GrowSmarter has reached a milestone year: by the end of 2017, all the smart solutions will be in place and in use in Stockholm. Smart solutions from each area of action have already been implemented, so the work is now shifting from implementation to demonstration and evaluation of the project. A lot of emphasis is put on communication and marketing activities in 2017 and 2018. Each partner will make a communication plan and contribute to the demonstration site’s general communication activity plan, but also look into how the smart solutions can be marketed internationally.

Action area 1: Low-Energy Districts

To see all the measures to be implemented, click here.

What’s happening in Valla Torg, Årsta and the Slakthus area buildings?

The smart solutions for low energy districts will be rolled out in the building zones in Valla Torg, Årsta and the Slakthus area (see map here). For an overview of the measures being implemented, click here.

In Valla Torg The refurbishment of the first higher storey building (7G) started in September 2016. Insulation of facades, installation of new windows and other climate shell related measures were carried out by Skanska.

The refurbishment of the first lower storey building (8H) started in October 2016. Work on insulating facades and changing windows has already been done, and other climate shell measures will be finalised by the end of March 2017.

The refurbishment of the second higher storey building (6F) started in December 2016. All of the measures to be implemented are part of the energy efficient climate shell (solution 1).

In the private condominia, Brf Årstakrönet, the implementation (solution 1) and (solution 3) started in January 2016 with the installation of an adaptive control system by Veolia. Veolia has also installed photovoltaic arrays (solution 4) on the roofs. The solar energy production is connected with energy storage (batteries), so that solar energy can be stored and used when it’s needed. The same solutions will also be implemented in the Slakthus area buildings during later stages of refurbishment.

In Slakthus the refurbishment of building 8 by the Fastighetskontoret (Real Estate Administration Office) started in October 2016. Unfortunately, the overall budget for the Real Estate Administration was cut, so the second building (building 7) cannot be refurbished in 2017 as planned. Therefore, we are working on finding a replacement building. The alternative building will also be situated in Slakthus area.

Action area 2: Integrated infrastructures

To see all the measures to be implemented, click here.

Installing smart LED-lighting

As described in an earlier blog, the installation of smart LED-street lights (solution 5) was finalised in June 2016 in Valla Torg and has now been in use for a full winter season. The measure will bring an estimated 50% energy savings, but actual figures have not yet been analysed.

A Smart Connected City

In Stockholm the smart connected city will use the extensive fibre optic network provided and administered by Stokab, a company owned by Stockholm City Council. Several Internet of Things applications and solutions can be built on top of the network.

In April 2017 sensors will be installed in the Slakthus area. One set of sensors will measure the pedestrian and bicycle traffic in the area. Another set of sensors will analyse vehicle traffic. We are especially interested in understanding how people travel to events that take place in this area: there are three sports arenas situated close to each other which host events year-round.

We will also install sensors for measuring air pollution. These will be placed in the same locations as the vehicle transport sensors. The real-time data that is collected will be delivered to an open consolidated big data platform for further analysis. A workshop with city departments and other interested parties is planned for the 8th of March to define the types of analysis to be done. Later in spring when the first set of data has been analysed, further workshops will be planned to define what kind of applications can be developed for lowering transport-based emissions based on the real-time data. In doing this we are defining ways to provide higher quality of life for citizens with smart connected solutions.

IBM, who are responsible for the open consolidated big data platform (solution 8), have two ongoing roles in GrowSmarter: “Sensing City Scale people movement” and “Movement of Pedestrians/Bicyclists”.

Under “Sensing City Scale people movement” IBM will analyse data on the flow of people to show how people move in the Slakthus area over time by creating heat maps. This analysis will be combined with other data such as public transport capacity, traffic measurements, weather, etc. to see how well the different transportation modes and capacities are optimised in the area, especially during events with a lot of people in motion. The project team, platform for data management, analysis tools and method are all already in place.

In “Movement of Pedestrians/Bicyclists” IBM will measure and study in detail specifically how pedestrians move in the city. A prototype user interface environment has been developed on the Bluemix platform. Sample data sets from relevant data sources have been uploaded into the Bluemix environment and made available for users, including vehicle traffic measurement data, bicycle traffic measurement data, bicycle accident data, and weather data for specific locations in the city. End user functions and graphical visualisation tools have been developed.

Together with the Traffic Administration, a plan for implementing new sensor data sources has been made. There will be 7 video sensors in the city connected via the fibre optic network to the Bluemix platform, which will feed into the traffic planner user environment in Bluemix. These sensors will be able to measure the flow, volume and direction of pedestrians, cyclists and vehicles in the selected city areas covered.

Waste Heat recovery

Fortum’s open district heating (solution 6) will be implemented in two locations. In Västberga, waste heat from data centres will be integrated into the district heating system.The same will be done for waste heat from Supermarkets in Farsta (some 5km south of the Slakthus area). The agreements have been signed and the installation in the Supermarket is completed. Due to delivery problems the heat pump could not be delivered as planned in March, so the installation in the data centre is postponed until June. When the solutions are in operation, the waste heat collected can be distributed into the district heating system and provide heat and hot water to more than 1,000 apartments.

Smart waste Handling

The waste handling system provided by Envac will be completed in June this year, with the terminal and inlets being installed during spring 2017. The different waste types will be separated by tenants into different coloured bags. The tenant places the bags in the inlet, and each bag colour is automatically identified and measured. Data from all six buildings in the project will be collected. The waste is then transported in underground pipes to the terminal. From the terminal the waste bags are sent to the sorting facility, where the different coloured bags are separated for recycling.

The smart waste handling has several benefits. It saves space compared to conventional waste containers, which can then be used for other purposes. The system also brings about benefits for hygiene and reduces bad odours. As the waste is piped to the terminal for collection, traffic for collecting waste at buildings will be reduced, meaning reduced traffic emissions but also less noise at residential buildings.

Action area 3: Sustainable Urban Mobility

To see all the measures to be implemented, click here.

Building logistics center and delivery boxes

The building logistics centre (solution 2), implemented by Carrier, started in September 2016 with the delivery of windows to Valla Torg. Carrier is together with Skanska discussing which material streams can be best handled by the logistics centre. The construction logistics are part of the production process, so the better production is planned and organised, the easier it is to provide just-in-time deliveries to construction sites. The materials are delivered outside work hours (after 5pm) so that they are available in the next morning at the construction site.

The implementation of delivery boxes (solution 9) by Carrier will be done in three buildings as part of the 2017 refurbishment plan in Valla Torg. Tenants can order packages and other deliveries straight home instead of picking them up from the nearest service point. The delivery from the service point to the building is done by cargo bikes.

Smart Traffic Management

Insero, together with NOAE (Network of Automotive Excellence) and Global car OEM, is implementing an information system for drivers (solution 10). In Stockholm ten traffic lights are equipped with software that can communicate and relay information about the status of the light and when it is about to switch. This is achieved through a data connection between the traffic light, the cars’ onboard software and GPS, and a central computer handling the calculations. Through a special device in the car, the driver will receive information about what speed to drive in order to reach a green light at the next junction. This information tool will be tested in two cars starting in March 2017. Effects on travel time and the drivers’ experiences will be evaluated.

KTH has together with Info24 (now Tingcore) developed a smartphone application (solution 10) to study changes in travel behaviour in a way that is more effective and has a greater response rate than traditional travel surveys. This will improve the travel demand management measures. In the same application, information about renewable fuels in Stockholm will be shown. This information contains updated information on where each alternative fuel can be tanked, together with most recent price.

Alternative fuel driven vehicles

As part of the GrowSmarter project, Fortum has planned to install up to 10 charging stations and one fast charger (solution 11). The fast charger is installed in Årsta. The normal chargers will be installed in Valla Torg, Slakthus area and Årsta during 2017.

The first refuelling station (solution 11) for renewable fuels is up and running. The filling station in Årsta is expected to be installed in the beginning of 2018.

Communication and marketing

In Stockholm several study visits have been arranged and there is a great interest in the GrowSmarter solutions. As more and more smart solutions are implemented, the study visits will become more frequent. In August 2017 there is a plan to have an event demonstrating the smart solutions in Valla Torg. Here the focus is on city representatives. In November/December 2017 a similar event will be arranged in the Slakthus area. In spring 2018 an event is planned for tenants in Valla Torg.

All Stockholm partners will produce their own communication activities plan in April, and contribute to an overall communication activities plan for the Stockholm site. In addition, the partners will start producing a marketing plan for their smart solutions as soon as the implementation is completed.

Mika Hakosalo

Site Manager, Stockholm

Action area 1: Low-Energy Districts

To see all the measures to be implemented, click here

Solution 1: Smart shell refurbishment

Site 1:

As mentioned in a previous blog post, this building is composed of 207 dwellings with a total surface of 14,165 m2, which will benefit from the passive refurbishment of the entire building façade. See the factsheet which provides an overview of this process here.

Insulation of the building is expected to lead to a reduction of the heating demand of the dwellings by approximately 43% due to the improved air tightness. The benefits for the tenants will not only be lower heating and energy bills, but also improved comfort and other qualitative aspects, such as noise and humidity insulation.

In order to assess the impact on user comfort, a survey and monitoring campaign was done in February 2017 for baselines, and a second survey and monitoring campaign will follow in 2018. Electricity and gas invoices will also be collected for baseline and reporting periods. The informational meeting with some of the tenants was held on 19 January, 2017 and was well received.

All the refurbishment work in the residential building of Passeig Santa Coloma 55-71 is being promoted by the public body responsible for social housing in Barcelona, Patronat Municipal de l’Habitatge de Barcelona - PMHB.

A successful case of public-private partnership in a residential refurbishment project

In March of 2016, after long negotiations, the first agreement for a pilot project of passive integral refurbishment was completed in a residential building in Barcelona. The refurbishment is being carried out within the renovation plan of Canyelles, a neighborhood built in the 1970s in response to a period of great migration.

In 2007, an agreement was signed between the City Council and the neighbourhood association to carry out renovation work on 65 buildings with a total of 2,524 dwellings in six phases, over six years. Each phase has been designed to carry out actions in different buildings, giving priority to structural problems and the improvement of thermal insulation, but also contributing to improving the urban elements. Phase 5 began in 2016.

Thanks to the public-private partnership agreement between the Housing Agency of Catalonia (AHC), which manages the renovations in the Canyelles neighborhood, and Gas Natural Fenosa, one of six residential buildings to be refurbished in phase 5 was included in the Growsmarter project at the beginning of 2016. It is a 56-dwelling building of about 5,000 m2 and the refurbishment is mainly based on passive criteria.

The European subsidy (GrowSmarter) and the participation of Gas Natural Fenosa as an Energy Service Company (ESCO) meant the refurbishments could be more ambitious than orginally planned, including: the additional installation of new windows and blinds in those dwelling sthat agreed to participate (77%) insulation of façade was increased, exceeding the current minimum requirements and further measures, like change of boilers, installation of efficient water taps (aerators) and home energy management systems have been included.

As part of the renovations, home energy management systems (HEMS) have also been installed allows the owners to monitor the energy usage of their home, becoming aware of their consumption and learning to reduce this by adjusting their consumption habits. In addition, the lessons learned from the installation of the HEMS will help Gas Natural Fenosa to develop customised value-added services for its customers in the future.

The monitoring of consumption through the HEMS’ installation started in July 2016 and will be carried out for two years from the end of the renovation project. Taking into account the limitations of the Organic Law on Data Protection, the values of aggregate consumption of the building will be available on the platform of the Barcelona City Council. In addition to this, within GrowSmarter, the dissemination of the results will be carried out nationally and internationally, with the aim of replicating this experience in buildings with similar characteristics.

Renovations started in June 2016 were completed at the beginning of this year. A technical-energy study of these passive measures carried out in collaboration with the Catalan Association of Architects (COAC) indicates that reducing heating demand and increasing thermal comfort in winter. Under these criteria, it has been estimated that the improvements proposed in GrowSmarter will allow a savings of 44% over current total energy consumption.

What are the advantages of the public-private collaboration within GrowSmarter?

Collaboration between the Housing Agency of Catalonia and Gas Natural Fenosa combined the efforts of GrowSmarter with the Aid for the refurbishment of residential buildings in 2016, published by the Housing Consortium of Barcelona (CHB). Thanks to this, both this residential tower and the other residential buildings selected in the project will be able to offer financial support to the residents for these renovations.

On the other hand, Gas Natural Fenosa has the opportunity to test a new business model, acting for the first time as an energy service company (ESCO) in the integral passive refurbishment of a residential building.

this business model the customers (residents) deal with a single company that completes the renovations and keeps track of energy savings over time. The residents can choose to pay for their share of the investments through monthly fees or a single upfront payment.

The project will improve the quality of life of the residents, providing improved comfort, reducing energy consumption, increasing the value of the dwelling, all with a reduced investment and a very affordable form of payment.

Lessons learned: difficulties and replicability

Due to the low heating demand in residential buildings in Barcelona and that only an estimated 40% of the heating demands are covered (PECQ 2011-2020 - Energy Plan, climate change and air quality of Barcelona), it is difficult to justify the renovations based only on savings. The aspects to be considered are rather the improvement of thermal comfort and the increased value of the property. But even so, the investment needed for the energy refurbishment are not affordable for the owners alone.

In the case of this project, the ongoing refurbishment project for the structural façade provided an an opportunity to tack on additional sustainable renovations, taking advantage of the fact that costs for painting, scaffolding, etc. could be shared.

The public-private collaboration is still a key factor in carrying out these measures: public administration has the role of proposing ways to favour the amortization of building refurbishment, for example through subsidies or tax incentives, and private enterprise can solve the problem of high investment costs for individual owners by acting as an energy services company (ESCO) to the community of owners of the building.

Smart solution 3: Stochastic model of appliance energy consumption

Among other research activities being carried out at the IREC (Catalonia Institute for Energy Research) is a GrowSmarter measure called the ‘Stochastic Model of Appliances Energy Consumption’. This is a tool that provides detailed load profiles of electric devices in a household.

In its current state, the tool is able to randomly generate the load profile of 15 different appliances according to the characteristics of the household, e.g. the building type (single family house or multifamily house), the number of occupants (from 1 to 5 occupants) and the appliance stock (type and energy labelling). This random generation of use profiles is based on the Spanish Time Use Data (TUD), a survey done in Spain by the Spanish Statistical Office (Instituto Nacional de Estadística, INE). TUD describes what people do at home over the course of the day, providing occupancy patterns and relating them to the use of appliances (e.g. if the activity is “laundry”, the “washing machine” will be used at that moment).

As an output, the model provides the following information: a) detailed profiles of each appliance’s consumption at 3-minute intervals b) a summary of the annual energy consumption of every appliance; and c) an energy comparison with more efficient appliances.

Impact of the stochastic model in the current trends of progressive electrification of households

The Stochastic Model of Appliances Energy Consumption is expected to be integrated in energy simulation tools and/or platforms to provide detailed information about the energy consumption of appliances in residential buildings.

From the point of view of the professional sector, this tool will generate detailed information related to electrical devices consumption. The aim is to design comprehensive strategies to reduce and manage energy consumption, including all types of energy usage in the residential sector, not only thermal ones (heating, cooling and domestic hot water).

From the point of view of the end-user, the tenants will have accurate and personalised consumption profiles at hand, enabling them to improve the energy performance of their homes. The most important impact of the model is to raise awareness about appliances’ consumption among citizens, in order to address appropriate strategies to improve energy efficiency in homes and to contribute to changing customer behaviour.

Action Area 3: Sustainable Mobility

To see all the measures to be implemented, click here.

Microdistribution of freight: On-board sensor units.

The on-board sensor unit deployed as part of the GrowSmarter project will be installed in the electric vehicles used in the microdistribution of freight measure in order to track different parameters (temperature, humidity, pollution, location …) while the tricycles are moving through the city. The information collected by the sensor units is transmitted to the GrowSmarter platform. These data can be lately used as input for different applications (e.g to determine the benefits of the micro-distribution of freight or to analyze the variation of pollution in a specific area)

2CAT has been working on the design and implementation of the on-board sensor unit that will be installed in several electrical vehicles used for the distribution of freight in a specific area of the city. This prototype is a multi-sensing wireless device that will monitor several parameters, such as temperature, luminosity, humidity, noise level, air pollution, and also the position at which these measurements are taken, so that it will be possible to map these parameters and monitor their variability during the full two years of the pilot duration. This monitoring solution will serve to:

• Explore the feasibility of tracking environmental parameters in a city in a mobile scenario with low-cost sensors to complement the information from the static environmental and pollution stations installed in specific places the city.

• Evaluate the environmental impact of the micro-distribution of freight solution through the comparison of the pollution in the delivery area with the one in its edges.

• Provide real-time tracking information about the path followed by the tricycles, which can be helpful to optimize delivery routes and, thus, improve the service and make it more competitive for the last-mile operator.

The sensing unit in the tricycles will be powered by the battery of the vehicles and will support cellular and WLAN communications to transmit the monitored information to the Growsmarter platform, where it will be processed and made available for the city services.

The mobile devices deployed in the project serve also as proof of concept to show the feasibility of using on-board units to monitor different parameters in a wide area (such as a city). This would help to reduce the expenses of installing and maintaining static and dedicated equipment for this aim.

During the next months i2CAT will work on the integration of the prototype with the electrical vehicles and on its on-field calibration and validation before the measure definitely starts. The microdistribution service is expected to be fully operational in early 2017.

Roberto Furió

Site Manager, Barcelona

Action area 1: Low-Energy Districts

To see all the measures to be implemented, click here.

Energy consultation in the Stegerwald settlement

The City of Cologne and its cooperation partner, the consumer center NRW, support the GrowSmarter project in Cologne. Tenants in the project area of the Stegerwaldsiedlung are eligible for a free energy consultation. This consultation is the perfect preparation for the installation of smart home devices and smart meters in the area. Tenants can receive an overview of their electricity and heating energy consumption as well as advice about heating and ventilation.

Consultants look at all household appliances, lamps, TVs and computers, as well as electric water heaters and other big electricity consumers, taking into account also the heating costs and total annual electricity consumption. In addition, tenants are asked about their electricity consumption habits, typical ventilation habits, and radiator settings. The design of the building and the location of the apartment are also included, since these factors also influence energy consumption. The total level of energy consumption is calculated from the data gathered, and the consultant provides recommendations for better-performing appliances the results are given to the energy consultant in a report for further check up.

The tenants were informed about this with a special invitation:

Action area 2: Integrated infrastructures

To see all the measures to be implemented, click here.

Open Air Hackathon – Cologne is starting to become a smart city

What is a smart city exactly and how can one bring it to the general public? –What about transparency, citizen participation and new forms of climate protection? Initiated by the activities of GrowSmarter, the City of Cologne, RheinEnergy and representatives of civil society pursued this question on 28 October 2016 at an Open Air Hackathon.

Within the framework of a “Pen and Paper Hackathon”, new application scenarios for a smart city were sought with specially developed environmental sensors. Under the motto "Open Air Cologne", interested parties were invited to place initial rudimentary sensors in different locations in Cologne to get an overview of where and how pollutant concentrations are generated and spread. As a first step, about 20 NO2 measuring stations should be installed for interested citizens in Cologne.

NO2 (nitrogen dioxide) is a gas emitted, among others, by combustion engines. The goal is not 100% accurate measurement results, but the transfer of technology and know-how. Competent experts from research and science as well as from the field of industry provide corresponding input before the first prototype sensors can be used to gain experience.

The pursuit of new ideas did not end with the conclusion of the Hackathon, it continues with the cooperation of the city of Cologne, project partners from GrowSmarter and the Kölner OK Lab (codefor.de) as well as the regular Open-Data-Roundtable initiated by the City of Cologne (#ODRC). The Hackathon was the starting point for a regular exchange with interested citizens and stakeholders, centring around questions like: What was the experience like with the sensors? How can technology be used in a targeted way to solve problems with open data? Does the solution already exist somewhere?

The Cologne OK Lab is a regional group of designers, developers, journalists and others who meet every two weeks to work on useful applications for open data.

In the process, the group develops different applications, for example to display Cologne’s playgrounds or monuments on maps, to find homes for animals in Cologne's animal shelters, or to show 3D representations of how many young people live in Cologne.

OK Lab is sponsored by the Open Knowledge Foundation, which launched the network of OK Labs in 2014. Code for Germany provides OK Labs with the necessary infrastructure to network with each other. In addition, the program supports the local groups in communication with government, institutions and the public. Decision-makers and administrations are also involved in the processes.

In this respect, the organisers of the Hackathon were grateful to have found this group interested in establishing the participative approach of GrowSmarter permanently. The event itself was divided into two sub-events: the actual sensors were built at the beginning of the one-week festival as part of an embedded hardware meetup and were distributed during this workshop. First, the functional principles of the sensors were shown and explained. There were demonstrations about what happens with the collected data and how it can be examined and further processed, e.g. to correlate with other data or create visualisations.

Participants could take sensors home, install them, and thus support Open Air Cologne with their own data. The second part of the Hackathon focused on the actual development of applications and the optimisations around the sensors themselves, including measurement accuracy, design of housing, etc. The discussions went until late in the evening with the participants working enthusiastically. For the first time, interested people will be part of the data collection and, in addition to the hardware and software engineering of environmental sensors, will also learn about the background and technical know-how on topics related to environmental measurements.

Where does it go from here?

Additional information will be found on following websites: http://openair.codingcologne.de/

The entire codebase will be available on: https://github.com/openaircgn

Action area 3: Sustainable Urban Mobility

To see all the measures to be implemented, click here.

Progress in CarSharing for sustainable urban mobility

The expansion of the mobility points in the Mülheim district is proceeding rapidly. Last year, four new Cambio CarSharing stations were opened. Two of them, REGENTEN and VON-SPARR, have already been equipped with charging stations from RheinEnergie (so-called Tank-E) and electric cars.

All new stations are within walking distance to public transport nodes. This is important in order to complement and connect different forms of mobility in the area. The station Bahnhof Mülheim is connected to tram, suburban train and regional transport. At the station Deutz, next to the station Auenweg at Charles-de-Gaulle-Platz, there is also a connection to the long-distance transportation. In the entire city area of Mülheim there will also be the possibility to use KVB´s bicycles, completing the service offer.

A total of 31 vehicles - including 4 electric ones - are now available to residents of the Mülheim area at different seven stations. Due to the variety of vehicles - in addition to the e-vehicles and small cars, there is also a truck, van or transporter – there are specific vehicles for many different requirements.

The GrowSmarter mobility points are not yet equipped with electric cars, but will also be equipped with Tank-Es and Renault Zoes in the following weeks. With a range of almost 120 km, the Renault Zoe is not just for going shopping in the city. Despite the compact size, it offers enough space for four people. Also the trunk has significant storage space. The Zoes are charged with green electricity. Thus the people of the Mülheim area can make a trip to the countryside without producing particulate pollution.

In addition to the seven existing stations, the station network in the district of Mülheim is to be further consolidated this year. Currently, two new stations are planned for 2017. The aim is to imlpement a comprehensive car-sharing service in Mülheim.

Presentation of GrowSmarter at 3rd World Internet Conference in Wuzhen/Shanghai

In September 2016 a delegation consisting of mayors of large towns, employees of market-leading enterprises and representatives of the company CETC visited the city of Cologne. The delegation was led by Dr. Wanje Chen from Graz, a follower city in GrowSmarter.

The representatives were informed about the aims and management of the smart city projects in Cologne. During a study tour in Stegerwald settlement the GrowSmarter project was presented. The integrated approach in the areas of energy, mobility and information technology impressed the delegation very much, and the city of Cologne was invited to participate at 3rdWorld Internet Conference in Wuzhen /Shanghai. This conference is attended by participants from all over the world.

The representative of the city of Cologne answered questions about smart city projects and GrowSmarter specifically to an audience of about 800. Particular attention was paid at the way of information and participation of the affected citizens during the entire process. The majors were highly interested in the implementation of innovative measures.

The exchange across the borders of continents has brought new knowledge and ideas to all sides, and should be continued.

District talk in Mülheim - Citizen participation in the GrowSmarter

On 15 December 2016, Mayor Reker invited the citizens of Mülheim to express their concerns and questions related to GrowSmarter. All the construction measures in Stegerwaldsiedlung as well as the plans for the mobile stations in the urban area Mülheim were presented. More than 600 suggestions and questions were collected from the participants, and Mrs. Reker assured that the questions would be answered within 14 days. A film was also shown to present the GrowSmarter measures and directly address tenants' concerns. The dialogue process is to be continued in summer 2017 with an event in Stegerwaldsiedlung.

GrowSmarter is a complex project in which many solutions are linked to each other and both planning and implementation must happen in an integrated manner. This is very evident in Valla Torg, where the tenants must first vacate the buildings before the smart solutions can be implemented in and around the buildings. As this process didn’t start as planned in February 2016, but rather in August, we are now in a very hectic implementation phase where everything happens at the same time, as we still need to keep the original timetable. In this blog I will explain in more detail everything that will happen in the next few months to come.

Action area 1: Low-Energy Districts

What is happening in Valla Torg, Årsta and the Slakthus area buildings?

To see all the measures to be implemented, click here.

For those of you who didn’t have a chance to read my previous blog posts, the smart solutions for low energy districts will be rolled out in three building zones, namely Valla Torg, Årsta and the Slakthus area (see map here). For an overview of the measures being implemented, click here. In Valla Torg tenants began leaving the buildings in August and the first high-story building has scaffolding (pictured). Work on the façade will start in October. The walls will receive more insulation and new energy-efficient windows will be installed by Skanska. The interior work will also start at the same time. Old pipelines will be removed and new insulated pipelines will be installed. All these measures are part of the energy efficient climate shell (solution 1).

In the private condominia Brf Årstakrönet, the refurbishments (solution 1) and (solution 3) started in January 2016 with the installation of an adaptive control system by Veolia. Veolia will also install photovoltaics (solution 4) on the roofs upon receiving the building permit. The same solutions will also be implemented in the Valla Torg and Slakthus area buildings during later stages of refurbishment.

The real estate administration office (Fastighetskontoret) has made a procurement of a building contractor for Slakthusarea, but the decision has been appealed. As soon as the court has given its decision the work can continue.

Action area 2: Integrated infrastructures

To see all the measures to be implemented, click here.

Installing smart LED-lighting

The installation of smart LED-street lights (solution 5) was finalised in June in Valla Torg. The adaptive LED-lighting will reduce energy consumption by 50% while still providing the same sense of security along walking and bicycling paths. Each street light features a radar detector that senses movement on the path (Picture). As soon as any movement is detected, the light is activated and the movement is communicated wirelessly by radio to a number of nearby street lights. As a result, cyclists and pedestrians experience normal illumination levels along their entire route. In Stockholm the lights are not fully turned off during periods without movement, but rather dimmed down and then activated to full light as soon a person approaches.

Waste heat recovery

Fortum’s open district heating (solution 6) will be implemented in two locations. Waste heat from Data Centres in Västberga and waste heat from Supermarkets in Farsta (some 5km South of the Slakthus area) will be integrated into the district heating systems. The agreements have been signed and the installations will begin in October-November. When operational, the waste heat collected will be distributed into the district heating system and provide heat and hot water to more than 1,000 apartments.

A smart connected city

In Stockholm the smart connected city will use the extensive fibre optic network provided and administered by Stokab, a company owned by Stockholm City Council. Several Internet of Things applications and solutions can be built on top of the fibre optic network. Together with different departments and city owned companies, we are defining ways to provide higher quality of life for citizens with smart connected solutions in a series of workshops. We will start the process with defining the users’ needs. We have defined three groups of users: inhabitants, visitors and companies. In the Slakthus area we are focussing on visitors and companies, while in Valla Torg the focus is on inhabitants. In my last blog I addressed some of the activities in the Slakthus area, so in this blog I will cover how apartments with simple installations can provide many new functions.

In residential houses, as the tenants change over time, we should install equipment which can be used by several end users and for several purposes. Let’s say we install a movement sensor and water meters in every apartment. If the inhabitant is old, maybe the relatives would like to have a way to monitor her well-being. For example, a simple alarm function could be built and an automatic message sent to relatives when the motion sensor senses the person is inside the apartment, but has not used water for 12 hours. We can also collect water use data and the housing company could, for instance, detect leakages when water is being used and no one is home. If we realise that people use water in different ways, from very little to very intensively, we can create individual water billing so that everyone only pays for the water they use.

IBM, who are responsible for the open consolidated big data platform (solution 8), are involved in two parts of the project: “Sensing City Scale people movement” and “Movement of Pedestrians/Bicyclists”.

In “Sensing City Scale people movement” IBM planned to analyze mobile phone data and create heat maps to show how people move in the city over time. This analysis was to be matched against other data such as public transport capacity, traffic measurements, weather, etc. to see how well the different transportation modes and capacities are optimised in the city. The project team, platform for data management, analysis tools and method are all in place. A subcontractor was identified and final negotiations for delivery of Telco data were in progress at the beginning of 2016, with the project start scheduled for 1 February 2016.

But an unexpected issue arose. Based on a thorough legal assessment of the current Swedish Personal Data Legislation (PUL) and the EU General Data Protection Legislation (EU GDPL), the subcontracted Telco cannot provide the requested mobile telephone data for citizens of Stockholm in a way that would make it useful to the use case defined by IBM Research Dublin Lab. The only legally approved way for getting access to mobile phone trajectory data is to ask the citizens to voluntarily participate in the project and thus explicitly give consent for the project to track the movements of their mobile phones over time.

The merits, challenges and feasibility of this alternative approach will be assessed by the City of Stockholm and IBM, and a decision on whether to attempt this approach - by consent will be made in 3Q 2016.

In “Movement of Pedestrians/Bicyclists” IBM will measure and study in detail especially how pedestrians move in the city. A prototype user interface environment has been developed in the Bluemix platform. Sample data sets from relevant data sources have been uploaded into the Bluemix environment and made available for the users, including vehicle traffic measurement data, bicycle traffic measurement data, bicycle accident data, and weather data for specific locations in the city. End user functions and graphical visualization tools have been developed, e.g. new work project definition, traffic data selection, report generation, and graphical data visualization.

A plan for implementing new sensor data sources in Aug/Sept 2016 has been agreed upon with the Traffic Administration. This will consist of 7 video sensors in the city infrastructure connected through the city fiber optic network to the Bluemix platform. Data from these sensors will be uploaded into the traffic planner user environment in Bluemix. These sensors will be able to measure the flow, volume and direction of pedestrians, cyclists and vehicles in the selected city areas covered.

Smart waste handling

The underground parts of the smart waste handling system (solution 7) provided by Envac will be implemented in October and November (pictures). The terminal and inlets will be implemented during the beginning of 2017. The waste is compacted right below the waste inlet in the storage pipe instead of upon arrival to the waste terminal. The compacted waste allows for smaller pipes and a reduction of the airflow by as much as 50%. These factors together result in a reduction of energy consumption up to 50%. The solution will consume less energy per tonne of collected waste than any other comparable traditional waste collection, including ordinary waste collection vehicles.

Action area 3: Sustainable Urban Mobility

To see all the measures to be implemented, click here.

Building logistics centre and delivery boxes

The building logistics center (solution 2) and delivery boxes (solution 9) will be implemented by Carrier starting in October and November. The location of the buildings logistics centre has changed and will now be in Slakthus area. Carrier has together with Skanska discussed which material streams can be best handled by the logistics centre. The construction logistics are part of the production process, so the better production is planned and organised, the easier it is to provide just-in-time deliveries of materials to construction sites. Typically the materials are delivered outside work hours (after 5pm) so that they are available the next morning at the construction site. There are several benefits of the construction logistics centre. First, there are fewer materials wasted and damaged at the construction site, along with less traffic to and from the construction site. The construction site can also be kept clean, as the packaging waste is regularly removed. What’s more, production is enhanced as materials needed for work are constantly available and it is always clear where the materials are and how much is in stock.

Delivery boxes (pictured) are installed in the entrance of the refurbished buildings in Valla Torg next to the post-boxes. Tenants can order packages and other deliveries straight to their homes instead of retrieving them from the nearest service point. The delivery from the service point to the building is done by cargo bikes.

Smart Traffic Management

Insero, together with NOAE (Network of Automotive Excellence) and Global car OEM, is implementing an information system for drivers (solution 10). In Stockholm around ten traffic lights will be equipped with software that can communicate and inform users about the status of the light and when it is about to change. This is achieved through a data connection between the traffic light, the cars’ onboard software and GPS, and a central computer handling the calculations. Through a special device in the car, the driver will receive information on what speed to adopt in order to reach a green light at the next intersection. This information tool will be tested in two cars for a few months’ time. Effects on travel time and the drivers’ experiences will be evaluated.

Alternative fuel driven vehicles

As part of the GrowSmarter project, Fortum has planned to install up to 10 charging stations and one fast charger (solution 11). The fast charger will soon be installed in Årsta. The location has been selected and the charger has already been delivered. The normal charging stations will be installed in Valla Torg, the Slakthus area and Årsta.

The first refuelling station (solution 11) is up and running (picture). The filling station in Årsta is expected to be established in the beginning of 2017.

Citizen engagement

A citizen engagement event was organised in Valla Torg in September. The event was very successful with around 500 visitors and positive feedback. The event was also the launch of the refurbishment in Valla Torg, and the audience had the opportunity to get information both on the GrowSmarter project and the different smart solutions from our partners, and to visit the exhibition apartments.

Mika Hakosalo

Site Manager, Stockholm

I am happy to share with you that Cologne has been recognized with an award for its participation in GrowSmarter by the Federal Ministry for Economic Affairs and Energy! Projects all over Germany related to intelligent networks were reviewed, and Cologne won in the category “cross-sectoral”. More information can be found in this article (in German)

Action area 1: Low energy districts

Citizen involvement: the Stegerwald Settlement

To see all the measures to be implemented, click here.

At the Stegerwald Settlement in Cologne, the first construction phase is underway and the second phase of construction started in May 2016. The planning and tendering process for the different local energy productions is mainly completed.

With photovoltaic modules installed on the roofs of the first four buildings, our progress is becoming more and more visible!

Smart Solution 1 Energy efficient refurbishment of the building

As you can see on the map the scaffolding is now progressing and the construction of the next buildings is coming closer.

DEWOG has started the refurbishment and is currently insulating the buildings, basement ceiling, and roofs as well as installing triple glazed windows in some of the buildings. The façades will be reinforced with an additional 10cm of insulation on the gable side, adding to the existing 6cm insulation. Houses which are not yet insulated are being provided with 16cm of insulation. Also the buildings in the Deutz-Mülheimer Street (which are in the second construction phase) will be insulated with 16cm after dismantling the existing 6cm. The insulation keeps the temperature of the buildings more consistent, whether during warm or cold temperatures. By doing so, we can significantly reduce the primary energy consumption for heating and cooling.

The old self-contained central heating has been replaced with central heating in two buildings. The two other buildings in the first construction phase will be completed soon. The installation of new energy efficient elevators is also underway. Furthermore, the stairway lighting in all renovated buildings will be replaced with efficient LED lighting.

DEWOG will install modern, electrically powered heat pumps with high efficiency which will be powered by the PV-modules of RheinEnergie. Soon RheinEnergie will also add electric storage. The combination of these components will reduce the consumption of primary energy in the Stegerwald Settlement significantly.

Until the modern heating components are finished, the tenants of the settlement must be provided with temporary heating stations. To this end, RheinEnergie has deployed three heating stations (two rented and one mobile RheinEnergie heating station) presently in use. We expect to complete the installation of the new heating components in October, just in time for the winter.

Smart Solutions 3 and 5: Smart Home System and Smart Meter analysis and actuators

With the SmartHome application of RheinEnergie in combination with SmartMeter of AGT International, the tenants are able to track the current energy consumption of connected devices. As a result tenants are able to recognize devices which consume large amounts of energy and should get a better general overview about their consumption of electricity. This could motivate them to replace their electrical equipment, or parts thereof, with energy-saving devices.

AGT International and RheinEnergie are currently working on a joint venture to combine both systems into one. Since the Federal Government is currently deciding about the necessary IT-security (potentially to conclude by the end of 2016), the rollout of smart meters may begin mid-2017.

The SmartHome system was shown and explained to the tenants at an event in the Stegerwald Settlement in November 2015. Another event is planned for November 2016, where SmartHome will be presented to the tenants again.

In order to display the functions of the system, DEWOG in cooperation with RheinEnergie and AGT International is installing the Smart Energy Solution (hardware and software) in the Stegerwald Café.

Smart Solution 4: Virtual power plant – “Siedlungsmanagement”

Virtual power plants for holistic settlement management have so far only been carried out as research projects. The RheinEnergie „Siedlungsmanagement” software leads to an autonomous self-sustaining development for communities. This would partially replace the supra-regional grid expansion as well as the construction of new conventional power plants. In addition, it provides the residents with the opportunity to influence their own energy consumption. The “Siedlungsmanagement” is a tool that is designed to be replicated in other city or town.

Based on the data provided by smart meters and smart home appliances, RheinEnergie is better able to offer attractive tariffs (“Mieterstrom”) and useful services to the tenants.

The holistic interaction of all components, such as power generation, storage, SmartHome, Smart Meter and consumption, will lead to a change in energy awareness as well as a social sense of community within the settlement.

Smart Solution 11: Developing charging infrastructure

The City of Cologne, together with 12 partners, is working on a project called "colognE-mobil". This is one of the largest field tests as part of a program called “model regions for electro-mobility” launched by the German government. The charging infrastructure for GrowSmarter will be implemented together with the e-mobility.

The city government has now approved the mobility-stations, so RheinEnergie is able to start installing the charging infrastructure. That hasn’t been an easy task!

Lots of planning was required, including coordination with all affected city departments, transportation agencies, as well as with North Rhine-Westphalian legislation. RheinEnergie will install approximately 15 charging stations in the project area Mülheim.

To promote the GrowSmarter project, we use opportunities like street festivals that are very popular in the summer months. One such festival, with a rich history of tradition, took place in Deutz, neighbourhood neighbouring district to the Stegerwald settlement and the location of one of the mobility stations at the Charles-de-Gaulle Square. With our partners KVB and cambio CarSharing we informed citizens about the trend-setting solutions in traffic, energy, and communication technology that we are launching within GrowSmarter. While discussing how to steer traffic flows and fulfil climate protection goals, many of the citizens decided to reduce their private car usage and signed up for carsharing and bike rentals. An important factor in this decision is the central location and the wide range of mobility options at the mobility stations.

This demonstrates the importance of good promotion for GrowSmarter!

Action area 2: Integrated Infrastructure

Cracking open data - stimulating local entrepreneurs & traffic management

To see all the measures to be implemented, click here.

In our last blog we told you about our partner KVB, who provided their locations for the rental bikes as well as the actual position of each rental bike. A member of the open data community has now used this data to develop an application: https://tom.cologne.codefor.de/kvbrad/

The application is not yet finished – at the moment it only works properly in Google Chrome - but it is a very good example of how open data can be used to encourage innovation. We are very encouraged to gather and provide more data!

Action area 1: Low-Energy Districts

Passive refurbishment in the residential sector by Barcelona Municipality

One of the refurbishment measures implemented by the Municipality of Barcelona within the scope of the GrowSmarter project is being carried out in the residential building of Passeig Santa Coloma 55-71. This building is composed of 207 dwellings with a total surface of 14,165m2, which will benefit from retrofitting to improve energy efficiency and comfort.

The work will include the passive refurbishment of the entire building façade. This refurbishment involves the addition of external insulation on the North, East and West façades, as well as in the South façades that are not protected by a terrace, together with treatment of thermal bridges. Both EPS and wool insulation will be used, the former being applied on ventilated façades and the latter on the rest of façades. Insulation on each façade has been optimized in order to protect indoor spaces from weather conditions depending on the orientation and irradiation received. The benefits of passive refurbishment will be assessed by means of thermal imaging before and after the refurbishment.

This insulation technique is expected to lead to a reduction of the heating demand of the dwellings by approximately 43% due to the improved airtightness. The blinds of all the windows in the building will also be upgraded.

According to the calculations on energy savings prior to the refurbishment, the baseline total primary energy consumption of the building is 100.88 kWh/m2, while the same figure for the refurbished building is expected to be 53.36 kWh/m2. The fuel for space heating in this residential building is natural gas, so any reduction in space heating demand directly leads to a reduction in greenhouse gas emissions.

The benefits for the tenants will not only be the impact in their heating energy bills, but also improved comfort and other quality aspects of the building, such as noise and humidity insulation.

In order to monitor the impact of the refurbishment on the building’s energy consumption, 4 of the dwellings will be monitored to collect data from electricity and natural gas consumption of the apartments once the façade retrofitting is completed. In addition, the Municipality of Barcelona has also implemented a monitoring system for the existing 13 domestic hot water installations fed by a solar thermal system on the rooftop of the building. Finally, the assessment of comfort conditions will also be carried out in several dwellings by measuring the indoor temperatures, humidity and CO2 concentrations. This experimental assessment will be carried out by means of a survey to the tenants.

All the refurbishments in the residential building of Passeig Santa Coloma 55-71 are being promoted by the public body responsible for social housing in Barcelona, Patronat Municipal de l’Habitatge de Barcelona - PMHB.

Action area 2: Integrated infrastructures

To see all the measures to be implemented, click here.

Using semantic data integration to process city data

Cities and their citizens are producers of large amounts of diverse data. Diversity of many data sources is in fact one of the biggest issues in big data processing. Semantic data integration offers unique advantages as opposed to more traditional approaches, such as ETL (Extract, Transfer, Load), which create bottlenecks for data access and doesn´t scale as well as technologies that consume data directly without moving it around. It´s worth mentioning that semantic technologies and linked data are not a competitor for the role that databases play; they complement database technology to allow ad-hoc exploration and the integration of semi-structured and unstructured data (temporal, spatial, network, etc) that can be sparse and can hide implicit information. They model an open world in which data and metadata can evolve naturally and new implicit relationships may be discovered based on explicitly defined relations and constraints. Semantic technologies are about capturing variable, dynamic, linked schemas, regardless of where or how the actual data is stored.

Integrating Barcelona’s data sources

Barcelona´s big data integration solution is based on such a semantic approach. The idea is to provide a modelling layer (8.2) that reflects the concepts and relationships for the domains addressed in the GrowSmarter project (energy, mobility, and integrated structures), and to access the data instances through this model rather than directly. This makes it easier to integrate further data, as well as to explore and query it without having to understand what the real structure of the database is. It is also a powerful tool for quick data integration and access, which could be useful when porting it to a new city with different data.

A number of components must be in place to successfully deliver on this promise, as shown in the figure below:

The user should have access to the ontology exploration and query tool that enables him to find concepts of interest in the model via a local search starting from anchor entities identified by the tool. In addition, the user must be able to intuitively construct queries without having to learn the query language (SPARQL). In our implementation, queries are constructed visually and are translated into calls to the GrowSmarter Data Platform (Semantic Layer in 8.2). This process relies on the crucial step of retrieving the mappings between the data storage schema and the ontology concepts (8.3). It is a semi-automatic collaborative tool in which the domain experts must select from the recommended mapping those that best reflect reality. Once the API calls return results, these will be combined into a unique result and returned to the user or the application that formulated the semantic query.

We have finished the development of the energy ontology starting from the T.U. Wien ERO ontology and adjusting it in close collaboration with our energy domain experts, IREC (Barcelona). We are in the process of developing the mobility (and contamination) ontology. We have implemented the mapping tool based on LogMap from Oxford University, and we are in the process of hooking it up to a tool that facilitates visualizing the recommended mappings. The last implementation step will involve connecting the semantic queries to the GrowSmarter Data Platform and computing and displaying the final results on the city map.

Transferring results to other cities

The intention is to make this approach available to applications that work with data from the City of Barcelona, and to then select a subset of them - in collaboration with our partners from Köln and Stockholm - that could be ported to work with data from these cities. This can be a first step in demonstrating the viability and advantages of a semantic approach, and of our toolset, for data integration and seamless application access to different sets of city data.

What is a demonstration site, if there is nothing to demonstrate? Why does it take so long to get things implemented? Isn’t the technology already there?

These are important questions for a Site Manager to handle and find answers for.

Now that many of the GrowSmarter smart solutions are entering the implementation phase, I will shortly summarise the experiences from the preparation and planning phase.

I will also give an update on the implementation status of the smart solutions and how they are being rolled out.

Action area 1: Low-Energy Districts

Preparation and planning; what have we learnt?

In Stockholm a range of smart solutions for low energy districts, as described in my previous blog post, will be rolled out in three building zones: Valla Torg, Årsta and the Slakthus area (see map).

To see all the measures to be implemented, click here.

Preparation to implement our numerous energy efficient measures started quite some time ago, even before our GrowSmarter application was submitted back in May 2014.

One key issue was to decide the baseline; what can be done in older buildings and how much energy could each measure potentially save? For this purpose a consultancy firm was appointed; they helped us to assess and identify which measures would be most suitable. This gave us a good starting point for implementation, however the order in which they would be implemented, had to wait until we had our refurbishment plan in place.

Our refurbishment plan not only needed to detail construction costs and time and but also address simple questions like: Does the smart solution need electricity, data connection, wireless data transmission possibilities? As such, several meetings bringing together construction planners and industrial partners were held starting from March 2015 to February 2016. This extensive preparation and planning work was vital to ensuring that all the necessary specifications were included, to be sure that everything will work the way that it should.

Key learning: is to include smart solutions within the general planning process and to avoid implementation becoming separate to the actual construction process. This is the approach we have taken in GrowSmarter, so when an electrician or plumber is doing his/her work, (s)he is also implementing GrowSmarter solutions.

Implementation: efficient & smart climate shell refurbishment

Valla Torg (building zone #1): we are about to start with the energy efficiencies and solution 1 (smart climate shell refurbishment) of the residential building in Valla Torg together with Skanska. More update on this in my next blog!

Årsta (building zone #2): In the private condominium Brf Årstakrönet the activities solution 1 (Efficient and smart climate shell refurbishment) and solution 3 (Smart energy-saving tenants) started in January 2016. Veolia has installed a temperature sensor in every apartment, which logs information about indoor temperature levels. The target is to stabilise indoor temperature as far as possible, by controlling and steering heat into the building. In the diagram below, you can see information collected from the building to be able to optimise its energy use.

Building temperature levels © Stockholm

The yellow line indicates the indoor temperature and the blue line the outdoor temperature. Traditional temperature regulation is based on outdoor temperature which means that it sends hot water (indicated with the purple line) at night into the building regardless of the need. By controlling both indoor- and outdoor temperature, you can postpone the need for hot water, and lower heating costs.

Veolia has also started preparations to install solution 4 (photovoltaics) on the roofs of the building together with a new innovation developed in Sweden called the Energy Hub. The energy hub controls energy flows between solar cells, energy storage (battery), local loads and the grid. Veolia will also implement a module called Adaptive Current Equalisation (ACE). The ACE technology continuously monitors the grid currents. If one of the three phase currents exceeds a pre-set threshold, available energy from the other two phase conductors are used instead. This prevents overloading of mains fuses and can even allow the supply capacity to be reduced and hence the associated grid fees.

Slakthus (building area #3): Refurbishment of the Slakthus area buildings will start in May/June.

The picture below is from a study visit where Royne Julin from the Stockholm City Real Estate Administration is presenting the refurbishment and energy efficiency measures in the buildings for an international group of visitors.

Action area 2: Integrated infrastructures

Smart street lights and supermarkets sustainable energy use

To see all the measures to be implemented, click here.

Installing smart LED-lighting

In April this year, we started with the installation of solution 5 (smart LED street lights) which will be finalised by the summer in Valla Torg.

The LED street lights, 25 Luminaires installed by the Stockholm City traffic Department will be an opportunity to showcase the benefits of open standards in enabling interoperability within intelligent lighting systems.

Using integrated light controllers and associated software, the Luminaries will be connected to outdoor Wi-Fi networks (via the radio frequency (RF) mesh network) and run by an automation system (Power-lin communications (PLC) networks) to reduce energy usage, operational costs and improve safety.

The potential exists to expand the RF mesh network to connect other city devices such as traffic lights, meters and different sensors. This possibility will be explored in more detail as part of the measure traffic posts as base of sensors.

In the picture above, Anders Hedlund from the City of Stockholm’s Traffic Administration is presenting smart LED lighting solution to an international group of visitors participating in the Eureka Innovation week in Stockholm. The building in the background is one of the buildings to be refurbished in Valla Torg.

Waste Heat recovery

Fortum’s open district heating (solution 6) will be implemented in two locations:

• In Västberga, waste heat from data centres will be captured and distributed via the district heating system

• in Farsta waste heat from supermarkets (some 5km south of the Slakthus area) will be used. As soon as agreements are signed, implementation will start.

Here Mr Hedman, from Fortum is presenting the open district heating solution. More information about this solution can be found here.

Big data management

In March, IBM, which is responsible for the open consolidated big data platform (solution 8), has conducted a Design Thinking workshop with the city’s traffic department to define which users to focus on and which problems to address.

Work continues with Stockholm’s Traffic Department and STOKAB/St Erik Communication to demonstrate the open data analysis and innovation platform to connect IOT devices, existing traffic data sources, as well as, assessing the need for new potential sensors e.g. video sensors.

Action area 3: Sustainable Urban Mobility

A grand opening...!

To see all the measures to be implemented, click here.

The delivery boxes (solution 9) will be installed alongside the refurbishment in Valla Torg.

A survey of travel behaviour (solution 10) in Valla Torg has been done. The next step is to study two other locations in Stockholm and analyse reference groups.

As part of the GrowSmarter project, Fortum will install 10 charging stations and one fast charger (see image left - ©Stockholm)(solution 11). The fast charger will be put up in Årsta. The other charging stations will be put up in BRF Årstakrönet, Slakthus area and Valla Torg. The implementation has started.

Contracts for the first two refuelling stations (solution 11) have been signed and the third is on its way. The filling station in Årsta is shown in the picture.

Study visits in new information centres

Information centres in Valla Torg and Slakthus area for citizens and other interested visitors are now open!

The grand opening was held in 28 April when a study visit was organised for an international audience from Asia, Europe and North America.

A second study visit took place on 19 May with visitors from the different departments of the City of Stockholm.

The picture (Information centre ©Stockholm)is taken from the information centre in Valla Torg.

Mika Hakosalo

Site Manager, Stockholm

For the previous blog post, click here

Find out how we are working with our industry partners to build up a route of several mobility points from Messe-Deutz station North through the Stegerwaldsiedlung and the wider Mülheim district.

Our data platform continues to be developed and has already stimulated local entrepreneurs to create some 25 Apps.

Action area 2: Integrated infrastructures

Cracking open data - stimulating local entrepreneurs & traffic management

To see all the measures to be implemented, click here.

Those of you who have read my previous blogs will know that as part of the GrowSmarter project we are developing the City of Cologne’s open data platform www.offenedaten-koeln.de to include new datasets to help improve traffic management.

Cambio carsharing and KVB (both GrowSmarter industry partners) have now provided datasets on the locations of the rental cars/ rental bikes, respectively as well as their actual positions when in use, so we have both static and dynamic data now available for these services.

• Car rental (cambio car-sharing) dataset, can be accessed here: www.offenedaten-koeln.de/dataset/og_group_ref/1613

• Bike rental (KVB) dataset, can be accessed here: www.offenedaten-koeln.de/dataset/og_group_ref/1314

Photos: Bike-sharing ©Cambio Köln

Our partner [ui!] – the urban institute is now busy implementing these datasets into the cockpit of the open data platform.

Some 25 Apps have already been developed based on the Cologne open data platform which shows a wide range of different use cases and we hope that by adding richer datasets will open up new value chains that spawn innovative and smart solutions which in turn boost sustainable modes of city living and working.

So now we made the first step in motivating the people to change their behaviour. It’s so easy to check for the next cambio station or the next bike to use!

Curious how it works? Check at www.cambio-carsharing.de/koeln and www.kvb-rad.de/de/koeln/ about the terms and conditions.

Action area 3: Sustainable Urban Mobility

Urban planning of mobility hubs – when do public and private interests overlap?

To see all the measures to be implemented, click here.

In our first blog we mentioned our plans to develop mobility hubs at strategic points throughout the Mülheim area and the Stegerwaldsiedlung (no 2 on the map), where intensive building refurbishment is taking place as part of the GrowSmarter project. It has taken a bit of time, but now we have some new updates to share!

General overview

As the Stegerwaldsiedlung, directly borders Urban district 1: downtown (high traffic levels), we have built up a route of several mobility points which run from Messe-Deutz station (see green circle on map) directing traffic North through the Stegerwaldsiedlung and the wider Mülheim district. Urban mobility measures (smart solutions 10-12: Smart traffic management, Alternative fuel driven vehicles and Smart mobility solutions) to be rolled out in areas 1-3 on the map are described in brief below. More detailed information on the planning can be found here

Übersichtsplan ©Stadt Köln

Charles-de-Gaulle-Square

Located to the North of Messe-Deutz station, the Charles-de-Gaulle Square lies between Auenweg and the river Rhine and is well connected with trams, regional trains, as well as, the high-speed ICE trains for long-distance travel.

Parking lots currently for cars (bikes to follow) to the East of this square are currently rented out privately, while those to the West are managed by the City. The latter is classified as fiscal property, which is not under public law, and provides enough space for all modules of mobility hubs.

Our GrowSmarter partners in Cologne, Cambio and Ampido submitted applications with the City administration at the beginning of the year to manage some of these parking lots. These applications have been accepted subject to conditions, mainly related to design elements.

Ampido will manage five parking lots using the online management of parking space. Cambio requested five lots, two for electric vehicles and three for conventional vehicles. It is also envisaged that KVB will set up a public electric charging station for two electric vehicles.

KVB AG will install a bike rental station in the immediate vicinity of the station providing both electric and pedal bicycles. The exact location has yet to be determined.

Charles-de-Gaulle-Square ©Stadt Köln

Stegerwaldsiedlung

Moving over to the Stegerwaldsiedlung, the mobility hubs here will be built on property owned by GrowSmarter partner DEWOG, which is also closely located to Cologne’s public transport system; station stop Stegerwaldsiedlung offers connections straight into the city centre.

Arrangements to accommodate all of the proposed mobility solutions within this hub will be managed by DEWOG and the other partners. Preliminary consent for this process has been signed by DEWOG.

As large-scale retrofitting of the buildings in Stegerwaldsiedlung are underway to improve energy efficiency, as such the outside area is partly needed for the building site. Therefore, implementation depends on the progress of these renovation activities.

Current plans are shown below with the exact allocation of the industrial partners has yet to be determined.

Stegerwaldsiedlung © DEWOG

The Köln-Mülheim station forecourt

Recently refurbished as part of the Mülheim 2020 project, the forecourt of the Köln-Mülheim station sees many passengers pass through every day on their way to and from the city either by bus or the city light rail network, provided by KVB. The station is a connecting point for commuter trains coming from outside the city and regional trains.

This area forecourt belongs to the Deutsche Bahn (DB) and is currently managed by a DB AG subsidiary, car-charing company Flinkster.

Based on the licensing agreement concluded between Deutsche Bahn AG and the city of Cologne, DB AG has agreed to provide Ampido and Cambio with the use of two parking lots each. The exact allocation has still to be agreed upon with DB AG.

Köln-Mülheim station forecourt ©Stadt Köln

Barbara Moehlendick

Site Manager, Cologne

For the previous blog post, click here

With our taxi tracking app solution we hope to help manage the taxi distribution in Barcelona by guiding taxi drivers to head to empty stands waiting for a service, or to those which have the highest demands to pick-up clients.

Find out how we are planning on developing this app and when the trials begin!

Action area 3: Sustainable Urban Mobility

Smart taxi management in Barcelona

To see all the measures to be implemented, click here.

Over the last few months Cenit, Cellnex and the city council have worked together to identify the taxi stands that will host in this measure.

We have been also in contact with the taxi institute of Barcelona (IMET) which is the public organisation that regulates this sector in the city. Three taxi stands were selected –shown adjacent- based on the requirements of IMET and the specifications set out by Cellnex e.g. network coverage in order to ensure good communications.

The idea is to develop a tracking app solution consists of the monitoring these taxi ranks in order to provide valuable information for both taxi drivers and users of their services. Through the installation of parking sensors in the taxi stands and its connection to the GrowSmarter platform it will be possible to develop an app to inform of the availability of taxis in real time.

This will enable taxi drivers to head to empty stands waiting for a service, or to those which have the highest demands to pick-up clients. The information provided will be very valuable and the measure will evaluate if a full roll-out to the city is feasible. From the client point of view, the information displayed will also be useful as they would have the option of heading to the stands with the higher number of taxis and increase the probability of taking one.

The city council has already contacted several technology providers to start the procurement process. Meanwhile Cenit and Cellnex have been discussing how the information will be provided to start creating the app that will display the information. The installation and the trial period is expected take place during the last trimester of the year to start full operations in early 2017.

Joan Blanco

Site Manager, Barcelona

For the previous issue, click here

The city of Stockholm has defined a vision to become the smartest city in the world by 2040. In January 2016, the Smart City strategy work started with representatives from several departments. Furthermore 100 Mkr (10 M€) has been set aside for 2016 as a specific budget for making the city smarter and investing in the Internet of Things, Open Big Data and digitalisation of city functions as well as city environments.

For GrowSmarter this is very important, as the actions in the project can be closely linked with the vision and strategy and results from the project, which, if successful, can be scaled-up in the city with the defined budget.

Action area 1: Low-Energy Districts

What’s going on in Valla Torg, Årsta and the Slakthus area buildings?

To see all the measures to be implemented, click here.

For those of you who didn’t have a chance to read my previous blog post, the smart solutions for low energy districts will be rolled out in three building zones, namely Valla Torg, Årsta and the Slakthus area (see map here). Now for an update on where we are with things currently.

All the preparation and planning for the refurbishment of the residential building in Valla Torg is finally done! The first stage of the efficient and smart climate shell refurbishment (solution 1) will start in March together with Skanska. This includes work such as insulating basements, installing new sub-centers required for adaptive control systems, installing new district heating pipelines to substitute old pipelines with high heat losses.

In the private condominia BRF Årstakrönet the project has started preparations for installation of adaptive control systems (solution 1) and indoor sensors (solution 3). This will be done during January-February 2016. Data from these applications will be transferred to the Veolia Hubgrade © - Energy Saving Centre a control- and optimisation centre. The same solutions will also be implemented in the Valla Torg and Slakthus area buildings during refurbishment.

Fastighetskontoret/Real estate administration office has produced principal documents for buildings in the Slakthus area. Next step is procurement of building contractor and producing production documents in cooperation with the contractor. Refurbishment of the Slakthus area buildings will start in April/May.

New information centre on the way

We are currently working with an exhibition venue in Valla Torg to put together an exhibit showing all the different smart solutions and their location in Valla Torg as well as status of implementation. We hope to be able to open this to the public in a few months time and we expect this space to serve as a natural starting point for study visits in the area. There will also be an exhibition room in the Slakthus area showing smart solutions for visitors.

Action area 2: Integrated infrastructures

Connecting up waste heat for reuse and maximising our fibre network

To see all the measures to be implemented, click here.

Integrated infrastructures, such as the open district heating system and extensive fibre networks, are an important part of making Stockholm a smart city. To achieve our City’s environmental goals, close cooperation between inhabitants, industry, the public sector and many other players is crucial. Environmental and information technology are both key priorities in developing a sustainable society.

Waste Heat recovery

Fortum’s open district heating (solution 6) will be implemented in two locations. In Hammarby Sjöstad, waste heat from data centres will be directed into the district heating system, while in in Farsta (some 5km South of the Slakthus area) waste heat from supermarkets will be used. As soon as agreements are signed, implementation will start.

A new and exciting development in the Slakthus area is the incorporation of the nearby Tele2-sports arena as an energy source for heating buildings. A pre-study found that there was enough waste heat from the sports arena to heat up two commercial buildings in the GrowSmarter project as well as other city-owned buildings in the neighbourhood.

© Fortum

Big data management

The extensive fibre network owned and developed by the City is something that makes Stockholm unique. Stockholm enjoys 100 % broadband coverage, both fixed and mobile. The fibre network in Stockholm is provided and administered by Stokab, a company owned by Stockholm City Council. In total, the network stretches the equivalent of more than 30 times around the earth. It is 1.25 million fibre kilometres long, 5,500 cable kilometres long and boasts 600 crossover connections (nodes) and more than 15,000 access points (ODF).

The goal of the City's fibre network efforts is to build a competition-neutral infrastructure capable of meeting future communication needs, spur economic activity, diversity and freedom of choice, as well as minimising disruption to the city’s streets.

• Read more on Stokab and the city's fibre network

• Watch the movie on the world's largest open fibre network

• Stockholm - The Connected City

As part of GrowSmarter, we are looking to use this extensive fibre network to do two things:

1. Connect up and enable a more strategic approach towards city functions such as lighting, parking, transports, building and street maintenance;

This will be tested using the two buildings in Slakthusarea. Between March and May 2016, we will organise several internal workshops with a number of city departments to identify the exact measures we could roll out within the scope of the project, with implementation scheduled to take place during autumn, and an official launch in 2017 when the buildings are made open to the public.

2. Link up the network with a Wi-Fi connection to collect data from sensors for better city planning.

Our partner IBM, which is responsible for the open consolidated big data platform (solution 8), had its first workshop with the city’s traffic department to define data sources and locations of sensors to gather data related to pedestrian and bicycle flows in the city. Together with mobile phone data the IBM Smart Cities Research lab in Dublin will analyse the flow of people in the city, which in turn will feed into our big data platform for use by city traffic planners. With this additional information at their fingertips, city planners will be better able to address different planning questions e.g. what is the ideal width of a sidewalk to enable good pedestrian flow, while at the same time projecting a leisurely feel to encourage people to stop and talk.

Installing smart LED-lighting

The installation of smart LED-street lights (solution 5) will start in March and be finalised in summer in Valla Torg. The adaptive LED-lighting will save 50% of energy, but still provide the same sense of security in walking and bicycling paths.

Action area 3: Sustainable Urban Mobility

Growth and snow put a slight brake on things

To see all the measures to be implemented, click here.

As part of the GrowSmarter project, we have planned to install a number of charging stations and refuelling stations all over the city.

Contracts for the first two refuelling stations(solution 11) have been signed and the third is on its way. City plans needed to be changed in some cases and building permits are required. These administrative issues took longer than expected due to the fact that Stockholm is growing fast and priority is given to new housing projects. The first filling station in Årsta is expected to be established in the end of 2016.

As part of the GrowSmarter project, Fortum has planned to install up to 10 charging stations and one fast charger (solution 11). The fast charger will soon to be put up in Årsta. The location has been selected and the charger has been delivered. Now it’s only has to be put up and connected. Lots of snow right now might delay this a few weeks…

Other mobility measures will start to be implemented during spring and summer or early autumn. I will return to these in my later blog up-dates. Meanwhile enjoy the video (adjacent), that the city has put together to give you an overview.

Mika Hakosalo

Site Manager, Stockholm

For the previous blog post, click here