optimize energy efficiency, and significantly reduce CO₂ emissions. Our product portfolio is complemented with smoke detector services as well as smart heating solutions and intelligent central heating control systems. With our modern gateway infrastructure, we not only connect our metering devices but also integrate IoT applications for energy transition in buildings like smart heating, e-mobility and solar panel infrastructure.

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Kalo.de
Brunata Metrona

As a partner to the property industry, the BRUNATA-METRONA Group enables efficient and responsible use of the environment and resources. Transparent consumption and energy data form the basis for intelligent and future-oriented energy management to maintain the value of buildings. We help to operate properties in a resource-efficient and future-proof manner, use energy efficiently, reduce CO2 emissions in buildings and cut energy costs. In doing so, we play a leading role in our industry by providing the highest quality and customised products for our customers. Our innovative solutions, services and expertise have made us a trusted partner to the building industry for more than 70 years.

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Brunata Denmark

Brunata – Smart Energy – Solutions for a Greener Future

Brunata is dedicated to transforming our buildings, homes, and cities into smarter environments.

Wherever people reside, we diligently measure heat consumption, monitor water usage, manage energy, oversee the indoor climate, protect properties and much more. We are committed to delivering intelligent solutions for at sustainable future, leveraging over a century of expertise in the metering industry.

With a history spanning over 100 years, our roots are firmly Danish. Today, Brunata is part of the German-owned Brunata-Minol-ZENNER Group, which employs over 4,200 individuals worldwide.

Our headquarter is situated in Herlev, Denmark, where we collaborate closely with our subsidiaries and partners across most of Europe.

Brunata has transformed into a service provider, offering meters with services that simplify our customers’ daily operation – e.g., our digital platform Brunata Online – the online uses interface for administrators, residential buildings, utilities, sub-users and residents.

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