Towards Energy Efficiency: A Framework for Measuring, Reporting and Verifying Energy Data from Smart Buildings

Measurement, Reporting and Verification (MRV) concepts have emerged as a means for reviewing and ensuring the effectiveness of energy efficiency measures (EEMs) in smart buildings. Nevertheless, high technological and regulatory demands imposed by the Energy Efficiency Directive, Article 8 (EED 8), result in limited adaptation, which makes the transition of the MRV concept into a practically applied framework a challenging endeavor. A significant concern lies in ensuring data integrity, accuracy and transparency throughout the entire adaptation and implementation process of the MRV concept. This study addresses these challenges by developing and evaluating a structured MRV framework tailored to smart building environments. The MRV framework design was tested in a real-world use case in Berlin, demonstrating its applicability for measuring, reporting and verifying energy efficiency data from smart buildings. The results confirmed the applicability of the approach, while also revealing persistent barriers related to data sovereignty, security and interoperability. Ensuring trust, transparency and long-term data accessibility requires robust governance structures and alignment with legal and ethical standards. Future work will focus on scaling the MRV framework to additional sectors and refining mechanisms for secure data sharing and automated verification.