Jouleboulevard

The Jouleboulevard project aimed to "neutralise the climate by reducing the energy consumption of businesses". We started from the principle "measuring is knowing". Gas, water and electricity were monitored on a per-minute basis and with the collected data clear reports were made which the trader could use himself to save energy.

This project, supported by Flemish Brabant Climate Neutral and in collaboration with Efika Engineering cvba, EnergieID, Leuven Climate Neutral, Unizo and Proximus, offered businesses the opportunity to significantly reduce their energy bill.

Joulebard came after the pilot project 'energy monitoring Muntstraat'.

The pilot project showed that there was indeed a potential to have a major impact on energy consumption and the associated bill through small interventions. The average consumption then decreased by 12% over the period of one year, well above the presupposed 5%. However, this project was limited to catering establishments such as restaurants and cafés. For this reason, it was decided to start a more extensive follow-up project in which other types of businesses could also participate.

Jouleboulevard symbolizes a larger support base to which this tactic can be applied. For example, potential interested stores were searched for in, among others, the Mechelsestraat and the Parijsstraat. A cheese and fish store, among others, joined the project.

The approach for the Jouleboulevard project was largely the same as for the Muntstraat project, but with some changes. We opted for a business model based on a fixed annual service. We offered a complete package: from installation and maintenance of the sensors and data loggers to making analyses and improvement proposals. All this at a low price. From a technical point of view, we opted for a maximization of automation so that the results can be generated with as little intervention as possible from the team members.

The results of the measurements and analyses were finally placed in a clear report. In this report, the store owner could see for himself what options there were for improvement and what these changes would yield.