scholarly journals E-City Web Platform: A Tool for Energy Efficiency at Urban Level

Energies ◽  
2018 ◽  
Vol 11 (7) ◽  
pp. 1857 ◽  
Author(s):  
Miguel Amado ◽  
Francesca Poggi ◽  
António Ribeiro Amado ◽  
Sílvia Breu
Keyword(s):  
Energy Consumption ◽  
Energy Balance ◽  
Solar Energy ◽  
Urban Areas ◽  
Energy Production ◽  
Spatial Scales ◽  
Zero Energy ◽  
Urban Level ◽  
The City ◽  
Web Platform

Cities, as main energy consumers, play a crucial role in achieving a more sustainable energy future. This means that there is an urgent need to transform the way of planning urban areas, focusing on more efficient and self-reliant energy production and consumption modes overall. In this framework, the aim of this study is to explore the Net-Zero energy balance between two spatial scales: the whole city with its diversified energy consumption patterns, and those urban blocks, neighborhoods, or industrial areas that can produce energy and supply it to other areas. This approach leads to the development of an energy zoning for the city, based on the geographical urban delimitation of solar energy exporters cells and the energy consuming ones. On the production side, cells are delimited according to their solar energy production potential. On the demand side, cells are delimited according to four specific criteria: construction timeline, population density, urban morphologies, and land-use patterns that permit the definition of a classification of urban areas, based on the different energy consumption levels. In this paper, the web platform “E-City”, a tool for planning energy balance at urban level is presented, by describing its practical application in the city of Oeiras, Portugal. The platform integrates itself with the existing municipal Geographic Information System, exploring both spatial and statistical dimensions associated with zoning and the overall energy network system. Results from the use of this tool are relevant for urban planning practices, formulation of policies, and management of public investment that can be guided to more energy efficient solutions and supporting the transition towards nearly zero-energy cities.

scholarly journals A new clustering and visualization method to evaluate urban energy planning scenarios

2018 ◽  
Author(s):  
Sara Torabi Moghadam ◽  
Silvia Coccolo ◽  
Guglielmina Mutani ◽  
Patrizia Lombardi ◽  
Jean Louis Scartezzini ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Energy Consumption ◽  
Urban Areas ◽  
Energy Demand ◽  
Planning Process ◽  
Energy Transition ◽  
Climatic Conditions ◽  
Energy Planning ◽  
Transition Strategies ◽  
Urban Energy ◽  
The City

The spatial visualization is a very useful tool to help decision-makers in the urban planning process to create future energy transition strategies, implementing energy efficiency and renewable energy technologies in the context of sustainable cities. Statistical methods are often used to understand the driving parameters of energy consumption but rarely used to evaluate future urban renovation scenarios. Simulating whole cities using energy demand softwares can be very extensive in terms of computer resources and data collection. A new methodology, using city archetypes is proposed, here, to simulate the energy consumption of urban areas including urban energy planning scenarios. The objective of this paper is to present an innovative solution for the computation and visualization of energy saving at the city scale.The energy demand of cities, as well as the micro-climatic conditions, are calculated by using a simplified 3D model designed as function of the city urban geometrical and physical characteristics. Data are extracted from a GIS database that was used in a previous study. In this paper, we showed how the number of buildings to be simulated can be drastically reduced without affecting the accuracy of the results. This model is then used to evaluate the influence of two set of renovation solutions. The energy consumption are then integrated back in the GIS to identify the areas in the city where refurbishment works are needed more rapidly. The city of Settimo Torinese (Italy) is used as a demonstrator for the proposed methodology, which can be applied to all cities worldwide with limited amount of information.

scholarly journals A Measured Energy Use, Solar Production, and Building Air leakage Dataset for a Zero Energy Commercial Building

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Philip Agee ◽  
Leila Nikdel ◽  
Sydney Roberts
Keyword(s):  
Solar Energy ◽  
Energy Production ◽  
Energy Use ◽  
The United States ◽  
Test Method ◽  
Army Corps ◽  
Air Leakage ◽  
Commercial Building ◽  
Zero Energy ◽  
Measured Energy

This paper provides an open dataset of measured energy use, solar energy production, and building air leakage data from a 328 m2 (3,531 ft2) all-electric, zero energy commercial building in Virginia, USA. Over two years of energy use data were collected at 1-hour intervals using circuit-level energy monitors. Over six years of solar energy production data were measured at 1-hour intervals by 56 microinverters. The building air leakage data was measured post-construction per ASTM-E779 Standard Test Method for Determining Air Leakage Rate by Fan Pressurization and the United States Army Corps (USACE) Building Enclosure Testing procedure; both pressurization and depressurization results are provided. The architectural and engineering (AE) documents are provided to aid researchers and practitioners in reliable modelling of building performance. The paper describes the data collection methods, cleaning, and convergence with weather data. This dataset can be employed to predict, benchmark, and calibrate operational outcomes in zero energy commercial buildings.

The applicability of nearly/net zero energy residential buildings in Brazil – A study of a low standard dwelling in three different Brazilian climate zones

2020 ◽  
pp. 1420326X2096115
Author(s):  
Jaime Resende ◽  
Marta Monzón-Chavarrías ◽  
Helena Corvacho
Keyword(s):  
Energy Consumption ◽  
Energy Balance ◽  
Thermal Comfort ◽  
Residential Buildings ◽  
Performance Standard ◽  
Single Family ◽  
Zero Energy ◽  
Climate Zones ◽  
Net Zero Energy ◽  
Net Zero

Buildings account for 34% of world energy consumption and about half of electricity consumption. The nearly/Net Zero Energy Building (nZEB/NZEB) concepts are regarded as solutions for minimizing this problem. The countries of Southern Europe, which included the nZEB concept recently in their regulatory requirements, have both heating and cooling needs, which adds complexity to the problem. Brazil may benefit from their experience since most of the Brazilian climate zones present significant similarities to the Southern European climate. Brazil recently presented a household energy consumption increase, and a growing trend in the use of air conditioning is predicted for the coming decades. Simulations with various wall and roof solutions following the Brazilian Performance Standard were carried out in a low standard single-family house in three different climate zones in order to evaluate thermal comfort conditions and energy needs. Results show that in milder climate zones, achieving thermal comfort with a low energy consumption is possible, and there is a great potential to achieve a net zero-energy balance. In the extreme hot climate zone, a high cooling energy consumption is needed to provide thermal comfort, and the implementation of a nearly zero-energy balance may be more feasible.

scholarly journals Incidence of Photovoltaics in Cities Based on Indicators of Occupancy and Urban Sustainability

Energies ◽  
2019 ◽  
Vol 12 (5) ◽  
pp. 810 ◽  
Author(s):  
Antonio Barragán-Escandón ◽  
Esteban Zalamea-León ◽  
Julio Terrados-Cepeda
Keyword(s):  
Urban Areas ◽  
Large Scale ◽  
Local Context ◽  
Social Dimensions ◽  
Country Level ◽  
Urban Energy ◽  
Urban Level ◽  
Energy Emissions ◽  
The Impact ◽  
The City

Previous research has assessed the potential of solar energy against possible demand; however, the sustainability issues associated with the use of large-scale photovoltaic deployment in urban areas have not been jointly established. In this paper, the impact of photovoltaic energy in the total urban energy mix is estimated using a series of indicators that consider the economic, environmental and social dimensions. These indicators have been previously applied at the country level; the main contribution of this research is applying them at the urban level to the city of Cuenca, Ecuador. Cuenca is close to the equatorial line and at a high altitude, enabling this area to reach the maximum self-supply index because of the high irradiation levels and reduced demand. The solar potential was estimated using a simple methodology that applies several indexes that were proven reliable in a local context considering this particular sun path. The results demonstrate that the solar potential can meet the electric power demand of this city, and only the indicator related to employment is positive and substantially affected. The indicators related to the price of energy, emissions and fossil fuel dependency do not change significantly, unless a fuel-to-electricity transport system conversions take place.

Assessment of Photovoltaic Capabilities in Urban Environments: A Case Study of Islamabad, Pakistan

2020 ◽  
Vol 142 (6) ◽  
Author(s):  
Muhammad Zubair ◽  
Sajid Ghuffar ◽  
Muhammad Shoaib ◽  
Ahmed Bilal Awan ◽  
Abdul Rauf Bhatti
Keyword(s):  
Deep Learning ◽  
Solar Energy ◽  
Urban Areas ◽  
Capital City ◽  
Coefficient Of Performance ◽  
Energy Yield ◽  
Cooling Load ◽  
Zero Energy ◽  
Net Zero Energy ◽  
Net Zero

Abstract Photovoltaic (PV) estimation in an urban environment requires detection of rooftop area, design of PV system based on optimization on PV placement distance and the study of additional benefit of lower cooling load of building by shading provided by PV panels. The study is aimed at policymakers to introduce renewable energy policy toward net-zero energy buildings in urban areas. In this research, the capital city of Pakistan, Islamabad, is analyzed for rooftop PV capabilities using deep learning algorithms. The area of the rooftop is calculated by extracting buildings in high-resolution satellite imagery using a deep learning algorithm. The site location is analyzed for available solar energy resources. The distance between the rooftop-PV array is optimized based on self-shading losses, coefficient of performance, energy yield, net-zero energy analysis, and reduction of cooling load of the building provided by PV arrays as shading devices. The 40-km2 area of Islamabad considered in this research can generate 1038 GWh of solar energy annually from its 4.3-km2 rooftop area by installed capacity of 447 MW PV panels rows placed at 0.75 m apart. The electricity generated by Islamabad can curtail residential load from the national grid and form a near net-zero energy zone while the electrical energy from the grid can be provided to the industries to enhance the economy and reduce unemployment in Pakistan.

scholarly journals Greenhouse Gas Pollution Based on Energy use and its Mitigation Potential in the City of Surakarta, Indonesia

2020 ◽  
Vol 52 (1) ◽  
pp. 1
Author(s):  
Prabang Setyono ◽  
Widhi Himawan ◽  
Cynthia Permata Sari ◽  
Totok Gunawan ◽  
Sigit Heru Murti
Keyword(s):  
Energy Consumption ◽  
Greenhouse Gas ◽  
Urban Areas ◽  
Energy Use ◽  
Carbon Sink ◽  
Ghg Emissions ◽  
Electricity Consumption ◽  
Vegetation Density ◽  
Rate Of Increase ◽  
The City

Considered as a trigger of climate change, greenhouse gas (GHG) is a global environmental issue. The City of Surakarta in Indonesia consists mainly of urban areas with high intensities of anthropogenic fossil energy consumption and, potentially, GHG emission. It is topographically a basin area and most likely prompts a Thermal Inversion, creating a risk of accumulation and entrapment of air pollutants or GHGs at low altitudes. Vegetation has been reported to mitigate the rate of increase in emissions because it acts as a natural carbon sink. This study aimed to mitigate the GHG emissions from energy consumption in Surakarta and formulate recommendations for control. It commenced with calculating the emission factors based on the IPCC formula and determining the key categories using the Level Assessment approach. It also involved computing the vegetation density according to the NDVI values of the interpretation of Sentinel 2A imagery. The estimation results showed that in 2018, the emission loads from the energy consumption in Surakarta reached 1,217,385.05 (tons of CO2e). The key categories of these emissions were electricity consumption, transportation on highways, and the domestic sector, with transportation on highways being the top priority. These loads have exceeded the local carrying capacity because they create an imbalance between emission and natural GHG sequestration by vegetations.

scholarly journals GEOSPATIAL ASSESSMENT FOR PLANNING A SMART ENERGY CITY USING ROOFTOP SOLAR PHOTOVOLTAIC IN BANDUNG CITY, INDONESIA

2021 ◽  
Vol XLIV-M-3-2021 ◽  
pp. 83-87
Author(s):  
K. T. N. Ihsan ◽  
A. D. Sakti ◽  
K. Wikantika
Keyword(s):  
Renewable Energy ◽  
Solar Energy ◽  
Urban Areas ◽  
Power Plants ◽  
Solar Power ◽  
Solar Pv ◽  
Energy Needs ◽  
The World ◽  
The City ◽  
Rooftop Solar

Abstract. Increasing the production of clean and environmentally friendly energy has become one of the world agendas as a strategic effort in dealing with long-term climate change. Seeing the potential of the energy produced, the ease in the installation process, with the small risk of harm generated, solar energy has received significant attention from many countries in the world. The potential for solar energy in Indonesia alone reaches 207 GWp, but only 145.81 MWp has been utilized. Currently, the Indonesian government has set a target to build a Solar Power Plant capacity in 2025 of 6.5 GWh. Urban areas are areas with higher energy demand than rural areas, but the availability of vacant land in urban areas is very minimal for installing solar power plants. Therefore, rooftop solar PV(Photovoltaic) can be a solution in dense areas such as cities. Good planning by looking at the potential resources and energy needs in spatial is needed to manage and utilize energy optimally and sustainably in urban areas. This study aims to develop a geospatial assessment for plan smart energy city that uses rooftop solar PV's potential energy in every building that is effective and efficient. The novelty in the analysis of the distribution of the potential for rooftop solar PV development in urban areas integrates meteorological and spatial aspects and socio-economic aspects. Integration of multi-dynamic spatial data uses in determining the rooftop solar PV construction location, such as meteorological data for solar energy potential, increasing energy needs of each building, and socio-economy data. The data source used comes from statistical data and remote sensing data. The analysis will be carried out temporally (2008, 2013, and 2018) to see the pattern of changes in aspects used in a certain period so that the development plan can be carried out more optimally. This research's output is the formation of a priority analysis of solar PV rooftop construction in urban areas, especially the city of Bandung. The result of energy can also produce by the construction of rooftop solar PV in a potential area. This research is expected to be utilized by policymakers to develop renewable energy in the city of Bandung and increase community participation in switching to renewable energy.

scholarly journals A measured energy use, solar production, and building air leakage dataset for a zero energy commercial building

2021 ◽  
Vol 8 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
Philip Agee ◽  
Leila Nikdel ◽  
Sydney Roberts
Keyword(s):  
Solar Energy ◽  
Energy Production ◽  
Energy Use ◽  
The United States ◽  
Test Method ◽  
Army Corps ◽  
Air Leakage ◽  
Commercial Building ◽  
Zero Energy ◽  
Measured Energy

AbstractThis paper provides an open dataset of measured energy use, solar energy production, and building air leakage data from a 328 m2 (3,531 ft2) all-electric, zero energy commercial building in Virginia, USA. Over two years of energy use data were collected at 1-hour intervals using circuit-level energy monitors. Over six years of solar energy production data were measured at 1-hour resolution by 56 microinverters (presented as daily and monthly data in this dataset). The building air leakage data was measured post-construction per ASTM-E779 Standard Test Method for Determining Air Leakage Rate by Fan Pressurization and the United States Army Corps (USACE) Building Enclosure Testing procedure; both pressurization and depressurization results are provided. The architectural and engineering (AE) documents are provided to aid researchers and practitioners in reliable modeling of building performance. The paper describes the data collection methods, cleaning, and convergence with weather data. This dataset can be employed to predict, benchmark, and calibrate operational outcomes in zero energy commercial buildings.

A GIS-based model to assess buildings energy consumption and usable solar energy potential in urban areas

2018 ◽  
Vol 40 ◽  
pp. 546-558 ◽  
Author(s):  
Daniele Groppi ◽  
Livio de Santoli ◽  
Fabrizio Cumo ◽  
Davide Astiaso Garcia
Keyword(s):  
Energy Consumption ◽  
Solar Energy ◽  
Urban Areas ◽  
Energy Potential

scholarly journals Security Assessment of Urban Areas through a GIS-Based Analysis of Lighting Data Generated by IoT Sensors

2020 ◽  
Vol 10 (6) ◽  
pp. 2174 ◽  
Author(s):  
Lavinia Chiara Tagliabue ◽  
Fulvio Re Cecconi ◽  
Nicola Moretti ◽  
Stefano Rinaldi ◽  
Paolo Bellagente ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Energy Consumption ◽  
Smart City ◽  
Urban Areas ◽  
Gis Mapping ◽  
Security Assessment ◽  
Urban Context ◽  
Street Lighting ◽  
Perceived Safety ◽  
Perceived Security ◽  
The City

The current perspective about urban development expects 70% of energy consumption will be concentrated in the cities in 2050. In addition, a growing density of people in the urban context leads to the need for increased security and safety for citizens, which imply a better lighting infrastructure. Smart solutions are required to optimize the corresponding energy effort. In developing countries, the cities’ lighting is limited and the lighting world map is strongly significant about the urban density of the different areas. Nevertheless, in territories where the illumination level is particularly high, such as urban contexts, the conditions are not homogenous at the microscale level and the perceived security is affected by artificial urban lighting. As an example, 27.2% of the families living in the city of Milan, ombardy Region, Italy, consider critical the conditions of lighting in the city during the night, although the region has diffused infrastructure. The paper aims to provide a local illuminance geographic information system (GIS) mapping at the neighborhood level that can be extended to the urban context. Such an approach could unveil the need to increase lighting to enhance the perceived safety and security for the citizens and promote a higher quality of life in the smart city. Lighting mapping can be matched with car accident mapping of cities and could be extended to perceived security among pedestrians in urban roads and green areas, also related to degradation signs of the built environment. In addition, such an approach could open new scenarios to the adaptive street lighting control used to reduce the energy consumption in a smart city: the perceived security of an area could be used as an additional index to be considered during the modulation of the level of the luminosity of street lighting. An example of a measurement set-up is described and tested at the district level to define how to implement an extensive monitoring campaign based on an extended research schema.

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