By adopting the pattern “become a living lab”, energy communities focus their core value proposition on serving as a testing and learning facility for new energy solutions. Living labs are often formed as open innovation ecosystems where new concepts and technologies are implemented, assessed and showcased. Such living labs, for instance, allow the implementation and testing of technical tools in the context of a community setting or testing of behavioural concepts with the members of the community.

Implementation reference

• Tech park which serves as real life laboratory (EUREF campus)
• Green living lab community (Greenreality);
• Smart rural living lab (Penela, Portugal)
• Building community on foundation of future standards (Smart Otaniemi)
• Testing building for new technologies, materials and systems in the energy and construction industry (NEST)
• List of living labs in the EU can be found here: Extensive list of living labs in EU

This pattern belongs to the core area: Community Value Proposition