Our smart district is producing a lot of information. Our “SmartHome GrowSmarter” research study for example will look at the feedback that the volunteer tenants will give from the use of Smart systems in their energetically renovated houses. Open Urban Platforms such as the one developed in GrowSmarter, including our Urban cockpit, is becoming a reference for smart cities. 

Action Area 2 - Low Energy Districts: SmartHome Systems in the Stegerwaldsiedlung

RheinEnergie found a manufacturer (homee) who is going to equip the Smart Home system with an interface that enables AGT to collect and measure the required data. The aim of the study is to investigate the impact of Smart Home systems on users' quality of life and potential energy savings.

Every tenant who lives in one of the 16 energetically renovated houses can apply to participate in the “SmartHome GrowSmarter” research study. RheinEnergie offers to install up to 50 free systems. Participants will receive a SmartHome system worth approx. 1.000€ (including installation) which they can keep after the end of the study.participants must agree to share their experiences in surveys which will be sent out at least quarterly.  The data will be evaluated anonymously and confidentially by the technical university of Cologne (TH Köln).

With the SmartHome system provided, tenants have an open system that can combine different radio protocols and components from many different manufacturers to set up individual SmartHome systems. The research study decided to use the radio protocol Z-Wave. The tenants received the homee base cube, the Z-Wave radio cube and various matching components, such as the smart heating thermostat, window and door sensors and smart plugs to measure the electricity consumption. The base cube collects information, processes it and stores it locally. It acts as the central control over the smart components. A Wi-Fi connection allows the control of the connected devices via smartphone or PC. To connect more sensors or actors you can add more cubes to the brain cube which support other Smart Home radio protocols like Z-Wave, Zigbee or EnOcean.

The Smart Home system allows a comfortable control of lights, heating, etc. via Smartphone from any room. You can, for example, check that all windows are closed while being away from home.

At both informational events on March 24th 2018 and on May 17th 2018, the project partners RheinEnergie (with the TH Köln) and AGT had a display wall to explain the system and the extra components to the tenants and show them its advantages.

Photo: The home base cube (white) and the Z-Wave radio protocol cube (purple) and demonstration wall

Action Area 3 - Integrated Infrastructure: Open urban Platforms as key component for integrated SmartCity infrastructures

The European Innovation Partnership for Smart Cities and Communities (EIP-SCC) exists since 2013 and now has more than 5,000 affiliates in over 31 countries. The EIP-SCC discusses central questions of the Smart Spatial Development. A central finding of the Cluster “Integrated Infrastructures & Processes”[1] is the need for open urban platforms prerequisite for the rapid implementation of intelligent solutions in the cities that can be used by the various actors in a city. The first step in this direction has been made by the Urban Platforms initiative, which comprises three areas: the demand side, which is mainly represented by cities, the supplier side, and the standardization.

With a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) “Towards Open Urban Platforms for Smart Cities and Communities”, the initiative aims to provide broad support from the industry for the implementation of open solutions. Currently, 44 companies from the industry have signed the memorandum. On the demand side, a declaration of intent has been signed by the 24 cities and two city networks, which will help to develop the core requirements for open, urban platforms.

[ui!]UrbanPulse is one of the first urban platforms that has been aligned to the reference architecture of the MoU and thus the open urban data platform of Cologne according to GrowSmarter's “Integrated Infrastructure” measure “8.1 Big consolidated open data platform” conforms to the reference architecture.

DIN SPEC Open Urban Platform (OUP) The German standards organization DIN has picked up the activities of the Action Cluster Integrated Infrastructure and Processes on the MoU and developed an “Open Urban Platform” with a regional consortium consisting of members from cities, operators, vendors, and academia the DIN SPEC 91357[1]. The reference architecture of the MoU has served as a sound base as depicted in the figure below. Both core partners of WP3 in Cologne, the City of Cologne and [ui!], were members of the DIN SPEC team and provided strategic guidance. As consortium leader, [ui!] orchestrated input also from other members working in SCC01 projects such as Triangulum, Smarter Together and mySMARTLife.  

MoU Reference graphic

Urban COCKPIT The GrowSmarter Cologne Urban COCKPIT is a solution developed on top of the open urban platform and is based on the [ui!] COCKPIT. It is designed to support analytics of real time data. By integrating, processing and visualizing data, a proof of concept can be done proving that the data is really available and in good quality. This is an important step for using and offering the data for value added services.

The WebAPP has been developed for GrowSmarter to provide insight in the different measures implemented in Cologne. It gives decision makers an easily understandable overview of the current and historical state of the pilot implementation. This includes traffic and parking loads, parking situations, energy consumption and production and mobility stations. All data is provided by the infrastructures and does not include personal data. It will be used to understand which data is available, at which quality in a human understandable way. It serves therefore also as a communication tool with other departments within the City administration as well as with external parties.

Urban cockpit main view and map view

The indicator on the left side of the Urban COCKPIT main page is pulsing and gives information of the current “pulse” of the city. In case of large traffic loads, much pollution, bad parking situations, high amount of non-regenerative energy consumption, etc. the pulse is very high which indicates the city suffers from “stress”. On the right side, different tiles or certain Smart City indicators are arranged. The timeline on the bottom of the cockpit can be used to see historical states of the city.

Federation of Open Urban PlatformsWithin the DIN SPEC 91357 and in alignment to the MoU, the federation of open urban platforms has been addressed. A federation allows different urban data platforms to exchange data in a transparent way thus that smart services in any given city can benefit from data sources even outside of the city as well as deploying smart services into other cities.

The below figure provides a schematic view of such a federation depicted from the DIN SPEC 91357.

User scenario

Let’s assume, a start-up from Cologne would like to develop a mobile application that enables the multi-modal routing and integrated usage of public transport, electric mobility and different energy infrastructure elements (e.g. charging stations) across Germany. Therefore, the start-up obtains relevant data regarding the current city from the related Open Urban Platform via an Open Data Portal (e.g. https://offenedaten-koeln.de/). To extend their service to other cities in Germany the start-up uses the GovData.De portal and its data-catalog to lookup for Open Urban Platforms of other cities providing equivalent datasets and services required by their mobile application. The available information from the Open Data Portals and their corresponding Open Urban Platforms of Hamburg and Cologne has been harvested by integrating their data catalogs. This way the mobile application can transparently provide services both in Cologne and Hamburg, instead of having two APPs, e.g. one for each city. Given a user opens the mobile application in Cologne to plan a journey to Hamburg. The mobile application should provide the most convenient combination of transportation means concerning the traffic situation and public transport options and availability of charging stations.”

Our vision is therefore to connect the urban platforms within GrowSmarter across the three GrowSmarter lighthouse cities Stockholm, Cologne and Barcelona and if applicable between lighthouse cities and follower cities. This way, we allow for more smart services to be developed and thus creating an even larger ecosystem adhering to our ambitious goal of prosperity and growth.

In 2014, when we selected the smart solutions and the partners that would implement these in Stockholm, we wanted to show how a city can tackle the sustainability challenges of rapid urban growth. Now that these solutions are in place we want to evaluate the results to show that we can achieve the goals initially defined and do so in an economically sound way. When we look at the first set of evaluation data collected we can see at the same time promising results, no results at all and negative results. In many cases we simply do not have enough data to give an accurate answer. Also the systems have in many cases not been fully optimised and/or is running on partial capacity, so it is too early to define if they are working well.

Action area 1: Low-Energy Districts - What is happening in Valla Torg, Årsta and the Slakthus area buildings and what results do we have?

In Valla Torg the refurbishment of the two first multi-storey buildings (7G and 6) and the low-storey building 8 are finalised and the tenants have moved in. The evaluation of energy use has started, but the first set of evaluation data is not complete, so it is too early to tell how well the energy efficiency measures have worked. Refurbishment of the other buildings are still in progress and will be finalised between September 2018 and January 2019.

In the private condominia Brf Årstakrönet the evaluation is on its second year. The use of electricity, water and energy used for heating is evaluated. Each energy source is followed on a monthly basis and compared to the baseline.  Also the amount of solar energy produced by PV cells are measured.

Compared to 2015, the first full operational year of savings was around -10%, for district heating -30% for electricity (not including electricity used in apartments) and -4% for water.

In Slakthusarea the refurbishment of building 8 is finalised. The evaluation of energy use has started, but as the building and energy measures were so recently done there is no data yet available telling how well the energy efficiency measures have worked. The substitute buildings Kylhuset in Slakthusareaare also finalised for building related energy efficiency measures. The waste heat recovery will be installed in summer 2018 as well as the PVs combined with battery storage.

Action area 2: Integrated Infrastructures

Installing smart LED-lighting

The smart LED-street lights (solution 5) have now been in operation for 1,5 years and the system has worked well. There are three sub measures implemented and evaluated and the results for the first year of evaluation is presented below. It is important to understand that the baseline is LED-street lights. So the energy saving of replacing a metal halogen street 50 W with LED light of 30W is not included. This saving is about 30%.

• The first sub measure is “Sensor controlled LED lighting for pedestrian and bicycle paths” to enable the lights to provide base lighting to satisfy the feeling of safety at all times and increase the level of lighting when someone approaches. The first 12 months of evaluation indicate an energy saving of 45,9% a year. The original target of 40-50% savings was thus reached.
• The second sub measure is “Self-controlled LED street lighting with pre-set lighting schemes”. The first 12 months of evaluation indicate an energy saving of 14,4% a year. The original target of 20% savings was not reached in this first year.
• The third sub measure is “Remote controlled LED street lighting which can be controlled from a distance”. The first 12 months of evaluation indicate an energy saving of 19,3% a year. The original target of 30-50% savings was not reached in this first year.

The next step will be to define how cost effective these sub measures have been.

A Smart Connected City

The aim of the measure 5.2 is to implement in the city environment, if possible on existing infrastructure, sensors for data collection, analysis, visualization and via an IOT platform also test the possibilities to use sensor data for direct communication to citizens as well as using flow data to pre-program and steer city infrastructure such as street lights.

Two types of sensors have been implemented in the Slakthusarea. The first type is 10 sensors for measuring vehicle traffic on a real-time base and the second type are wifi-based sensors to measure pedestrian and bicyclist traffic. The data from the sensors are analysed and visualised in the IOT platform provided by IBM. Below are some examples of visualised data analytics.

IBM, who is responsible for the open consolidated big data platform (solution 8), will build up a multiuseable data platform where real-time data can be analysed, but also were the data can be turned into practical usecases reducing transport emissions and increasing the quality of life for citizens. The development work is done in an agile process were users from different city organisations work together with IBMs development team. Currently the development team is working on developing a mobile application to help event visitors in the Slakthusarea to navigate in the area is a best possible way. In autumn the development team will start working with how the flow data collected could be used to steer street lights in the area.

CO2 emission (g/km) from passing vehicles (left) and amount of pedestrians in the area during an event (right)

Smart waste handling

The waste handling system provided by Envac has been running since the summer 2017. This solution (Measure 7.1, 7.2, and 7.3) demonstrates a smart waste solution for residential areas using differently coloured bags for different sorts of waste, transporting the bags long distance underground and sorting them automatically in a treatment plant. There are yet only two inlets in operation in the installation due to the general time plan of the refurbishment of the Valla torg site. When the AWCS is in full operation there will be 13 inlets, thus increasing the amount of waste significantly, in turn making the evaluation more relevant. The organic fraction can be used for biogas production, which in turn can be used in vehicles. So it is very promising that this fraction per quantity is the largest. 

Action area 3: Sustainable Urban Mobility

Building logistics centre and delivery boxes

The Building logistics centre (solution 2) implemented by Carrier, will start handling more materials for the last buildings to be refurbished in Valla Torg. Unfortunately the evaluation data is not yet available, so it is not possible to define how well the solution is working.

The implementation of delivery boxes (solution 9) by Carrier is done. The delivery boxes are actually a delivery room, which later on can be used for other purposes. The delivery room can be easily used for any type of deliveries, small and big. The deliveries are transported by bike to the room. When the package has arrived the tenant will get a message and with an app, open the door and then go and collect it.  The tenant can also put returning packages in a special shelf. As the system has been in use for a short time, only a tenfold of packages were delivered. The camera surveilled room together with identification of users and specified door codes guarantee that a package is not accessed by other users by mistake.

From package delivery by bike to pick up from Tenant using the app

Smart Traffic Management

Insero has together with NOAE (Network of Automotive Excellence) implemented an information system for drivers (solution 10). Effects on travel time and the drivers’ experiences has not yet been evaluated.

KTH has developed a smart phone application to follow up changes in travel behaviour. In the same application, information about renewable fuels in Stockholm will be shown. The application is launched, but no evaluation data is available.  

Alternative fuel driven vehicles

As part of the GrowSmarter project, Fortum will install up to 10 charging stations and one fast charger (solution 11). The fast charger is installed in Årsta. The normal chargers are also installed in Valla Torg.

The first four refuelling stations for renewable fuels are up and running. The filling station in Årsta is expected to be built in 2018. Data from the first refuelling station shows some drastic results. The station was launched in 2016 as a renewable station and drivers did not think they could also get traditional diesel there. When they did understand this, the diesel sales increased. It is important to remember that only 10% of all trucks in Sweden are defined as green vehicles, so in that perspective 18% sales of biogas is a good result.

Stockholmshem launched its electrical carpool (solution 12) for tenants and habitants in February 2018. In February and March there were 14 tenants who have enrolled themselves to the carpool. The cars are frequently used especially during weekends.

Communication and marketing

An event for tenants in Valla Torg was organised 18th of April 2018. In the events Stockholm Site partners showed smart solutions for the tenants and they could also test solutions like the cargo bike. The event was successful and received positive feedback from tenants.

All photos from the tenant event was taken by Bengt Alm.

In Slakthusarea an inauguration was held 15th of May introducing the smart solutions implemented in the area. Some 100 persons from different organisations attended the event. It was a wonderful weather and the visitors had a possibility to both listen to presentations as well as see the solutions in practice in a study visit.

All photos from the Slakthusarea event was taken by Sven Lindwall.

With this I want to wish you a very nice summer.

Mika Hakosalo

Site Manager, Stockholm

For the previous blog post, click here

Read about Barcelona's first lessons learned from the implementation phase of low energy district solutions: learn the importance of business models, regulatory framework and finding value proposition for energy consumption visualization platforms. Get more details on the refurbishment of the Escola Sert center, a part of The College of Architects of Catalonia (COAC). 

Action area 1: Low-Energy Districts - Lessons learnt

The main objective of the GrowSmarter work package called "Low energy districts" is the deployment of energy efficiency measures to reduce the environmental impact of the existing building stock in cities.

To date, we have already reached the stage within the GrowSmarter project where practically all measures are completely executed and the corresponding monitoring phase has started. This has allowed the collection of the first conclusions and lessons learned from the last 2 years of implementation work required to make the proposed measures reality.

In total, 123 000m2 of constructed surface area have been refurbished in the three Lighthouse cities (including private and public buildings, tertiary and residential buildings), and local energy generation has been promoted by connecting buildings to District Heating and Cooling networks, on-site renewable electricity production, and advanced smart energy management of the local energy generation. The project has also promoted the deployment of Home Energy Management Systems to raise awareness on energy efficiency among the citizens. In this context, each Lighthouse city has implemented Smart solutions of different nature but with the same goal: the demonstration of measures leading to a more energy efficient city building stock.

In Barcelona, the partners involved in the Low energy districts work package have highlighted the importance of the following topics:

• Explore feasible business models behind the private building energy retrofitting in relatively low heating demand areas (Mediterranean zone): The industrial partner responsible for the demonstration of private building energy retrofitting in Barcelona highlights the general need for Public-Private partnerships and, in case of commercial buildings, the need for agreements between building owners and operators. In Barcelona, the feasibility of actions related to the energy retrofitting of private buildings by an industrial partner has been possible through the figure of an ESCo (Energy Service Company) that has promoted Public-Private partnerships in order to find a favourable funding for the building owners.  
• Define the value proposition of energy consumption visualization platforms prior to installation: The two energy consumption visualization platforms deployed in Barcelona have shown different value propositions. The Municipality deployed the free Virtual Energy Advisor, which aims at empowering citizens to decrease the electricity consumption in the residential sector. The local utility GNF deployed a commercial HEMS (Home Energy Management System), which will increase consumers’ energy efficiency awareness while providing valuable information on energy consumption consumers’ habits.
• Consider the strong dependence on National regulation for the implementation of Self-consumption systems (Photovoltaics + Battery systems) with Smart energy management systems: Considering the existing regulation in Spain at the time of the GrowSmarter project’s implementation phase, a distributed photovoltaic (PV) energy generation installation can only feed a single consumer. Hence, in order to implement this measure, the PV systems had to be installed at the common rooftop of the residential building and can only satisfy the common end-uses of the building (i.e. elevators and lighting). Moreover, the current legislation does not allow any retribution from the injection in the grid of surplus renewable electricity generation. This limits the possibilities that the smart energy management can offer.

Refurbishment of Escola Sert (COAC)

Sert School is a continuous formation centre through which The College of Architects of Catalonia (COAC) offers a systematic program of training and accompaniment to the professional group. The College of Architects of Catalonia is an institution, established in 1931. Its building was built between 1959 and 1962 and it is located in Plaça Nova, Barcelona.

The project will affect the College building’s façade where the Sert School will be located after the refurbishment. This is a protected building catalogued as historical heritage. Therefore the intervention has been designed and executed respecting the composition and aesthetic of the original building while improving its energy performance and comfort.

On February 2017, the final agreement between Gas Natural Servicios and COAC was signed in order to take part in the GrowSmarter project. At that moment, COAC was already carrying out a global reform, not limited to an energy refurbishment. The municipal permissions were obtained during 2015. The scope of Growsmarter within the global project consists in implementing façade-integrated PV plant and a Building Energy Management System (BEMS).

The implementation started in June 2017 with the PV glass and the electrical installation engineering. The works related to the façade started in October 2017 and they finished in January 2018. The Building Energy Management System (BEMS) was installed once all the refurbishment works finished. The collaboration is taking place under an Energy Services contract, through which the Energy Services Company (Gas Natural Servicios, GNF’s ESCo) provides a turnkey solution and performs the investment in exchange for an annual fee. GNF is responsible for the PV glass supply and its integration in the building electrical installation and also the design and implementation of the BEMS.

The school and the whole building are undergoing a global refurbishment complemented by the GrowSmarter project:

• Façade refurbishment, incorporating mostly glass surface: Improvement of the sound insulation and reduction of the thermal losses
• Implementation of a 19.5 kWp façade-integrated PV plant for self-consumption.

Specific photovoltaic glasses have been selected taking into account both technical and aesthetic properties.

Added Value

Data gathered by the BEMS will be used for better energy management by the building operator resulting in further reductions in energy consumption that achieved using that data. In addition, one of the main aspects to highlight in this refurbishment is the definition of an optimal PV installation design integrated in a building façade, minimizing the visual impact and maximizing the power production that can be obtained through self-consumption.

Gonzalo Cabeza

Site Manager, Barcelona

For the previous blog post, click here