Fair Meter – Preparing for a future-proof energy transition
A fair meter is a smart energy metre, made from responsibly sourced, reusable materials, using ecological and ethical manufacturing processes. The objective is to attain maximal transparency in the whole production process whilst reducing the ecological footprint. This meant rethinking everything from sourcing raw materials to manufacturing and logistics, from installation to management of the data and software. The components of Fair Meter are themselves reusable, reducing waste after the metre’s useful life has expired. The origins of all the materials in the production process are listed on a resources label.
From Green Deal to sustainable energy system
In 2013, the Dutch government, knowledge institutes and utilities companies launched the Green Deal Fair Meter. One of the dilemmas facing energy companies was that rolling out smart meters to prepare households for a future-proof energy transition also has an ecological footprint. The solution was Fair Meter.
To develop a fair smart meter for household energy consumption, Stedin, Alliander, Cogas, Waag and Amsterdam Smart City focused on four performance factors: circularity, fairness, transparency and footprint. This resulted in a performance ladder which can be adapted to any procurement process.
Now, these ecologically sound meters are being installed in homes up and down the country, in preparation of a sustainable energy system in the future. Soon some of the customers will produce their own energy, for instance from solar panels supplying their excess back into the grid, while others will be able to reduce their bills because they have a better insight into their energy use.
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