Advanced Ict Platform
A. Approach
The analysis of the presented ICT platform is mainly based on the context of a project financed by the General Secretariat for Research and Technology (GSRT) of the Hellenic Ministry of Culture, Education and Religious Affairs, titled “ESCO Smart City Energy Plan (ESCOCITY)”. ESCOCITY aims at the design, development and implementation of an integrated Web Portal, unique in its operation in Greece, as well as abroad, addressing city authorities. ESCOCITY Web Portal integrates advanced ICT technologies in a single electronic web-based platform to provide energy management services for a variety of municipal buildings and facilities, such as public building, sports facilities, venues, municipal lighting etc, based on respective state-of-the art methodologies and techniques.
The Web Portal will essentially create a “wireless telemetry cloud” over the city that can be utilized to collect various types of open data from sensors and endpoints, which are handled by the following “green” tools:
- “Green Buildings Tool” (e.g. public buildings, schools, sports facilities etc.);
- “Green Pillars/Pole Tool” (e.g. street lighting power monitoring, surge protection, voltage optimization solutions, etc.);
- and “Green EV Station Support Tool”.
The following figure provides a schematic representation of the Web Portal’s overall approach:
Approach of the web portal
Taking into consideration a number of indicators, the Web Portal provides information per category (buildings, pillar, lamp/pole/EV station) for general assembly, aggregation and quick view of the overall progress of the city towards smart monitoring and management. More specifically, the Web Portal includes the following common traits:
- A total overview of the buildings/points that are monitored, namely number of buildings, total floor area monitored, number of monitored/controlled poles over total number of poles, number of monitored/controlled poles over total number of poles, total number of monitored EV stations, etc.
- Aggregation of data for quick display per building use, point, etc. (e.g. selection for aggregation of data from school buildings, public services buildings, healthcare buildings etc.).
- Possibility to monitor and benchmark a single building against its historic consumptions, monitoring of all buildings together or a custom selection of the available buildings, e.g. buildings of the same use.
- Graphical representation of data in a color-patterned scale with different colors representing different values according to thresholds.
B. Users Groups
While it is possible that this infrastructure could be ultimately government-owned, it is also likely that an operator, namely Energy Services Companies (ESCOs) will own the infrastructure and sell or lease services to various government and/or other entities. The distinctive feature of the Web Portal will be addressed to the following users groups (Figure 2):
- Mayor and advisors: The profile provides the overall picture of the municipal consumptions, as well as costs. Moreover, projection for future consumptions adjusted for changes in influencing variables, and related cost are included. Aim of the data provided is to give a strategic view to the decision maker, perhaps also by offering a list of potential actions that could be implemented, in order to reduce the energy consumptions.
- Municipal technical services: This user group has full access to all monitored data and in all the different forms. In spite of the energy related data, they also have access to the economic profile and information, as well as the CO2 emission reduction related info. The frequency the data are provided depends on the measuring equipment and the system. Data views and monthly comparisons are also available to this user category.
- Municipal accounting services: Based on the data and indicators measured, especially for municipal buildings and lighting, the system calculates on the 1st day of the new month the exact cost to be charged by the utilities, based on the appropriate algorithm and data from the past month.
- Municipal employees: At this level, apart from the direct limited access to the webpage, the information received by the employees at a weekly or monthly basis includes the receipt of an e-mail with information on the data consumptions and advice/suggestions with measures to curtail these figures. Basic aim is the visualization of the data, especially for those categories that are subject to the users’ behavior, in order the employee to understand how his actions impact on the energy consumption profile. Catchy info on emissions and saved tones of CO2 are also included in this profile.
- Citizens/Public users: Information that are provided to them relates to the monthly profile of the municipal consumptions (buildings, lighting), in pie or column diagrams. Catchy info on emissions and saved tones of CO2 are also included in this profile.
Users groups
Show AllSECTION III.
Green Buildings Tool
Since most people spend their day inside a building, house or office, the building sector is one of the main energy consumers. Although building automation systems have developed and have become increasingly popular, the necessity for intelligent tools to provide energy management services, remains [14]. In this respects, the Green Buildings Tool collects, analyzes and presents data amongst four major groups of indicators concerning the buildings’ energy management (Table I).
The first group consists of five indicators and focuses on the building’s energy consumption, either electricity or fossil fuels, which is directly compared with the building’s surface. It includes both data from realized consumptions and projections for future ones (IGBT−11,IGBT−12,IGBT−13). The other two indicators that constitute the consumption group are a little bit more detailed (IGBT−14,IGBT−15). This group of indicators provides valuable information to the users groups, both for monitoring and taking action plans.
The second group of indicators is more technical and focuses on the power efficiency. Thus, it is intended for the technical services, in order to address any malfunctions (IGBT−21,IGBT−22).
The third group emphasizes on the energy management’s environmental impact, through calculating the damage that is done or is avoided, depending on the way that the consumed energy is produced. The group of indicators varies with the location of the building, as well as its features (IGBT−31,IGBT−32,IGBT−33). This group will be used principally for promotional reasons and will be mainly addressed to public users and municipal employees.
The fourth and last group of indicators, the monetary one, deals with the economic impact that the energy management has on the city. It uses the consumptions’ data and projection and calculates the relevant cost (IGBT−41,IGBT−42,IGBT−43).Table I. Indicators of the green buildings tool
Green Pillars/pole Tool
Another major field of interest at the city level is the street lighting. Adequate street lighting increases road and public safety for a number of reasons, among which are the increased visibility of the pedestrians and other vehicles by the drivers, the discouragement of criminals and the reduction of car crashes. However, there are many times that citizens may find a line of lit street lights late in the morning or early in the evening, without proper reason. Moreover, the maintenance of the street lights requires a considerable amount of resources which could be used more wisely. In addition, streetlights are connected with light pollution which derives from their immense illumination level.
In this respect, the Green Pillars/Pole Tool focuses on the street and road lighting control, by the following:
- voltage control supplied to the lighting circuit;
- operating lights efficiently by user defined time schedules;
- reducing maintenance and re-lamping costs;
- collecting data on street lighting power monitoring.
To this end, the Lighting Energy Controller (LEC) system and RightVoltage technology is used. The RightVoltage technology provides optimized and pure sinusoidal voltage to the load. As a result, only the right amount of energy required to maximize energy efficiency is delivered to the outdoor lighting devices in road and street lighting control applications. In addition, data from segment controller and light controllers, installed in each streetlight cabinet, light point, etc., are used for the management and monitoring of energy consumption.
More specifically, the Green Pillars/Pole Tool manages the street lighting’s luminance level, analyzes the lamps’ failures, and reports crucial data for the stakeholders. These data are depicted in the indicators of Table II which are categorized in the following four groups.Table II. Indicators of the green pillars/pole tool
Firstly, there are indicators for the energy consumption (IGPT−11, IGPT−12, IGPT−13, IGPT−14). Secondly, there is the power efficiency group which collects and shows the data required by the technical services, in order to evaluate whether the streetlights’ condition is acceptable or if corrective actions should be taken (IGPT−21, IGPT−22, IGPT−23). The third group of indicators focuses on the energy management’s environmental impact, vary with the street lights’ location, as well as its features (IGPT−31, IGPT−32, IGPT−33). The fourth and last group of indicators, the monetary one, deals with the economic impact that the energy management has on the city. It uses the consumptions’ data and projection and calculates the relevant cost (IGPT−41,IGPT−42,IGPT−43).SECTION V.
Green EV Station Support Tool
The Green EV Station Support Tool will process data for EV charging stations, namely those parking spaces where EV supply equipment will be used to charge vehicles. The Tool collects and displays important data regarding the charging stations’ energy management. It consists of three groups of indicators (Table III). The first group includes indicators for the energy consumption (IGEVST−11,IGEVST−12,IGEVST−13). The second group depicts both the environmental impact of the stations’ use and their expansion (IGEVST−21, IGEVST−22, IGEVST−23,IGEVST−24). The last group includes monetary information about the used energy and has the following indicators (IGEVST−31,IGEVST−31).Table III. Indicators of the green ev station support tool
Recent Comments