One of the major challenges for the implementation of local energy planning is the successful development of a Sustainable Energy Action Plan (SEAP) by the local authorities (especially within the framework of their participation to the Covenant of Mayors’ initiative). This aspect constitutes a decision making problem, since the local authorities have to identify the best fields of actions and opportunities for reaching their long-term CO₂ reduction target.

Although integrated building automation systems have become increasingly popular, an integrated system which includes remote control technology to enable real-time monitoring of the energy consumption by energy end-users, as well as optimization functions is required.