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Energy Efficient Solutions for Smart and Sustainable Development for the Cities of the Future

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A special issue of Energies (ISSN 1996-1073). This special issue belongs to the section "G1: Smart Cities and Urban Management".

Deadline for manuscript submissions: closed (31 October 2023) | Viewed by 5542

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Dr. Fabio Bisegna

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Department of Astronautical, Electrical and Energy Engineering (DIAEE), Sapienza University, Via Eudossiana 18, 00184 Rome, Italy
Interests: light and lighting; heat transfer; radiation; UV; energy management; cultural heritage; smart city; energy savings; health
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Special Issue Information

Dear Colleagues,

The smart city concept has been introduced as a model for developing the city of the future. Improvements and transformations in this model are based several pillars. Among these, energy, health, and well being assumed a role of key aspects to define and characterize the quality of an urban context.

With the pandemia on one side, and polical and economical crises on the other side, the need for actions aimed at dramatically improving resilience and sustainability of cities was confirmed.

This Special Issue seeks to improve knowledge from all these points of view, dealing with, but not limited to, energy, environmental, and health issues, in the smart city era, asking for scientific and multidisciplinary contributions that bring innovation and new perspectives.

We therefore invite papers on innovative technical developments, reviews, case studies, and analytical, as well as assessment, papers from different disciplines, which are relevant to issues related to smart cities.

Dr. Fabio Bisegna
Guest Editor

Manuscript Submission Information

Manuscripts should be submitted online at www.mdpi.com by registering and logging in to this website. Once you are registered, click here to go to the submission form. Manuscripts can be submitted until the deadline. All submissions that pass pre-check are peer-reviewed. Accepted papers will be published continuously in the journal (as soon as accepted) and will be listed together on the special issue website. Research articles, review articles as well as short communications are invited. For planned papers, a title and short abstract (about 100 words) can be sent to the Editorial Office for announcement on this website.

Submitted manuscripts should not have been published previously, nor be under consideration for publication elsewhere (except conference proceedings papers). All manuscripts are thoroughly refereed through a single-blind peer-review process. A guide for authors and other relevant information for submission of manuscripts is available on the Instructions for Authors page. Energies is an international peer-reviewed open access semimonthly journal published by MDPI.

Please visit the Instructions for Authors page before submitting a manuscript. The Article Processing Charge (APC) for publication in this open access journal is 2600 CHF (Swiss Francs). Submitted papers should be well formatted and use good English. Authors may use MDPI's English editing service prior to publication or during author revisions.

Keywords

energy savings
energy management
sustainability
health
safety
lighting applications
LCA
Energy Communities
smart cities
outdoor/indoor

Published Papers (4 papers)

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Research

20 pages, 5189 KiB

Open AccessArticle

Reuse of Oil Wells in Geothermal District Heating Networks: A Sustainable Opportunity for Cities of the Future

by Claudio Alimonti, Fabio Vitali and Davide Scrocca

Energies 2024, 17(1), 169; https://doi.org/10.3390/en17010169 - 28 Dec 2023

Cited by 1 | Viewed by 634

Abstract

Climate change and the energy crisis forced industrialized countries to contain CO₂ emissions and use indigenous renewable energy sources. Geothermal energy undoubtedly has great potential, particularly thermal energy, given that 48% of the final energy consumption in the EU20 countries in 2021 was related to heating and cooling systems. The present study verifies and compares the feasibility of realizing district heating systems in two different contexts: (i) depleted hydrocarbon fields with the repurposing of existing hydrocarbon wells into geothermal wells and (ii) areas with documented geothermal resources. The two selected case studies are located, respectively, near Romentino (Northern Italy, province of Novara) and Tuscania (Central Italy, province of Viterbo). Following an assessment of the geothermal resources in the two selected case studies, specific methodological tools have been developed to evaluate the energy demand in the municipalities and determine the projects’ economics. Both case studies show positive economic indices assuming heat tariffs aligned with the values recorded in the 2020–2021 period. However, our results show how reusing hydrocarbon wells in geothermal wells constitutes an excellent opportunity to access geothermal resources, significantly reducing the necessary investment and the mining risk and strongly improving the economics of the projects. Full article

(This article belongs to the Special Issue Energy Efficient Solutions for Smart and Sustainable Development for the Cities of the Future)

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18 pages, 34715 KiB

Open AccessArticle

A Smart Floodlighting Design System Based on Raster Images

by Rafał Krupiński, Wolfgang Scherzer, Piotr Pracki, Andrzej Wiśniewski and Krzysztof Skarżyński

Energies 2023, 16(10), 4028; https://doi.org/10.3390/en16104028 - 11 May 2023

Cited by 4 | Viewed by 996

Abstract

This article describes a system for designing floodlighting of objects using computer graphics. Contrary to the currently used visualisation tools, the developed computer application is based on the daytime photography of the object and not on its three-dimensional geometric model. The advantage of the system is the high photorealism of the simulation, with no need to create a collage of visualisation with photography. The designer uses the photometric data of luminaires, and their photometric and colourimetric parameters are defined. With the system it is possible to perform a precise lighting analysis—the distribution of illuminance and luminance—both for the entire facility and in any plane or point. The system also analyses the total installed power of a given design solution. The system application is presented as an example in the form of a case study. This example shows the features of the system and further expected directions of development. Full article

(This article belongs to the Special Issue Energy Efficient Solutions for Smart and Sustainable Development for the Cities of the Future)

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17 pages, 5060 KiB

Open AccessFeature PaperArticle

Toward Improved Urban Building Energy Modeling Using a Place-Based Approach

by Guglielmina Mutani, Pamela Vocale and Kavan Javanroodi

Energies 2023, 16(9), 3944; https://doi.org/10.3390/en16093944 - 7 May 2023

Cited by 5 | Viewed by 1937

Abstract

Urban building energy models present a valuable tool for promoting energy efficiency in building design and control, as well as for managing urban energy systems. However, the current models often overlook the importance of site-specific characteristics, as well as the spatial attributes and variations within a specific area of a city. This methodological paper moves beyond state-of-the-art urban building energy modeling and urban-scale energy models by incorporating an improved place-based approach to address this research gap. This approach allows for a more in-depth understanding of the interactions behind spatial patterns and an increase in the number and quality of energy-related variables. The paper outlines a detailed description of the steps required to create urban energy models and presents sample application results for each model. The pre-modeling phase is highlighted as a critical step in which the geo-database used to create the models is collected, corrected, and integrated. We also discuss the use of spatial auto-correlation within the geo-database, which introduces new spatial-temporal relationships that describe the territorial clusters of complex urban environment systems. This study identifies and redefines three primary types of urban energy modeling, including process-driven, data-driven, and hybrid models, in the context of place-based approaches. The challenges associated with each type are highlighted, with emphasis on data requirements and availability concerns. The study concludes that a place-based approach is crucial to achieving energy self-sufficiency in districts or cities in urban-scale building energy-modeling studies. Full article

(This article belongs to the Special Issue Energy Efficient Solutions for Smart and Sustainable Development for the Cities of the Future)

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14 pages, 2584 KiB

Open AccessArticle

The Interplay between Parameters of Light Pollution and Energy Efficiency for Outdoor Amenity Lighting

by Krzysztof Skarżyński and Anna Rutkowska

Energies 2023, 16(8), 3530; https://doi.org/10.3390/en16083530 - 19 Apr 2023

Cited by 2 | Viewed by 1494

Abstract

This paper is related to light pollution and the energy efficiency of outdoor amenity lighting. It concerns the standard design assessment parameters of light pollution, the Upward Light Ratio (ULR) and Upward Flux Ratio (UFR), and the classic energy efficiency parameter—Normalized Power Density (NPD). The motivation for this research was the observation of certain inaccuracies related to the applicability and interpretation of these parameters in practice and the lack of connection between parameters of light pollution and energy efficiency. The multi-variant computer simulations of the exemplary large-area parking lot lighting system were conducted. Over four hundred cases were carefully analyzed. Individual cases differ in the shape of the task area, luminaire arrangements, mounting height, luminous intensity distribution, aiming, and maintenance factor. The results confirmed that the criteria values of ULR and UFR are often overestimated for modern luminaires, which emit luminous flux emitted only downwards. In this case, the ULR and UFR values do not exceed the criteria values for even zones with lower ambient brightness. Thus, lighting solutions with much lower energy efficiency easily meet the requirements of these parameters. This situation is not rational. So, it is crucial to make the criteria of ULR and UFR much more stringent in all environmental zones. Moreover, the research confirms a strong positive linear correlation between UFR and NPD (0.92, p < 0.001), which means that light pollution can be reduced by ensuring an appropriate level of energy efficiency. It is a great help in designing sustainable outdoor amenity lighting. Full article

(This article belongs to the Special Issue Energy Efficient Solutions for Smart and Sustainable Development for the Cities of the Future)

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