Interview with Alexandra Lefopoulou
1. There has been a lot of talk in the last decade regarding smart cities. Today, in the context of the conversation around sustainability and the Taxonomy, is the approach to smart cities evolving, and if so, in what way?
Urban development in recent years has focused on building smart cities. A smart city can be seen as an ecosystem in which local government, citizens, businesses, academic and research institutions, as well as other public and private actors cooperate with each other to implement projects, install systems, actively engage citizens and pursue an ever-increasing quality of life.
The strategically planned specialization of cities is used as a tool for economic development and enhancing the city’s competitiveness in order to improve the lives of citizens while attracting capital, businesses and skilled personnel. Modern cities are called upon to offer sustainable solutions to a challenge concerning climate change and energy and resource management.
We are living in the age when actions to reduce carbon are being implemented and, of course, the widespread use of renewable energy sources is necessary. All new buildings, infrastructure and transport must now be carbon neutral.
The widespread development of decentralized energy production by producer-consumers must be an important and permanent element of the European Union’s energy policy. This solution is beneficial and may even prove to be absolutely essential in terms of energy security and the environment, but also for social reasons.
The potential of smart technologies in the building sector was strongly emphasized in the 2018 revision of the European Energy Performance of Buildings Directive (EPBD), where the concept of the Smart Readiness Indicator (SRI) was also introduced. This indicator enables the assessment of the smart readiness of buildings i.e., the ability of buildings (or building units) to adapt their operation to the needs of occupants, also optimizing energy efficiency and overall performance and adapting their operation in response to signals from the grid (energy flexibility). The Smart Readiness Indicator will raise awareness among building owners and occupants of the value behind building automation and electronic monitoring of technical building systems and should provide confidence to occupants about the actual savings of these new improved operations
2. What are the challenges and problems in integrating sustainability criteria for the implementation of smart city actions?
In recent years, the rapid development of cities has resulted in the degradation of their environment and the creation of environmental, social, and economic problems. Therefore, the need to adopt and implement integrated policies for sustainable urban development at both European and global level has become more acute. At the same time, technologies are
being developed so that a smart city is the place where traditional networks and services are made more efficient using digital solutions for the benefit of its inhabitants and businesses. A smart city goes beyond the use of digital technologies to make better use of resources and lower emissions. It means smarter urban transport networks, upgraded water and waste disposal services and more efficient ways of lighting and heating buildings. It also means a more interactive and responsive city administration and safer public spaces. There are examples of smart cities in the European Union such as Copenhagen, Helsinki, Amsterdam, Paris, Vienna and Stockholm. In Greece, there is a recent trend to strengthen the smart city sector, with examples of best practices having emerged.
The main problems are therefore interlinked and can be summarized, but not limited to, the following:
– Difficulties in waste management, with waste piling up.
– Continuous depletion of resources resulting from the uncontrolled consumption of fossil fuels for energy and transport.
– Greenhouse gas emissions and related environmental problems which are largely due to increasing the number of consumers and consumption levels, travel and transport activities.
– Traffic congestion.
– Inadequately upgraded or poorly maintained infrastructure.
3. In terms of infrastructure in practice, how does sustainability alter the construction of smart infrastructure and sustainable projects?
Infrastructure is vital for development and plays a key role in conserving natural resources and reducing the impacts of climate change.
Sustainable infrastructure can only be delivered when all three pillars – economic, environmental, and social – are considered together, while ensuring that infrastructure services are resilient and can be equitably accessed. In addition, all stakeholders need to work together in planning, delivery, and management.
When equitable access is ensured, society benefits from infrastructure, as the services necessary for sustainable development are provided.
4. What are the innovations and technologies that can be adopted to achieve a smart environment?
Achieving the smart environment is based on three stages. The first stage takes into account the main building blocks of smart cities (i.e., urban system, innovation ecosystem, digital environment). The second involves the completion of these elements and the development of a user-driven innovation strategy to address the problems of the city.
Finally, the third stage involves the implementation of a strategy based on the development of digital applications, the choice of business models for sustainability, appropriate e-services, the measurement system and indicators.
Smart buildings can be considered as part of smart infrastructure or can be seen as independent elements of smart cities, while they are also a much broader concept than green buildings because they can be connected to other buildings, people and technology, the global environment and smart electricity grids. They can easily adjust their energy demand and energy grid to ensure efficient and low energy consumption.
The Smart Grid uses Information and Communication Technologies to collect information that relates to the behavior of electricity providers and consumers. In addition, a smart grid determines its response according to the information collected. In order to function, it needs appropriate measuring devices, which collect in real time both consumed and decentralised generation of electricity of the main consumers of a city, i.e., the buildings.
The aim of a city system is to combine city-wide operation with cooperation between different local systems to monitor performance and optimize processes. Smart and interoperable interfaces are added between separate systems – e.g., lighting systems, the energy grid and mobility systems -, in order to input information that assists decision making by city services.
Energy Management is the basic method of improving the energy efficiency of the system through technical and organizational measures, with the direct objective of reducing the contribution of energy to the total cost of production (businesses) or living costs (homes). Energy management in industry is based on the continuous monitoring of energy consumption in a systematic and organized way and on a clear knowledge of energy requirements, human resources, priorities, and financial means. It is a disciplined activity, organized and structured towards the most efficient use of energy, in a way that does not reduce production levels or undermine product quality, safety or environmental standards. The fundamental principle of energy management is ensuring economic efficiency while simultaneously satisfying the needs of the user.
An integrated energy management program can be described by the methodology of Energy Auditing and Energy Monitoring & Targeting. Response to demand is a change in the energy consumption of an electricity customer to better match energy demand with supply.
5. What are the emerging needs and trends in terms of: constructing zero-emission buildings, reducing emissions and energy consumption in existing buildings, and more broadly addressing the impacts of climate change?
A near-zero energy building (or ZEB) is a building with a very high energy efficiency, determined according to the methodology for calculating the energy performance of buildings. In our country, the process is currently underway to study the cost-optimal use of a combination of measures relating to the improvement of the energy characteristics of the building envelope, the integration of efficient technical building systems and the use of on-site energy production from renewable sources, such as the installation of photovoltaic
panels, solar-assisted hot water and heating and the installation of heating/cooling systems using heat pumps.
These trends are driving buildings to be energy producers and consumers while simultaneously reducing energy consumption to a minimum.
6. Sustainability and the taxonomy affect construction. What changes and requirements are they expected to bring about for projects and their implementation?
The EU taxonomy regulation came into force in July 2021, as part of the initiative to support sustainable investment objectives. The EU sets six key conditions for an economic activity to be classified as environmentally sustainable. Companies must disclose the percentage of turnover derived from products or services that can be classified as environmentally sustainable and contribute to climate change mitigation and adaptation, the sustainable use and protection of water and marine resources, the transition to a circular economy, pollution prevention and control as well as protection and restoration of biodiversity and ecosystems. In concrete terms, this means that companies must publish a non-financial statement or consolidated non-financial statement information on how and to what extent the company’s activities are classified as environmentally sustainable, against a set of key performance indicators.
Read here the Business Energy Plus e–book
Download here the published interview