Empowering the Irish Energy Transition: Harnessing Sensor Technology for Engagement in an Embedded Living Lab

Madeleine Lyes ()
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Madeleine Lyes: Department of Economics, University of Limerick, V94 T9PX Limerick, Ireland

Sustainability, 2025, vol. 17, issue 15, 1-22

Abstract: The transition to a decarbonised energy system in Ireland presents significant socio-technical challenges. This paper, focused on the work of the SMARTLAB project at the Citizen Innovation Lab in Limerick city, investigated the potential of a localised living lab approach to address these challenges. Engaging across 70 buildings and their inhabitants, the project captured the evolution of attitudes and intentions towards the clean energy transition in ways directly relevant to future policy implementation across grid redevelopment, smart service design, and national retrofit. Project methodology was framed by a living lab approach, with wireless energy and indoor environment sensors installed in participant buildings and participant journeys developed by harnessing the Citizen Innovation Lab ecosystem. The results indicate behaviour changes among participants, particularly focusing on indoor environmental conditions. The study concludes that embedded, localised living labs offer a methodological framework which can capture diverse datasets and encompass complex contemporary contexts towards transition goals.

Keywords: co-creation; energy transition; living labs; smart readiness indicator (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: O13 Q Q0 Q2 Q3 Q5 Q56 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2025
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