We attended this year’s European Utility Week in Amsterdam and it is easy to see the trend there. Digitalisation is inevitably coming to influence your home’s energy management. The drivers are clear – people are more and more interested in energy efficency and better indoor climate and there are affordable technologies on the market to enable this. Leanheat is already managing heating in over 25 000 apartments. We are happy to offer one of the most used solutions for digitalised central heating management systems.

Event visitors seemed to be very interested in our experiences. Jukka Aho, CEO of Leanheat, gave a presentation about energy efficiency management in centrally heated buildings in Finland. He also participated in a panel discussion about the role of buildings in Europe in improving urban sustainability and energy efficiency. People see the opportunities of digitalisation not only in improving cost efficiency, but also in saving energy to protect the environment. Europe is curbing its CO2 emissions and digitalisation provides people with opportunities for meeting the desired goals.

The need for new solutions to digitalise energy management is universal. Many governments are encouraging their own businesses and research institutions in this field. At the event, France, Canada and Portugal were promoting their own companies with solutions for digitalisation.

Many companies are trying to understand their new business opportunities in digitalised homes. Timo Aaltonen from Fortum described how they have developed a new smart product, SmartLiving, for their customers based on Leanheat technology. It is a good example of how to make a profit by joining in the changes that are good for the Earth.

The role of developing multi-vendor ecosystems is a key factor in how fast digitalisation will go forward in the energy and real estate sector. It also has a big impact on how quickly technological innovations can be adopted as a part of everyday business and generate value to various stakeholders. Leanheat is actively participating in the ecosystem creation by partnering with various organisations from global giants to smaller innovative niche players. These companies specialise in sensor technology, heating control equipment or advanced maintenance services for the real estate sector. We believe this is good for everyone.