International Community Energy Living Labs
Project overview
This research aims to create practical solutions for energy communities by examining various international living labs. Drawing insights from real-world cases, the International Community Energy Living Labs (ICELL) research project aspires to develop a systematic screening method that can be applied broadly to design fossil-free energy systems.
This project addresses the technical, behavioral, regulatory and legal challenges of developing energy communities. With the community as a key stakeholder, it prioritizes attainable zero-emission strategies and energy justice.
Key project details
| Principal investigator | Ursula Eicker, professor, Building, Civil, and Environmental Engineering, and Canada Excellence Research Chair (CERC) in Smart, Sustainable and Resilient Cities and Communities, Concordia University |
Co-principal investigators |
Yann-Gaël Guéhéneuc, professor, Computer Science, Concordia University; Ivan Kantor, assistant professor, Chemical and Materials Engineering, Concordia University; Mohamed Ouf, assistant professor, Building, Civil, and Environmental Engineering, Concordia University; Luiz Lopes, professor, Electrical and Computer Engineering, Concordia University; Aphrodite Salas, associate professor, Journalism, Concordia University; Caroline Hachem-Vermette, associate professor, Building, Civil, and Environmental Engineering, Concordia University; Chadi Assi, professor, Institute for Information Systems Engineering, and Tier II Concordia Research Chair, Concordia University; Mohsen Ghafouri, assistant professor, Institute for Information Systems Engineering, Concordia University |
Research collaborators |
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| Non-academic partners | Kiashke Zaaging Anishinaabek, IREC Renewable Energy Institute Barcelona, National Research Council Canada, CanmetENERGY, Gaia Amazonas, Ocean Renewable Power Company, Sagkeeng First Nation. |
| Academic Partners | City University of New York, University of Cape Town, Amsterdam Institute for Advanced Metropolitan Solutions, Ben Gurion University, KTH Stockholm. |
| Research Keywords | Community energy networks, living labs, transactive energy, stakeholder engagement, cogenerative journalism, social innovation, co-creation, interdisciplinary research |
| Budget | Cash: $383,000 In-Kind: $583,000 |
Publications:
A. Farnood, U. Eicker, C. Cucuzzella, G. Gopakumar, and S. Khorramisarvestani, “Sustainability Assessment Framework for Urban Transportation Combining System Dynamics Modeling and GIS; A TOD and Parking Policy Approach,” Smart Cities, vol. 8, no. 4, p. 107, June 2025, doi: 10.3390/smartcities8040107.
S. Nejadshamsi, U. Eicker, J. Bentahar, and C. Wang, “Improving urban-scale building occupancy and energy use estimation using a transportation-informed building occupancy estimation framework,” Energy and Buildings, vol. 333, p. 115468, Apr. 2025, doi: 10.1016/j.enbuild.2025.115468.
M. Brennenstuhl, R. Otto, D. Pietruschka, B. Schembera, and U. Eicker, “Optimized Dimensioning and Economic Assessment of Decentralized Hybrid Small Wind and Photovoltaic Power Systems for Residential Buildings,” Energies, vol. 18, no. 7, p. 1811, Apr. 2025, doi: 10.3390/en18071811.
H. Jadidi, A. Firouzi, M. A. Rastegar, M. Zandi, and U. Eicker, “Risk mitigation in project finance for utility-scale solar PV projects,” Energy Economics, vol. 143, p. 108221, Mar. 2025, doi: 10.1016/j.eneco.2025.108221.
S. Nejadshamsi, J. Bentahar, U. Eicker, C. Wang, and F. Jamshidi, “A geographic-semantic context-aware urban commuting flow prediction model using graph neural network,” Expert Systems with Applications, vol. 261, p. 125534, Feb. 2025, doi: 10.1016/j.eswa.2024.125534.
O. Gavaldà-Torrellas, P. Monsalvete, S. Ranjbar, and U. Eicker, “The Urban Building Energy Retrofitting Tool: An Open-Source Framework to Help Foster Building Retrofitting Using a Life Cycle Costing Perspective—First Results for Montréal,” Smart Cities, vol. 8, no. 1, p. 17, Jan. 2025, doi: 10.3390/smartcities8010017.
S. Rayegan et al., “Modeling building energy self-sufficiency of using rooftop photovoltaics on an urban scale,” Energy and Buildings, vol. 324, p. 114863, Dec. 2024, doi: 10.1016/j.enbuild.2024.114863.
K. Kaspar et al., “Effects of occupant thermostat preferences and override behavior on residential demand response in CityLearn,” Energy and Buildings, vol. 324, p. 114830, Dec. 2024, doi: 10.1016/j.enbuild.2024.114830.
A. Doma, R. Padsala, M. M. Ouf, and U. Eicker, “Bottom-up framework for modelling occupancy-based demand-side management strategies in a mixed-use district,” Applied Energy, vol. 375, p. 124081, Dec. 2024, doi: 10.1016/j.apenergy.2024.124081.
V. Davoodi, E. Amiri Rad, M. Akhoundi, and U. Eicker, “Design, optimization, and performance analysis of a solar-wind powered compression chiller with built-in energy storage system for sustainable cooling in remote areas,” Energy, vol. 312, p. 133664, Dec. 2024, doi: 10.1016/j.energy.2024.133664.
L. Cimmino, J. Barco Burgos, and U. Eicker, “REMOVED: Exergy and thermoeconomic analysis of a novel polygeneration system based on gasification and power-to-x strategy,” Renewable Energy, vol. 236, p. 121438, Dec. 2024, doi: 10.1016/j.renene.2024.121438.
H. Montazerinejad, U. Eicker, and P. Ahmadi, “Renewable fuel-powered micro-gas turbine and hydrogen fuel cell systems: Exploring scenarios of technology, control, and operation,” Energy Conversion and Management, vol. 319, p. 118944, Nov. 2024, doi: 10.1016/j.enconman.2024.118944.
S. Dabirian, C. Miller, A. Adli, and U. Eicker, “Gaussian-based plug load profile prediction in non-residential buildings archetype,” Applied Energy, vol. 374, p. 123970, Nov. 2024, doi: 10.1016/j.apenergy.2024.123970.
A. Kozlowska et al., “Positive Energy Districts: Fundamentals, Assessment Methodologies, Modeling and Research Gaps,” Energies, vol. 17, no. 17, p. 4425, Sep. 2024, doi: 10.3390/en17174425.
S. Tabarsaii, M. Amayri, N. Bouguila, and U. Eicker, “Non intrusive load monitoring using additive time series modeling via finite mixture models aggregation,” J Ambient Intell Human Comput, vol. 15, no. 9, pp. 3359–3378, Sep. 2024, doi: 10.1007/s12652-024-04814-x.
M. Hazbei, N. Rafati, N. Kharma, and U. Eicker, “Optimizing architectural multi-dimensional forms; a hybrid approach integrating approximate evolutionary search, clustering and local optimization,” Energy and Buildings, vol. 318, p. 114460, Sep. 2024, doi: 10.1016/j.enbuild.2024.114460.
N. S. Roudbari, S. R. Punekar, Z. Patterson, U. Eicker, and C. Poullis, “From data to action in flood forecasting leveraging graph neural networks and digital twin visualization,” Sci Rep, vol. 14, no. 1, p. 18571, Aug. 2024, doi: 10.1038/s41598-024-68857-y.
E. Shafiee Roudbari, I. Kantor, R. P. Menon, and U. Eicker, “Optimization-based decision support for designing industrial symbiosis district energy systems under uncertainty,” Applied Energy, vol. 367, p. 123418, Aug. 2024, doi: 10.1016/j.apenergy.2024.123418.
M. R. Seyedabadi, S. Samareh Abolhassani, and U. Eicker, “Developing a systematic framework for integrating life cycle carbon emission assessment in urban building energy modeling,” Building and Environment, vol. 260, p. 111662, Jul. 2024, doi: 10.1016/j.buildenv.2024.111662.
K. Alamatsaz, F. Quesnel, and U. Eicker, “Enhancing Electric Shuttle Bus Efficiency: A Case Study on Timetabling and Scheduling Optimization,” Energies, vol. 17, no. 13, p. 3149, Jun. 2024, doi: 10.3390/en17133149.
S. Samareh Abolhassani, A. Zandifar, N. Ghourchian, M. Amayri, N. Bouguila, and U. Eicker, “Occupant counting model development for urban building energy modeling using commercial off-the-shelf Wi-Fi sensing technology,” Building and Environment, vol. 258, p. 111548, Jun. 2024, doi: 10.1016/j.buildenv.2024.111548.
M. Brennenstuhl, R. Otto, P. K. Elangovan, and U. Eicker, “The Potential of Vehicle-to-Home Integration for Residential Prosumers: A Case Study,” Smart Grids and Energy, vol. 9, no. 1, p. 25, May 2024, doi: 10.1007/s40866-024-00206-4.
Accepted publications in national and international conferences:
U. Eicker, “Toward Resilient and Inclusive Energy Communities: Exploring Canadian Low Emission Case Studies in different context,” 2025.
U. Eicker, “Case Analysis and Applying Multi Objective Mixed-Integer Linear Programming (MILP) on a Photovoltaic-Battery-Diesel Remote Indigenous Energy Community in Northern Ontario, Canadaalysis and Applying Multi Objective Mixed-Integer Linear Programming (MILP) on a Photovoltaic-Battery-Diesel Remote Indigenous Energy Community in Northern Ontario, Canada,” 2025.
U. Eicker, “Advancing renewable energy communities: using digital twins to de-risk renewable energy solutions,” 2025.
R. Padsala, T. Santhanavanich, U. Eicker, and V. Coors, “Conceptualising an Urban Digital Twin Framework for Simulating the Impact of Household Consumption Choices on the Carbon Footprint of Urban Neighborhoods,” in The International Archives of the Photogrammetry, Remote Sensing and Spatial Information Sciences, May 2024, pp. 147–154. doi: 10.5194/isprs-archives-XLVIII-4-W10-2024-147-2024.
P. Yefi, R. Menon, and U. Eicker, “Evaluation of APIs for Data Exchange with Building Management Systems,” in Proceedings of the ACM/IEEE 6th International Workshop on Software Engineering Research & Practices for the Internet of Things, Lisbon Portugal: ACM, Apr. 2024, pp. 1–6. doi: 10.1145/3643794.3648275.
Research focus
Living lab methodology
Deploying the Living Lab methodology for this study ensures that input from all stakeholders is gathered throughout the process, fostering innovation and the creation of new products and services that align with sustainable, achievable and desirable solutions. This approach will consider both technical and non-technical aspects, making it adaptable to different situations.
International collaboration
This project will serve as a living example of zero-emission community development, showcasing the feasibility and effectiveness of sustainable energy solutions. The ICELL seeks to learn from successful global community energy projects to scale innovative solutions, foster green jobs and start-ups in Canada, USA, Netherlands, Spain, Israel, Sweden, South Africa and Colombia. This knowledge will be used to to create an international knowledge network of Community Energy living labs, that will showcase and disseminate decarbonization solutions
Interactive feedback
Interactive feedback is crucial for enhancing the way diverse communities handle energy use. All research partners in this project will contribute to the Community Energy Living Labs, fostering the exchange of experiences and ideas. The objective is to enhance our policies and disseminate successful strategies, ultimately making energy management more effective for everyone.
Non-academic partners
Thank you to our non-academic partners for your support and trust.
Volt-Age is funded by a $123-million grant from the Canada First Research Excellence Fund.
