Whilst residential energy consumption in France and Italy is either stable or is decreasing, this is not the case in other MED region countries and is not the case in social housing through the MED region. The introduction of energy certification and labelling of existing buildings and smart meters represents a change in the perception of energy by users and offers an opportunity for proactive changes in habits if well addressed and a threat if the changes are not well accepted and lead to negative reactions. The aim of the project is to demonstrate how EMPOWERMENT of users by providing relevant, meaningful and near real time information, advice and suggestions is the key to achieving higher energy performance in residential buildings when combined with integral refurbishment, use of renewable energy sources and ICT. The idea is that improvements will only be achieved if the people living in these homes become proactive in their use of energy. If they do then there is scope for social benefit in terms of reduced fuel poverty and improved quality of life economic benefit in terms of retention of resources in the local economy (otherwise spent on fuel) and development of energy related services and environmental benefit in terms of reduced pollution and energy dependency. These issues are being addressed at a strategic level by MED projects such as MARIE and ELIH MED. The project aims to provide practical applications of the innovative results of recent ICT related R&D and demonstration projects and to link these to the changes that are going to affect building users most in the next few years: energy certification/labelling and the introduction of smart meters. This is relevant as it is an issue with considerable scope for MED region development in line with EU energy, environmental and social policies in general and with 3 of the 5 possible actions listed for objective 2.2 of this call, namely: - Using results of research and promoting pilot projects to develop processes improving energy efficiency and reducing energy consumption - The project will use state of the art ICT applied to residential building energy management. - Innovations in the field of standards (construction, housing, transport...) supporting the harmonisation of standards and the respect of international directives in terms of energy saving, efficiency and consumption - the project will work to harmonise the application of energy certification in existing buildings across the med region. - Disseminating information and raising awareness of the civil society with regards to the use of innovative technologies in the field of energy - the project will disseminate the results and the concepts to a wide and relevant audience. The project involves direct intervention in three pilot projects in France, Italy and Spain and the results will be analysed and disseminated widely in the MED region.