It’s been a couple of busy weeks in InterConnect’s Dutch residential building “Next”.  After overcoming technical challenges earlier this year, the Dutch pilot led by VolkerWessels iCity organized a two-week campaign full of interactions with tenants to showcase InterConnect’s capabilities.

To conclude the campaign, a demonstration was held at the main entrance of the building. Ronnie Groenewold, from VolkerWessels iCity, was there to address all the inquiries and showcase real-life demos from the test location. Tenants got a firsthand experience of how to use InterConnect white goods and enjoy the benefits of connected washers, dryers, or dishwashers.

“Our continuous demos have been a hit with the interested tenants who have had some excellent questions”, says the Dutch pilot leader VolkerWessels iCity.

The main goal of these use-cases of this project is to promote energy efficiency by automatically connecting, for example, dishwashers, dryers, and washing machines to the electricity grid. In this demo, Vollerwessels iCity presented “an exclusive free package” stemming from the partnership with Siemens and Miele for all Next tenants.

Tenants of the Next building discuss “Energy Citizenship”

Participants of the Eindhoven project also engaged in discussions concerning barriers related to Energy Citizenship – the active participation of individuals and collective entities in the energy system, in this case, with a focus on transitioning towards living natural gas-free.

Ronnie Groenewold, the Dutch InterConnect project leader from VolkerWessels iCity, along with Luise Schlindwein and Eline Westbeek from TNO, guided participants through discussions focused on the key barriers of Energy Citizenship. Together, they developed recommendations for policymakers to address these barriers.

“The recommendations, we developed in collaboration with the Eindhoven project participants, include establishing clearer information channels, encouraging knowledge sharing, and increasing transparency to empower citizens. By providing citizens with the necessary tools and information, they can be actively involved in the ongoing energy transition”, state the researchers from TNO.