Energy Research

Knowledge Centre

Energy research
challenges for
Smart Cities
 E n e r g y R e s e a r c h
Contents
At a glance 1
Why Smart Cities? 3
Smart Cities and energy 4
What is a Smart City? 4
Scope of this brochures 5
Smart Cities policy background 6
EU policy context 6
European initiatives 8
International activities 10
Research context 12
Research programmes 16
Research benefits and implications 19
Energy efficiency in buildings and districts 19
Renewable and distributed energies in cities 20
Sustainable urban mobility 22
Smart grids and integration of infrastructure 23
ICT as enabling technology 24
Integration of physical infrastructures 25
Behavioural aspects 26
Demonstration of Smart City solutions 27
Policy implications at EU level 28
Recommendations on future research directions 30
References 32
List of Acronyms 35
© European Union 2014
Reproduction is authorised provided the source is acknowledged.
Cover: © GOPACom.
Photo credits: iStockphoto
Printed in Belgium
K n o w l e d g e C e n t r e
This publication was produced by the Energy
Research Knowledge Centre (ERKC), funded
by the European Commission, to support its
Strategic Energy Technologies Information
System (SETIS). It represents the consortium’s
views on the subject matter. These views
have not been adopted or approved by the
European Commission and should not be taken
as a statement of the views of the European
Commission.
The manuscript was produced by Ute Karl from
the European Institute for Energy Research
EIFER.
We would like to extend our grateful thanks
to Andreas Koch (EIFER), Shailendra Mudgal
(BIO Deloitte) and Stefan Forsaeus Nilsson
(Chalmers University of Technology Göteborg)
for their review of the manuscript and their
valuable support.
While the information contained in this bro-
chure is correct to the best of our knowledge,
neither the consortium nor the European Com-
mission can be held responsible for any inac-
curacy, or accept responsibility for any use
made thereof.
Additional information on energy research
programmes and related projects, as well as
on other technical and policy publications is
available on the Energy Research Knowledge
Centre (ERKC) portal at
setis.ec.europa.eu/energy-research
 1
Energy research challenges for Smart Cities

Key Messages
Smart cities have a high potential to significantly contribute to the achieve-
ment of the European energy and climate targets.
For improved energy efficiency, it is essential to find low carbon solutions for
new buildings and districts and new ways for the cost-efficient refurbish-
ment of existing ones.
The integration and management of energy supply with predominant exploi-
tation of local resources (e.g. waste heat, renewables) and active consumer
participation needs to be improved. Smart grids and supporting ICT (Information
and Communication Technologies) will be key enabling technologies for this.
E-governance is identified as a prerequisite in Smart City implementation. Chal-
lenges include the management of open data and privacy issues.
Standardisation and interoperability are further key issues. Standards for future
services and installations need to insure compatibility with existing ones.
Consideration of the consumers’ behaviour needs to be improved. Main gaps
with regard to successful implementation of smart solutions come from the
non-technical field.

At a glance
The topic of Smart Cities represents a com-
plex and interdisciplinary field of research.
Smart City solutions and initiatives have a high
potential towards fulfilling the Europe 2020
Strategy targets. Strong interlinkages exist
among infrastructure planning, technological
development and integration, development
of new services and business, city governance
and involvement of citizens. Convergence of
energy, transport and ICT in the urban context
is identified as a major challenge for further
development. In the European context the cur-
rent Horizon 2020 research programme intends
to stimulate research for providing tools and
methods for an active support of cities1.
This policy brochure is focused on energy
research questions related to the Smart
City theme particularly at the intersection
of energy, transport and ICT. Other research
topics in the Smart City context such as
e-health, e-security or the inclusive city are
not considered.
Research on energy in cities shall pave the way
to (nearly zero) or low energy districts. Meas-
ures include the integration and management
of the supply of energy with predominant
exploitation of local resources (e.g. waste
heat, renewables) and the active participation
of consumers (e.g. demand side measures).

1 ec.europa.eu/research/participants/portal/desktop/en/opportunities/h2020/topics/2094-euro-5-2015.html
2
E n e r g y R e s e a r c h
The cost-effective refurbishment of existing
buildings (with a special focus on residential
buildings) is targeted by efforts in materials
research developing new, sustainable mate-
rials. ICT solutions for buildings and districts
shall allow for the overall management of
local energy and transport systems.
Sustainable urban mobility shall be achieved
through the integration of energy and fuel-
ling infrastructure with vehicle fleets powered
by alternative energy carriers for public and
private transport. Electro-mobility will become
an integral part of the energy system through
smart grid infrastructure.
Smart energy grids and PolyGrids are the back-
bone of the Smart City enabling overall energy
management. The integration of decentralised
renewable energy sources into existing energy
grids needs further research on technical solu-
tions. Major obstacles towards full integration
of so-called cyber-physical systems still exist. It
means integration of physical and information
infrastructure across different types of energy
and material flows. Data aggregation will enable
demand/supply matching and demand response
(within various plants, systems, homes, etc.)
including a smart control of services (air con-
ditioning, recharging of vehicles, etc.) across
all utilities. This integration requires smart net-
works, installation of intelligent devices as well
as specialised tools and processes to collect,
Smart City
Barcelona.
© Courtesy of ADAG
2 CEN (European Committee for Standardisation), CENELEC (European Committee for Electronical Standardisation), ETSI
(European Telecommunications Standards Institute).
K n o w l e d g e C e n t r e
and transmit the data securely. Further research
and development efforts in these areas are still
needed (EEGI, 2012).
Smart City open standards shall be devel-
oped through the CEN-CENELEC-ETSI2 Smart
City Coordination Group, creating a common
landscape and strategic programme for Smart
City standards. Smart City information shall be
made available through infrastructure plat-
forms and common architectures (SIP, 2013).
The development of efficient and effective
e-government is identified as a prerequisite
in Smart City implementation. One particular
challenge in the context of Smart Cities relates
to open data business models. The use of
open data as described in the EU’s Public
Sector Information Directive is an opportunity
to trigger innovative future internet enabled
services in Smart Cities (Net!Works, 2011).
Consideration of consumer behaviour needs to
become an integral part of Smart City develop-
ment. The main gaps with regard to successful
implementation of smart solutions come from
the non-technical field. Key items include the
acceptance of new energy systems (tackling
the concerns about privacy and the fear of
degraded quality of supply), the behaviour of
individual consumers, and the positioning of
final consumers in the new energy/electricity
landscape.
 3
Energy research challenges for Smart Cities

1. Why Smart Cities?

Cities are increasing in size and number and
economic activities are concentrated in urban
regions and urbanisation is about to increase
in almost every OECD country (Kamal-Chaoui,
2009). Figure 1 illustrates this concentration
for the population in Europe.
Figure 1: Urban concentration in Europe:
population density (inhabitants per square km)
in European countries in 2010/2011
(Illustration: GfK GeoMarketing)

Growing urban concentration increases the

environmental pressure through growing
demand for resources and services such as
transport. Cities offer a unique environment to
test innovations such as intelligent solutions
for increased energy and resource efficiency.
Local authorities have a crucial role to play
in the support of innovation and in the com-
petition for technological and organisational
excellence and leadership. The European Com-
mission identified this key role of cities and
local authorities in saying: ‘One of the greatest
challenges facing the EU is how best to design
and adapt cities into smart, intelligent and sus-
tainable environments. Almost three quarters
of Europeans live in cities, consuming 70% of
the EU’s energy. Smart urban technologies can
make a major contribution to tackling many
urban challenges.’3 Energy research policy
needs to prepare suitable solutions that allow
cities to cope with these challenges.

3 europa.eu/rapid/press-release_IP-12-760_en.htm
4
E n e r g y R e s e a r c h
2. Smart Cities
and energy
What is a Smart City?
The topic of Smart Cities represents a complex
and interdisciplinary field of research. Smart
City solutions and initiatives show a high poten-
tial towards fulfilling the Europe 2020 Strategy
targets and beyond. Strong interlinkages exist
among infrastructure planning, technological
development and integration, development of
new services and business, city governance and
involvement of citizens. The Communication
on Smart Cities and Communities – European
Innovation Partnership (EU COM (2012) 4701)
identified the convergence of energy, transport
and ICT in the urban context as a major chal-
lenge for development towards Smart Cities.
Definitions of Smart Cities highlight main tar-
gets and key issues for this development. The
Strategic Implementation Plan (SIP, 2013) of
the European Innovation Partnership on Smart
Cities and Communities gives the following
definition of Smart Cities:
Figure 2: Smart energy solutions for cities
Source: GOPACom.
K n o w l e d g e C e n t r e
Smart Cities should be regarded as systems
of people interacting with and using flows
of energy, materials, services and financing
to catalyse sustainable economic develop-
ment, resilience, and high quality of life; these
flows and interactions become smart through
making strategic use of information and com-
munication infrastructure and services in a
process of transparent urban planning and
management that is responsive to the social
and economic needs of society.
Definitions of Smart Cities are widely dis-
cussed in the literature as well. Key elements
that contribute to the ‘smartness’ of a city
are identified, for instance, in Elber (2013):
A Smart City shall offer maximal quality of
living to its inhabitants with a minimal con-
sumption of resources by intelligently joining
of infrastructure (energy, mobility, transport,
 5
Energy research challenges for Smart Cities

communication, etc.) on different hierarchical

levels (building, district, and city).

Emphasising the role of energy in Smart Cities

and aiming at an improved management of
energy supply and demand, the term ‘Smart
Energy City’ was introduced in (Nielsen, 2013)
with the definition: The Smart Energy City is
highly energy and resource efficient, and is
increasingly powered by renewable energy
sources; it relies on integrated and resilient
resource systems, as well as insight-driven
and innovative approaches to strategic
La Defense
planning. The application of information and financial district,
communication technologies is commonly a Paris, France
means to meet these objectives. © iStock

Scope of this brochure

According to Schwarz (2012), energy in a
Smart City relies on a smart, sustainable and
resilient energy system built in an integrated
planning approach for energy planning, active
buildings, smart grids, smart supply tech-
nologies with inclusion of regional renewable
sources, and sustainable mobility. This Policy
Brochure is summarising energy research poli-
cies and initiatives in a city context. Energy
research is further reviewed in dedicated ERKC
Thematic Research Summaries (TRS) includ-
ing those on:
Behavioural aspects of Smart Cities
Social acceptability and human behaviour
Smart electricity grids and supporting ICT
Smart district heating and cooling
 eating and cooling from renewable ener-
H
gies – together with the TRS on individual
renewable resources such as bioenergy,
solar PV, etc.
Energy storage
Energy savings in buildings
Energy savings in appliances.
The mobility theme is not in the scope of
ERKC and only relevant aspects for the energy
theme in Smart Cities are included in this
brochure. Information on mobility and trans-
port research can be found on the Transport
Research Innovation Portal (TRIP).
6
E n e r g y R e s e a r c h K n o w l e d g e C e n t r e

3. Smart Cities
policy context
EU policy context
The concept of Smart Cities shows a high Smart Cities aims at bringing energy, transport
potential for achieving important European and ICT industries together to address the
policy targets not only with regard to energy cities’ needs.
but also for other areas such as employment,
education, environment or climate change. For the smart cities theme, policy documents
Cities are a particularly interesting test bed from the three sectors; energy, transport and
for smart solutions leading to a convergence information technology are of relevance. They
of innovative concepts for energy, sustainable include the Communications on climate and
mobility, and sustainable ICT infrastructure energy policy targets for the years 2020 and
and services. 2030 together with the European Strategic
Energy Technology Plan (SET-Plan), the Energy
The European Commission (EC) identified the
Roadmap and EU Directives targeting energy
importance of the Smart Cities theme in its
efficiency and renewable energies. The frame-
Communication “Europe 2020: A European
work is further set through policy documents
Strategy for Smart, Sustainable and Inclusive
on the innovation policy in general. A non-
Growth” (COM(2010) 2020), formally adopted
exhaustive list of such documents is given
in June 2010. The EC provides with this com-
in Table 1.
munication the political background for imple-
menting Smart City solutions. The Smart Cities
& Communities Industrial Initiative was cov-
ering transport and energy. It was launched Smart Cities are
in 2011 as a predecessor of the European
Innovation Partnership (EIP) for Smart Cities
an instrument for
and Communities. The EIPs were announced energy efficiency.
within the Innovation Union4, in 2010 and are
designed to mobilise actors across sectors
around an overarching target in order to speed
The European Strategic Energy Technology
up innovative solutions to societal challenges.
Plan (SET-Plan) identifies Smart Cities and
As outlined in the Communication on Smart
Communities as an instrument for energy
Cities and Communities – European Innova-
efficiency. The objectives of the SET-Plan are
tion Partnership (COM 2012/4701) launched
implemented through means such as the Euro-
in 2012 the EIP is extending the scope of the
pean Industrial Initiatives (EIIs), the European
2011 Industrial Initiative to ICT. The EIP on

4 European Commission (2010): Communication ‘Europe 2020 Flagship Initiative Innovation Union’ (COM(2010) 546).
 7
Energy research challenges for Smart Cities

Energy Research Alliance (EERA), industry-led
European Technology Platforms (ETPs) and a
number of Joint Technology Initiatives; the
latter are designed as public - private part-
nerships. The Smart Cities and Communities
topic is targeted by the EERA instrument. The
ETP on Smart Systems Integration – EpoSS
deals with smart integrated systems using the
convergence of a whole range of technologies
which are relevant in Smart Cities applications.

Table 1: Non-exhaustive list of EU regulation and policy documents

relevant for Smart Cities
EU Policy Documents
Abbreviation Title
COM (2014) 15 Policy Framework for Climate and Energy from 2020 to 2030
COM (2013) 253 Energy Technologies and Innovation
COM (2013)169 Green Paper. A 2030 Framework for Climate and Energy Policies
COM (2012) 4701 Smart Cities and Communities – European Innovation Partnership
COM (2011) 885/2 Energy Roadmap 2050
COM (2011) 882 final Open data - An Engine for Innovation, Growth and Transparent Governance
COM (2011) 202 Smart Grids: from Innovation to Deployment
COM (2011) 144 White Paper - Roadmap to a Single European Transport Area – Towards a Competitive and
Resource Efficient Transport System
COM (2011) 112 A Roadmap for Moving to a Competitive Low Carbon Economy in 2050
COM(2010) 2020 Europe 2020: A European Strategy for Smart, Sustainable and Inclusive Growth
COM (2010) 639 Energy 2020 - A Strategy for Competitive, Sustainable and Secure Energy
COM (2010) 546 Europe 2020 Flagship Initiative Innovation Union
COM (2010) 245 Digital Agenda for Europe
COM (2007) 723/EC European Strategic Energy Technology Plan (SET-Plan)
Directive 2012/27/EU on energy efficiency, amending Directives 2009/125/EC and 2010/30/EU and repealing
Directives 2004/8/EC and 2006/32/EC
Directive 2010/31/EU on the energy performance of buildings (recast)
Directive 2009/28/EC on the promotion of the use of energy from renewable sources
(Renewable Energy Directive, RED)
Directive 2009/72/EC European Energy Services Directive
Directive 2003/98/EC on the re-use of public sector information
8
E n e r g y R e s e a r c h
European initiatives
The European Innovation Partnership on
Smart Cities and Communities (EIP): is a
key initiative on European level. The govern-
ance approach of the EIP is a mix of top down
and bottom up. From the top down is the High
Level Group and their supporting Sherpa Group
and from the bottom up is the Smart Cities
Stakeholder Platform (2,800 members – open
to public) established in 2011. The EIP is now
in its implementation phase. The invitation for
commitments - calling for voluntary concrete
actions to support the objectives of the Smart
Cities EIP as set out in its Strategic Implemen-
tation Plan (SIP) - was very successful and so
far (December 2014) 370 valid Smart City
commitments from all over Europe have been
received. These commitments are now organ-
ised in six action clusters in the online market
place5 which enables the exchange of knowl-
edge and unleashes the huge implementation/
synergy potential of the contributions received.
© iStock
5 http://eu-smartcities.eu/
6 Established by the Regulation (EC) No 294/2008 of the European Parliament and of the Council of 11 March 2008;
http://eit.europa.eu/
K n o w l e d g e C e n t r e
The European Energy Research Alliance
(EERA) helps to optimise EU energy research
capabilities through sharing of national facili-
ties and the joint realisation of Member State
and European programmes. The Joint Pro-
gramme on Smart Cities started in November
2011. Its main goal is to support European cit-
ies in their transformation processes towards
Smart Cities from an energy perspective
through new scientific methods, concepts and
tools covering the entire energy value chain
(generation, distribution, consumption). To date
15 Joint Programmes have been launched.
The European Institute of Innovation and
Technology (EIT) is a body of the European
Union6 with the mission to reinforce the inno-
vation capacity of EU Member States through
the integration of higher education, research
and business by way of so-called Knowledge
and Innovation Communities (KICs). The
theme ‘Intelligent, energy-efficient buildings
and cities’ is one of six thematic areas of KIC.
InnoEnergy is initiating innovation projects
and education programmes in this area. The
Climate KIC covers the themes ‘Sustainable
Cities’ and ‘Transforming the Built Environ-
ment’; whereas the KIC on ICT Labs is working
on ‘Digital Cities of the Future’, ‘Smart Energy
Systems’ and ‘Smart Spaces’. The new Cli-
mate KIC flagship project ‘Building Technology
Accelerator’ (BTA) will provide a network of
next generation LivingLabs and field testing.
It will address the climate impact of new
building technologies combined with human
interaction. Climate KIC is also developing the
flagship activity ‘Smart Sustainable Districts’
as ‘high impact test beds’.
Many national efforts towards Smart Cities
are coordinated on the European level through
initiatives such as the Smart Cities Member
 9
Energy research challenges for Smart Cities

States Initiative and the Joint Program-

ming Initiative (JPI)7 - Urban Europe. The
Smart Cities Member States Initiative will
enable coordinated collaboration of member
states participating in the EII, whereas Urban
Europe is a new JPI with affiliated European
countries: Austria, Belgium, Cyprus, Denmark,
Finland, France, Ireland, Italy, Malta, the Neth-
erlands, Norway, Sweden and Turkey. Spain examples of sustainable district development
and Portugal are observers. and refurbishment in buildings (CONCERTO,
2014).
Beyond the European bodies mentioned above
numerous multi-national initiatives exist to EUROCITIES is a network of major European
promote research on Smart Cities and to put cities represented through their elected local
innovative concepts into practice, such as the and municipal governments of major European
‘Covenant of Mayors’ (European movement cities. It was founded in 1986 by the mayors
involving local and regional authorities), the of six large cities: Barcelona, Birmingham,
European Urban Knowledge Network (EUKN), Frankfurt, Lyon, Milan and Rotterdam. EUROCI-
the CIVITAS Initiative, ICLEI, Energy Cites, CON- TIES plays an active role in a number of Euro-
CERTO and the EUROCITIES network. Many of pean initiatives on climate change and energy
these initiatives receive direct support from efficiency, including the Covenant of Mayors.
the European Commission.
Energy Cities is the European Association
The Covenant of Mayors is a European
of local authorities in energy transition. The
movement involving local and regional author-
association created in 1,990 represents more
ities, voluntarily committing to increasing
than 1,000 towns and cities in 30 countries.
energy efficiency and use of renewable energy
It aims at developing and promoting initia-
sources on their territories. It was launched in
tives through exchange of experiences, the
2008 by the European Commission to sup-
transfer of know-how and the implementation
port the efforts of the EU Climate and Energy
of joint projects.
Package on a local level.

CONCERTO is one of the most important

initiatives for cities promoting energy effi-
ciency and renewable energies. It started in
2005 with an initial network of 27 cities and
supports the role and contribution of local
authorities (primarily city administrations) as CONCERTO site
coordinators of actions for sustainable urban Milton Keynes, UK
development with a focus on energy issues. - regeneration of
inner cities with
In the recent CONCERTO Premium project 58 new housing
cities and communities demonstrated models © iStock
for Smart Cities and communities with good

7 A Joint Programming Initiative (JPI) is an approach introduced by the European Commission in July 2008 to involve
individual countries to work together on research.
 10
E n e r g y R e s e a r c h
International activities
The International Council for Local Envi-
ronmental Initiatives (ICLEI) supports cities
and local governments world-wide in work-
ing towards sustainability with a variety of
themes around eco-city / green city, resilient
city, low carbon city, smart urban infrastructure,
or focusing on specific goals. ICLEI members
are cities of all sizes including 12 mega-cities,
100 super-cities and urban regions, 450 large
cities as well as 450 medium-sized cities and
towns in 86 countries. ICLEI is supported by
the European Regional Development Fund.
Smart City concepts are currently promoted
world-wide by both public and private entities.
United Nations Habitat started a World Urban
Campaign including the ‘100 cities initiative’
as a forum for the best stories of change in
cities that all aim for a smarter urban future.
According to a study of Frost & Sullivan, about
40 cities world-wide will be ‘smart’ by 20208.
More than 50% of these cities will be located
in Europe and North America. Singapore is the
most prominent example in Asia. Masdar City
in Abu Dhabi is designed as a ‘zero-carbon’
city that may serve as an example for a smart
newly built ‘green field’ city (Ojo, 2014).
Singapore
© iStock
8 www.frost.com/prod/servlet/cpo/213728587.pdf
9 http://smartcitiescouncil.com/resources/smart-city-progress-report-japan
K n o w l e d g e C e n t r e
In China the Smart City theme receives high
attention as it can support the ongoing urbani-
sation and IT development of the country.
Relevant government departments are cur-
rently supporting cities in China towards a
‘smart’ development. As of 2013, a total of
311 cities in China have proposed initiatives
for implementing Smart City projects (EU-
China, 2014). The EU-China Policy Dialogues
Support Facility (PDSF) is promoting coopera-
tion of the EU and China in the field of Smart
Cities. The European Commission and the
Chinese Ministry for Industry and Information
Technology (MIIT) agreed to develop ‘Green
Smart City’ cooperation with pilot cities and
cooperation of experts from both regions.
Japan’s interest in Smart Cities was given
additional momentum as a consequence
of the earthquake and tsunami that struck
the country in 2011. The reconstruction pro-
gramme for the Tohoku region and its main
city, Fukushima aims at creating sustainable
and resilient communities. In December 2012,
the Ministry of Economy, Trade and Indus-
try (METI) identified seven municipalities in
Tohoku where it will support smart community
projects including initiatives such as a new
energy control centre to enable the integration
of renewable energy, the adoption of electric
vehicles and encouragement for local renew-
able energy resources9.
In North America the Smart City topic is less
common than in Europe and Asia, but North
American cities are also looking at technolo-
gies to improve the quality of public services
and support local economies. There are several
areas where North American cities are driving
technology innovation; for example, through
investments being made in smart meters and
smart grids. There is significant support for
 11
Energy research challenges for Smart Cities

smart grids in the US through the Smart Grid

Investment Grant (SGIG) programme (SGIG,
2013). Smart water technologies appear in US
Smart City activities due to the rising demand
for water in expanding cities and the need to
upgrade the water infrastructure. Several US
cities are prioritising electric vehicle innova-
tion. Regarding IT infrastructure, the United
States and Canada have long-experience in
e-government especially with regard to govern-
ment use of data analytics, cloud computing
and the opening of public sector data. New York
and Chicago, among others, are exploring how
they can transform city operations through the
better use of data. A critical challenge for US
cities is seen in the transfer of pilot programmes
into large scale deployments as the cities them- Shanghai,
China
selves have only limited funds available for © iStock
investment in innovative technologies10.

10 http://smartcitiescouncil.com/resources/smart-city-progress-report-north-america
12
E n e r g y R e s e a r c h K n o w l e d g e C e n t r e

4. Research context
For the successful implementation of Smart
Cities concepts it is crucial to work across sec-
tors and to harmonise formats and standards
on an international level. Standardisation for
Smart Cities infrastructure is currently under
development. Standardisation organisations
on national, European and international lev-
els are working on this theme. Until now,
the standards were developed for specific
components or areas such as smart meters,
smart grids, ICT, etc. Standardisation efforts
for Smart Cities and Communities are closely
linked and inspired by those for smart grids.
European Standardisation Organisations (CEN,
CENELEC, ETSI) as well as other Standards
Developing Organisations (SDOs) are currently
working on further guidance together with
national entities: a CEN-CENELEC Coordina-
tion Group ‘Smart and Sustainable Cities and
Communities’ (SSCC-CG) is in place to advise
on European interests and needs, relating to
standardisation11. On the international level
the International Electrotechnical Commis-
sion’s Systems Evaluation Group Smart Cities
was created12. The Roadmap on Smart Cities
Standardisation of the German Commission for
Electrical, Electronic & Information Technolo-
gies of DIN and VDE (DKE/DIN) was published
in April 2014. The proposed methodology of
DKE/DIN uses the concept of the Smart City
Infrastructure architecture model (SCIAM).
Similar to the one for smart grids, this model
describes the interactions of its components
and with its environment. The proposed and
currently discussed structure of the SCIAM is
depicted in the figure below. The definition of
domains, zones and layers in the conceptual
model allows for inter-system operability and
for business in a well-defined framework. This
permits a uniform approach and terminology
for defining standards (DKE/DIN, 2014).

Figure 3: Smart City infrastructure architecture model (SCIAM)

as basis for discussion (DKE/DIN 2014)

Credits: DKE Deutsche Kommission Elektrotechnik

11 www.cencenelec.eu/standards/Sectors/SmartLiving/smartcities/Pages/SSCC-CG.aspx
12 www.iec.ch/dyn/www/f?p=103:186:0::::FSP_ORG_ID,FSP_LANG_ID:10330,25
 13
Energy research challenges for Smart Cities

For the purpose of this brochure the research
context for Smart Cities is limited to energy
research and its intersections with ICT and
mobility. The focus is therefore put on energy in
buildings and districts, local renewable energy,
smart grids and related ICT infrastructure.
Energy in buildings and districts is a key issue
for energy planning in cities. Currently the
existing building stock plays a major role in
energy consumption (40% of EU final energy
demand). Buildings represent the economic
sector with the largest cost-effective oppor-
tunity for energy savings. Established and
innovative measures are required to realise
this potential. The ability to embed intelligence
into the building structure (e.g. smart home
technologies) enables appliances and energy
to communicate and to enable higher overall
efficiency. Behavioural aspects play a major
role with regard to the effectiveness of energy
efficiency measures. Rebound effects have
had negative impacts on achievable gains
(Urbact II, 2011).
eral plants such as combined heat and power
generators (CHP) and power sources based on
different renewable energies (e.g. biomass,
hydroelectric, photovoltaic, wind, geothermal),
that are managed in a coordinated way for
an optimised resource exploitation both from
the economic and the environmental points
of view (Nikonowicz, 2012). Interaction with
the surrounding distribution network and with
the connected production, storage and con-
sumption appliances makes VPP an integral
part of smart grids. The delivery of energy
services to the end user uses a complex infra-
structure including district heating and cooling
(DHC) and storage systems. The smart DHC
as an integrated system is a new approach
in current R&D activities. The use of storage
technologies can facilitate RES integration.
Telecommuni¬cation grids and wireless trans-
mission complement this infrastructure and
allow for this integration.

Energy assessments at urban scale are part

of local climate action plans and declarations
of district are becoming a rising topic. Recent
research highlights that the switch from the
individual building scale to neighbourhoods
or cities cannot be considered simply as an
aggregation of buildings. Complex interac-
tions within the urban fabric are increasingly
addressed by research (Urbact II, 2011).

The use of local renewable energies in a city

contributes to the climate and energy policy
targets of a city. For an optimised use of local
resources in a city a combination of efficiency
measures and renewable energies must be
found. Furthermore, requirements of historic
buildings need to be considered for both
renewable integration and energy efficiency
measures. Virtual Power Plants (VPP) bring
supply side and demand side together on a © iStock
local scale. VPP connect and coordinate sev-
 14
E n e r g y R e s e a r c h
Regarding sustainable urban mobility the EU
White Paper on transport sets the goal of a
60% greenhouse gas (GHG) emission reduction
from transport until 2050. Increased efficiency
shall be achieved through Intelligent Transport
Systems (ITS). These systems include telemat-
ics, communication between vehicles and with
fixed infrastructure, as well as information
and communication technologies (ICT) for rail,
water and air transport.13 There is a strong
interrelation between ITS and urban planning.
Smart, sustainable and safe transportation by
using ICT and new mobility concepts address
many local policy priorities and traffic manage-
ment is an issue in most cities (SCSP, 2013c).
Electro-mobility is an important element of
multi-modal urban mobility concepts and
links the transport sector to the electricity
production, storage and distribution systems
together with load management. This link is
provided through ‘smart grid’ technologies
to optimally match the power demand for
charging E-vehicles with the fluctuating supply
of renewable electricity as well as the right
location of charging facilities (SCSP, 2013b).
Smart electricity grids are identified as the
backbone of the Smart City. Typical projects
on smart electricity grids in cities combine
© iStock
12 www.etsi.org/technologies-clusters/technologies/intelligent-transport
13 Related research activities are summarised in the ERKC TRS on Smart Electricity Grids.
K n o w l e d g e C e n t r e
advanced communication, sensing and meter-
ing technology with the existing electricity
network. Smart sensors, network control and
smart meters provide usage data and allow
for the exploitation of additional energy effi-
ciency potentials. Smart metering experiences
a strong legislative push through the European
Energy Services Directive (2009/72/EC). Smart
grids facilitate the integration of renewable
technologies and energy storage (including
electric vehicles). The roll-out of smart grid
technologies is identified by the EC in its smart
grids Communication (COM(2011) 202) as
a European infrastructure priority requiring
particular attention in the Energy Infrastruc-
ture Package. Integrated energy management
capabilities are essential for implementing
Smart Cities initiatives successfully. ‘Smart
homes’ are offering consumers or ‘prosumers`
and grid operators the possibility for new busi-
ness models which are currently being tested
in demonstration projects14.
Digital infrastructures are a prerequisite for
the implementation of smart grids. New
standardised and automatic communication
processes need to be developed that reply to
requests concerning the protection of critical
infrastructures and privacy. Further require-
ments include security and quality of supply
together with a discrimination-free access to
data for functioning markets. Data manage-
ment and protection of privacy are therefore
key issues in this area.
‘Open’ data means publicly accessible, non-
proprietary data. This includes not only access
to data from local authorities, also individual
citizens and privately-owned companies need
to open up their data to the government. This
does not mean that their data should become
publicly available, but that it can be gathered,

Energy research challenges for Smart Cities
© iStock
stored, interlinked and analysed by the govern-
ment in order to create knowledge about the
city and to optimise its functioning. Connected
devices, ranging from PCs and smartphones to
sensor devices such as smart meters, Radio-
frequency identification (RFID) readers and
traffic cams, will generate a complex mass
of structured and unstructured data. In this
context ‘big data’ technology is required to
make use of this resource. The open data
concept falls within the current trend of the
Internet of Things, and supports future smart
grids and Smart Cities visions, models and
services (OIP, 2014).
The data that local authorities collect is a
highly valuable resource for Smart City solu-
tions. The 2011 EC Communication on open
data (COM (2011) 882 final) states that open-
ing and re-using public sector information can
potentially create economic gains of up to EUR
40 billion annually in the EU. Merging data and
information digitally leads to improved collab-
oration between city departments and more
efficient internal information sharing. This can
also lead to improved e-government services
being developed by public administrations15.
Open data also requires the development of
standards to accelerate the implementation
of Smart City solutions through providing the
15 www.citysdk.eu
15
necessary guidance, frameworks, specifica-
tions, protocols and vocabulary to create a
common understanding of the issues, manage
risks effectively and optimise communication
across the city (SIP, 2013).
The overall performance of the urban energy
system in terms of efficiency and sustainability
depends to a large extent on the behaviour
of individuals. In this context, research into
behavioural change aims to identify the social,
psychological and economic drivers underlying
energy consumption patterns, and to define and
evaluate measures – such as policy initiatives
and incentive systems – that may influence
those patterns in desired ways. Where energy
is concerned, behavioural change analysis cov-
ers a wide range of technologies; from the use
of electric appliances to domestic heating. It
tries to understand and explain the interac-
tion between political, economic, social, and
structural contexts for the reorientation of con-
sumption behaviours towards more sustainable
patterns. The drivers for the research projects
reviewed in the ERKC TRS on ‘Behavioural
aspects of Smart Cities’ are mostly techno-
logical as they focus on the development and
improvement of smart technologies. Neverthe-
less, it appears that research is placing increas-
ing focus on behavioural aspects as it has been
recognised that the human factor and smart
technologies cannot be enhanced effectively
when they are examined separately. Much of
the research efforts focus largely on raising
awareness and improving communication to
highlight the benefits of smart technologies as
well as the conditions that need to be created
(or the barriers that need to be reviewed to
remove these barriers).
16
E n e r g y R e s e a r c h
5. Research
programmes
On a European level the 7th EU Framework
Programme (FP7) was the main instrument for
funding scientific research and technological
development for the period 2007-2013. Fur-
thermore, the Competitiveness and Innovation
Framework Programme (CIP) supported inno-
vation activities and provided better access to
finance with the aim of enhancing the com-
petitiveness of EU businesses, in particular
SMEs. The CIP ended in 2013 as well. Its three
operational programmes were:
the Intelligent Energy Europe Programme
(IEE);
the Entrepreneurship and Innovation Pro-
gramme; and
the ICT Policy Support Programme.
In the past IEE funded numerous projects
in the field of ‘smart’ technologies. The new
framework programme Horizon 2020 started
in 2014 and will run until 2020. It combines
and strengthens activities funded in the past
under the FP7 together with the innovation
parts of the CIP and the European Institute
of Innovation and Technology (EIT). In its first
call for proposals published in December 2013
Horizon 2020 addresses large scale demon-
stration (lighthouse projects) of solutions for
integrating energy, transport and ICT sectors
to be tested in lead cities and transferred to
follower cities. The development of system
standards and the initiation of market demand
shall enhance the roll-out of Smart Cities
solutions in Europe.
16 www.geode-eu.org/uploads/Hans%20G%C3%BCnther%20Schwarz.pdf
K n o w l e d g e C e n t r e
The EERA Joint Programme (JP) Smart Cities
is an important European research initiative in
this field as presented in Chapter 3. The main
goal of this JP is to support European cities
in their transformation processes towards
Smart Cities from an energy perspective. The
Joint Programme on Smart Cities is structured
into 4 sub-programmes which cover the key
research areas with regard to urban energy
technologies: energy in cities; urban energy
networks; energy-efficient interactive build-
ings; and urban city-related supply technolo-
gies (heat pumps, solar-thermal).
Figure 4 depicts the distribution of funding
sources for different themes concerning urban
development.16 The Joint Programme Initia-
tive (JPI) Urban Europe has financed mainly
research activities in terms of the develop-
ment of new methods, concepts and technolo-
gies, whereas the Smart Cities Member States
Initiative provides funds to the process from
the development of the new concepts and
technologies to the proof and pilot testing of
these concepts and technologies. The SET-Plan
mentioned in Chapter 3 provides funds to pro-
jects that bring pilot tests to the phase of large
scale demonstration and market implementa-
tion. Furthermore, the European Investment
Bank Structural Funds instruments finance
the projects concerning market deployment
of new technologies and concepts.

Energy research challenges for Smart Cities
Figure 4: European RDI Funding in the Urban Field
Credit: Energy and Environmental Technologies, Austrian Ministry of Transport
Numerous national programmes or initiatives
have already been launched in recent years.
A study carried out by the European Parlia-
ment found that out of the EU28, cities with
at least 100,000 residents, 240 (51%) have
implemented or proposed Smart City initia-
tives. Countries with the largest numbers of
Smart Cities include the UK, Spain and Italy,
although the highest percentages are in Italy,
Austria, Denmark, Norway, Sweden, Estonia
and Slovenia (European Parliament, 2014).
Examples for research initiatives in selected
EU countries are given below.
In Germany, the government has launched
an initiative on the City of the Future as a
national platform for exchange among stake-
holder groups and independent experts for
setting research priorities. Supported by several
German ministries it addresses the themes
energy and resources, climate and govern-
ance, transportation management, and systems
approach (OIP, 2014). The EnEff:Stadt research
initiative of the German Federal Ministry of
17
Economics and Energy aims at increased energy
efficiency and urban development including
refurbishment of historic areas, conversion of
former industrial and commercial spaces as
well as innovative energy supply and storage
technologies. The Fraunhofer Gesellschaft is
developing its vision of the future city with its
Morgenstadt initiative.
The United Kingdom has achieved a lead-
ing position in Smart City initiatives. The
Technology Strategy Board (TSB) initiative
on Future City Demonstrators was launched
in July 2012, and 29 UK cities were funded
to carry out feasibility studies on integrated
city systems and on large scale demonstra-
tion of Smart City technology. Moreover, in
March 2013 the London Future Cities Catapult
was launched, with £150 million (approx. EUR
180 million) investment from both the TSB
and industry. The TSB incubator programme
provides support for innovation and SMEs.
The UK Smart City strategy was launched in
October 2013 at ministerial level (OIP, 2014).
 18
E n e r g y R e s e a r c h
Offices,
apartments
and public
buildings
at Salford
Quays,
Manchester,
UK
© iStock
In France, the EcoCité initiative is sponsored
by the French Minister for Regional Equal-
ity and Housing. It aims at facilitating the
transition towards more sustainable urban
development. 13 cities were selected for the
first EcoCité operations in 2009. These cities
are expected to receive support of EUR 750
million in total for the period 2009-1017.
EcoCité operations are implemented or under
development as demonstrators of the sustain-
able city of tomorrow. They are financed by
the Ville de demain (City of tomorrow) fund
as part of the Investments for the Future
Programme (Programme d’Investissements
d’Avenir), and the budget is managed by the
Caisse des Dépôts17.
17 www.developpement-durable.gouv.fr, Dossier de presse : Investissements d’avenir - L’Etat soutient 93 projets innovants
présentés par les 13 EcoCités
K n o w l e d g e C e n t r e
In Austria, since 2010, the Federal Ministry of
Transport, Innovation and Technology (BMVIT)
and the Climate and Energy Fund have sup-
ported the development of energy-efficient
and climate-friendly solutions, which allow
cities and their residents to improve the qual-
ity of life including the role of the city as a
business location. While the Smart Cities
Demo programme puts emphasis on the sup-
port for comprehensive urban demonstration
projects and project implementation, the new
research and technology project City of the
Future is, based on the results of the previ-
ous programmes House of the Future and
Energy (Systems) of the Future, aiming for
research and development of new technolo-
gies, technological (sub)systems and urban
services for the city of the future (OIP, 2014).
In the Netherlands, the Smart City topic is
addressed at national level both by the Min-
istry of Economic Affairs and by the Ministry
of Infrastructure and Environment. The City of
Amsterdam is promoting the Smart City concept
as an overarching principle with the Amsterdam
Economic Board as a main actor. Amsterdam
Metropolitan Solutions is a collaboration
between TU Delft, Wageningen University, MIT,
TNO and other partners (OIP, 2014).
 19
Energy research challenges for Smart Cities

6. Research benefits
and implications
This Chapter highlights current research
themes relevant for improved energy man-
agement in cities. Selected research projects
are described as examples illustrating the
research that is more comprehensively sum-
marised in the respective Thematic Research
Summaries of ERKC.
Energy efficiency in buildings
and districts
Increasing energy efficiency is among the aims
targeted by Smart City projects. Regarding the
building stock of a city, there is a wide range
of technological solutions that can be used
to drastically reduce energy consumption and
that are subject to further research. The con-
sumption of a building is influenced by several
factors, such as geometry and orientation
of the building, performance of the building
envelope, efficiency of building installations
as well as usage patterns, energy manage-
ment and occupancy behaviour. Improved
energy efficiency can be achieved in three
steps (SWD, 2013, 158):
and strengthens activities funded in the past
under the FP7 together with the innovation
parts of the CIP and the European Institute
of Innovation and Technology (EIT). In its first
call for proposals published in December 2013
Horizon 2020 addresses large scale demon-
stration (first of the kind / lighthouse projects)
of solutions for integrating energy, transport
and ICT sectors to be tested in lead cities and
transferred to follower cities. The develop-
ment of system standards and the initiation
of market demand shall enhance the roll-out
of Smart Cities solutions in Europe.
The EU FP7 project Buildsmart – energy
efficient solutions ready for the market
is an example of currently ongoing research.
It is testing energy efficiency measures in
practice. New techniques are demonstrated in
both residential and non-residential buildings.
Large scale demonstration buildings are tested
with regard to energy efficient building enve-
lopes with high air tightness and low energy

Application of energy saving measures (e.g.

improve insulation of building envelope);
Increase of energy efficiency of building
installations and use of renewable energy
resources to cover remaining energy needs;
and

 ptimisation of usage patterns and occu-

O
pancy behaviour.

In the past IEE funded numerous projects

in the field of ‘smart’ technologies. The new
framework programme Horizon 2020 started © iStock
in 2014 and will run until 2020. It combines
 20
E n e r g y R e s e a r c h
losses. Other systems being examined include
energy efficient equipment that minimises
energy use; techniques for minimising cooling
needs such as efficient windows and shading
equipment; close connections to surround-
ing infrastructure to create energy systems
that optimise energy use and reduce peak
loads for both heating and cooling; and waste
management systems created for maximum
recycling and energy recovery, including the
treatment of the biological waste fraction.
The project also addresses the calculation
of the primary energy demand for different
technology choices as well as related life cycle
costs. Building Information Modelling (BIM) as
an innovative ICT tool is used for generating
and managing data.
© iStock
Advanced materials also allow for more effi-
ciency. Examples include reflective indoor coat-
ings; high reflectance and durable outdoor
coating; phase change materials (PCM) and
new insulation materials. These innovations
not only improve building performance from
an energetic point of view, they also facilitate
applications in construction and refurbishment
activities (SCSP, 2013a). Nevertheless, it is
widely accepted by the expert community that
18 http://ec.europa.eu/research/industrial_technologies/energy-efficient-buildings_en.html
19 http://ec.europa.eu/research/press/2013/pdf/ppp/eeb_factsheet.pdf
K n o w l e d g e C e n t r e
existing technologies can already reach signifi-
cant energy reduction levels. Instead, rather
non technological barriers are preventing the
deployment of energy efficient measures as
buildings are complex systems, involving a
large number of actors and a variety of tech-
nologies to be coordinated (SWD, 2013, 158).
As a support for research and innovation in the
construction sector, the European Commission
launched a contractual public-private partner-
ship (PPP) on Energy-efficient Buildings
(EeB). It will develop affordable breakthrough
technologies and solutions at building and
district scale.18 The multiannual roadmap of
this PPP for the years 2014-2020 (EeB, 2013)
identifies ICT as well as material technolo-
gies as key enablers throughout the whole
value chain, from the design phase to end of
life. The quantitative targets of the roadmap
include to date at least 100 demonstration
buildings and districts, which are expected to
be retrofitted with ICT-based solutions and
monitored to reduce energy use up to 75%.
Research and innovation activities of the PPP
will be co-funded under the Horizon 2020
programme19.
Renewable and distributed
energies in cities
Renewable energy sources (RES) are an ele-
ment of many local and regional energy
strategies. Available technologies include
photovoltaics, solar thermal systems, solar
thermal fields connected to district heating
networks, use of geothermal energy (e.g. heat
pumps), or biomass. Using biomass boilers
and solar thermal collectors directly in the
neighbourhood allows covering the heating
energy needs by a high share of renewable
energy sources. Photovoltaic panels allow
further improvement of the primary energy
 21
Energy research challenges for Smart Cities

balance. New urban neighbourhoods can

have a relatively high degree of integration
in urban structures mainly by direct integra-
tion in buildings (e.g. solar PV in facades).
Current research on these technologies can be
found in dedicated ERKC Thematic Research
Summaries. On a neighbourhood level ‘good
quality integration’ needs to be achieved. This
is much more than having a community or a
building’s energy demand entirely covered by
renewable energy sources on a yearly basis.
For good integration, certain criteria need to
be fulfilled (CONCERTO, 2010):

joint reduction of final energy and primary

energy demand;

reduction of energy losses;

 daptation of the degree of centralisation

a
of energy supply infrastructure to energy
demand density;
management of peak demand and time-
variable generation from renewable energy
sources through demand side management
and energy storage; and
architectural integration.
The recent CONCERTO (2014) project review
emphasises the advantages of local renew-
able energy sources for communities such as
short transport distances and opportunities for
waste valorisation. All 58 participating com-
munities implemented different technologies
to increase their share of renewable energy
sources. Solar energy (thermal and PV) played
an important role in these projects. An under-
estimated potential was identified with the
embodied energy in different kinds of waste
such as energy from waste water, communal
waste, green and agricultural waste. Neces-
sary infrastructure for energy distribution con-
sists of local networks for heating or cooling
as well as electricity grids. Storage options
Waste incineration and heating
plant - garbage is burned as an
alternative fuel source, Vienna,
Austria
© iStock
(thermal or electricity) increase flexibility and
efficiency. The integration of these elements
balancing supply and demand is typically
targeted by smart grid projects.
Research on smart district heating and cooling
(DHC) systems will also support local energy
concepts. It addresses themes such as the
integration of smart meters and other bidi-
rectional communication and control devices
to optimise CHP operation or/and balance of
RES heat supply. Research themes also include
the low temperature district heating technol-
ogy for new and existing building stock with
options for use of surplus heat and increase
of RES and district heat for cooling generation.
Research projects in this area are summarised
in the ERKC TRS on Smart DHC.
 22
E n e r g y R e s e a r c h
Sustainable urban mobility
European cities increasingly face problems
caused by transport and traffic. The question
of how to enhance mobility while at the same
time reducing congestion, accidents and pollu-
tion is a common challenge to all major cities in
Europe. Congestion in the EU is often located in
and around urban areas and costs nearly EUR
100 billion, or 1% of the EU’s GDP, annually20.
Cities need to tackle these challenges, taking
into account their specific circumstances as
well as new mobility and logistic concepts.
Research projects on sustainable urban trans-
port are not in the scope of ERKC. Further
information on this research area can be found
on the Transport Research Innovation Portal
(TRIP, see Chapter 2). Research and EU poli-
cies on urban transport are summarised in a
dedicated TRIP Thematic Research Summary
published in 2013 (TRIP, 2013).
Charging
hub of the
city of
Amsterdam,
Netherlands
© iStock
The TRIP TRS ‘Urban transport’ addresses
smart solutions for urban transport. New
mobility concepts are being developed to
offer seamless transport services for pas-
sengers and goods in urban areas. The use
of Intelligent Transport Systems (ITS) is con-
tributing to improving traffic planning and
20 http://ec.europa.eu/transport/themes/urban/urban_mobility/index_en.htm
K n o w l e d g e C e n t r e
transport demand management. Research
is ongoing also to improve the performance
and the image, of the bus of the future. The
emerging user-friendly and interoperable tech-
nologies contribute to moving towards sustain-
able mobility and seamless multi-modality.
Research projects on innovative technologies
and smart solutions in various aspects of
transport and mobility have been grouped in
this TRS into four categories as follows:
ITS applications: research projects devoted
to the use of Intelligent Transport Systems
for passenger information, traffic manage-
ment and safety;
 dvanced mobility: research projects on
A
deployment of transport innovation in cities
of tomorrow;
 ext generation public transport: research
N
projects on the next generation of public
transport vehicles, meeting environmen-
tal and energy requirements and providing
improved accessibility; and
Innovation in city logistics: research pro-
jects on smart concepts and practices in
city logistics.
Further electrification of the transport sector
through electric vehicles increases its impact
on the power system and gives it an active
role in the management of smart grids. The
ERKC TRS on ‘Smart electricity grids’ highlights
projects that are focusing on infrastructure for
hosting e-mobility and its network integration.
It concludes that technology based research is
still needed for reducing the cost of e-mobility,
on charging infrastructure facilities, and on the
integration of electric vehicles into the grid.
New methods and tools are under develop-
ment to analyse the consequences of the
massive charging of electrical vehicles on
the network grid in terms of load shaping,
 23
Energy research challenges for Smart Cities

overloads, power quality and forecasting the

availability of resources to face the demand.
E-mobility based on fuel cells and related
hydrogen infrastructure is also the subject of
EU wide RD&D efforts that are summarised
in the ERKC TRS on Fuel Cells and Hydrogen.
For bridging the gap to commercialisation the
EU initiated a PPP also in this area. The Fuel
Cell and Hydrogen Joint Undertaking as one
of the European Industrial Initiatives (EIIs)
invested EUR 940 million in RD&D activities
for the years 2008-2013. A second ten year
period with a total budget of EUR 1.3 billion © iStock
started in 2014.

Smart grids and integration of

infrastructure
Additional information through ‘smart’ devices
can create opportunities for the optimisa-
tion of infrastructure and services for citi-
zens. Smart distribution grids are electricity
networks that can efficiently integrate the
behaviour and actions of all users connected
to it, generators, consumers and those that
do both, in order to ensure an economically
efficient, sustainable power system with low
losses and high quality and security of supply
and safety21. Various ‘smart’ technologies are
being developed and specifically adapted to
the urban scale. Smart grids are optimised
through the inclusion of devices, software
and services that allow bidirectional real-time
communication among network users (both
suppliers and consumers) and network com-
ponents. This enables electricity demand to
be adjusted to accommodate instantaneous
local (household) generation (for instance PV-
systems, small wind turbines, micro-turbines,
electric heat pumps etc.) and storage capaci-
ties available on the grid (ERKC Compendium).
The large scale introduction of distributed
generation motivates the use of techniques
for aggregating distributed resources like vir-
tual power plants or virtual power systems.
These aggregate and may even autonomously
control their own supply and demand side
resources to adjust the balance of produc-
tion and consumption in local communities.
Interaction with the surrounding distribution
network and with the connected production,
storage and consumption appliances is a key
to a distributed control of such power systems.
Recent research shows that optimal solu-
tions on an urban scale need to consider a
neighbourhood or a district as a whole. Only
in this case, interactions of distributed genera-
tion and flexible consumption can lead to an
improved deployment of both efficiency and
renewable energy potentials.

21 EU Commission Task Force for Smart Grids: Expert Group 1: Functionalities of smart grids and smart meters; Final
Deliverable December 2010.
 24
E n e r g y R e s e a r c h
© iStock
ICT as enabling technology
The smartness of cities will increase through
the integration of ICT research with other
research areas including energy. The ICT-driven
research also aims at improving services for
governance, business, production and liveli-
hood of citizens. Benefits arise from improved
urban information systems. These systems
allow for real-time monitoring as well as man-
agement and optimisation of urban flows
such as traffic, gas, water, heat and electric-
ity, thus allowing for integration of physical
infrastructure. Monitoring can cover areas such
as conditions of bridges and pipes, transport
logistics, public health or emergency response.
Big data analysis and cloud computing are key
elements for this research together with open
access and interoperability of the ICT systems
put in place. Simulation and virtualisation
are tools for improving data management.
Different types of sensors collect data and
platforms make tools and services accessi-
ble to the actors. Connecting these elements
requires standardisation which is currently
under development.
This integration creates interactions and syn-
ergies between sectors that were organised
independently until now. For the control of
complex cyber-physical systems resulting
22 http://ec.europa.eu/digital-agenda/en/internet-things
K n o w l e d g e C e n t r e
from the integration of physical infrastructure
and ICT, the so-called System of systems
(SoS) approach is a key research topic. The
SoS approach consists of components that
are themselves systems. Two properties are
required for a set of components to be con-
sidered a system of systems (Maier, 1998):
 perational independence of components:
O
the component systems fulfil valid purposes
in their own right and continue to operate to
fulfil those purposes if disassembled from
the overall system.
 anagerial independence of components:
M
the component systems are managed (at
least in part) for their own purposes rather
than the purposes of the whole.
Smart grids or the city as a whole can be
considered as SoS as they show SoS func-
tionalities. In an SoS autonomous control units
manage generation, storage devices, electric
vehicles, and building loads. Utilities and sys-
tem operators can interact with these mas-
ter controllers and also with market entities.
Coordination of such systems is expected to
become less hierarchical with more collabora-
tive decision and control architectures (Samad,
2011). This will require both technological
development and information interoperability.
The Internet of Things (IoT) is described as a
technology and a market development based
on the inter-connection of everyday objects
among themselves and applications22. It is
considered as a major research and innova-
tion stream leading to create new service
opportunities in interconnecting physical and
virtual worlds with a huge number of electronic
devices distributed in houses, vehicles, streets,
buildings and many other public environments.
These technologies allow for services based
on spatial information, emerging from cloud
computing, embedded smart sensors and

Energy research challenges for Smart Cities
devices, and open data. Cloud computing and
its impact on Smart City solutions plays an
important role in prospective studies. Cloud
computing will allow the virtualisation of phys-
ical spaces or even their substitution by digital
ones (Komninos, 2013). Cloud computing and
the IoT will connect open public data enabling
advanced analytics for fast reaction and real-
time decisions. Embedded networks of sensors
and devices are expected to advance further
the capabilities of the Future Internet. This will
allow for new business models and offerings of
the private sector but also for improved user-
oriented government services, urban govern-
ance and urban planning. Smart City platforms
shall make such services operational. As an
example the European Platform for Intel-
ligent Cities (EPIC) combines innovation
ecosystem processes, fully researched and
tested e-Government service applications
and new cloud computing technologies. The
overall aim of the EPIC project was to develop
a flexible, extensible, future-proof cloud com-
puting platform maximising the use of open
standards (EPIC, 2013). Pilot applications of
the platform include a SmartCity 3D (Urban
Planning) pilot, the monitoring of domestic
energy consumption and the energy monitor-
ing for public-buildings.
Interoperability and open data are key issues
in the development of Smart City platforms.
Based on interoperable 3D Urban Information
Models (UIM), the project i-SCOPE delivers an
open platform on top of which it develops
Smart City services such as the optimisation
of energy consumption through a service for
accurate assessment of solar energy potential
at building level. The latest generation of UIM,
created from urban-scale geospatial informa-
tion, can be used to create smart web services
based on geometric, semantic, morphological
and structural information at an urban scale
level. In this context CityGML is a key enabling
open standard for 3D Smart City models and
25
related services. The uptake of CityGML as
the reference standard for UIM is one element
of standardisation activities. CityGML is the
international standard of the Open Geospatial
Consortium (OGC) for the representation and
the exchange of 3D city models since 2008
(Gröger, 2012).
In a further step of development Smart City
platforms will be based on readily available
social networking platforms and Smart City
infrastructures (including sensing and IoT
infrastructures). In the RADICAL project as
an example, solutions shall be offered as struc-
tured ways to rapidly develop, deploy, operate,
replicate and sustain Smart City services with
a wide range of potential applications includ-
ing societal participation and business growth
with energy as one aspect among others.
Integration of physical infrastructures
Smart infrastructure means multi-utility inte-
gration together with cyber-physical integra-
tion. Data aggregation will enable demand/
supply matching and demand response (within
various plants, systems, homes, etc.) including
a smart control of services (air conditioning,
recharging of vehicles, etc.) across all utili-
ties. This integration requires smart networks,
installation of additional sensors/linkages and
intelligent devices as well as specialised tools
and processes to collect, and transmit the data
securely. The additional information leads to
the identification of inefficiencies within a
physical system (water, energy, or otherwise)
and of performance bottlenecks. With this
knowledge infrastructure like energy storage
can be optimised (Travers, 2011).
Concepts such as Smart Grid of Grids or
Smart PolyGrids aim at developing the
required technologies and simulation tools
to achieve the above-mentioned integration.
Projects on smart gas grids are a further
current example. Such projects intend to create
 26
E n e r g y R e s e a r c h
smartness in the decentralised grid to enable
the integration of new gases including biogas,
to improve the monitoring of the ageing grid,
to facilitate the development of new services
and to develop knowledge on the opportunities
and restrictions of applying various energy
sources in a decentralised energy system.
Especially gas-to-power and power-to-gas
and research on new integration strategies
are of interest here.
© iStock
Smart water projects introduce ICT systems
including remote meter readers, Geographic
Information Systems, remote control infor-
mation, water quality monitoring sensors and
mathematical models for predicting the behav-
iour of the supply system. The application of
smart technologies shall allow for efficiency
improvements, environmental benefits such as
the early detection of leakages, and cost sav-
ings. As an example the FP7 project WATERP
will develop a web-based ‘Open Management
Platform’ supported by real-time knowledge on
water supply and demand, enabling the entire
water supply distribution system to be viewed
in an integrated and customised way. The Cli-
mate KIC project Smart Urban Water (SUW)
is supporting local authorities to improve and
provide better access to urban water manage-
ment data networks.
K n o w l e d g e C e n t r e
Behavioural aspects
Projects on energy management in cities also
include behavioural aspects that involve rais-
ing awareness and the participation of house-
holds and consumers in order to be effective.
Many of these projects concern and target
decision makers such as a national govern-
ment, ministry, city council or municipality or
suppliers such as energy service providers.
Projects in this area can provide the appropri-
ate tools for the mobilisation of various actors.
Details on such projects are given in the ERKC
TRS on Behavioural Aspects of Smart Cities.
Research findings of the ERKC TRS on Behav-
ioural Aspects of Smart Cities suggest that
a holistic monitoring from an aggregated
perspective to assess the collective impacts
of behaviours is currently missing. Where
behavioural aspects are concerned, the main
focus of research in Smart Cities also relies
on quantifiable data on human behaviour
(using feedback data from smart meters).
There is less interest in the underlying mech-
anism through which behaviour emerges,
evolves, and could perhaps be changed more
effectively in user-centred approaches. This
highlights the need to link more closely the
research on Smart Cities with sociological
research. Such approaches would also allow
the development of more reliable findings for
policy making which currently are based on
small samples and a shallow understanding
of behavioural aspects.
Research on Smart
Cities needs to be more
closely linked with
sociological research.

Energy research challenges for Smart Cities
Demonstration of Smart City
solutions
Numerous cities are currently testing Smart
City solutions and multi-national initiatives are
facilitating this process. Innovative approaches
are being tested in so-called Living Labs. A
Living Lab is an open research and innovation
ecosystem often based on a specific territory
and involving a large diversity of stakeholders
such as user communities (application pull),
solution developers (technology push), research
disciplines, local authorities and policy makers
as well as investors (Pallot, 2010). Through
openness, multicultural and multidisciplinary
user communities the Living Lab ecosystem
stimulates the emergence of breakthrough
ideas, concepts and scenarios leading to
adoptable innovative solutions. It also allows
enterprises, especially SMEs, and users/citizens
either as entrepreneurs or as communities to
23 www.openlivinglabs.eu/
27
get access to technology infrastructures as
well as science and innovation services. The
main objectives of these labs consist to co-
create and explore new ideas and concepts
and evaluate breakthrough scenarios in a real
life context that could be turned into successful
innovations (EU project Fireball). The pioneer-
ing approach of Living Labs was to improve the
innovation process by establishing business-
citizens-government partnerships that enable
users to participate in R&D at an early stage.
Currently, Europe-wide networking between
Living Labs is primarily aimed at harmonising
best practices for setting up and conducting
individual Living Lab research. In addition, Liv-
ing Labs are collaborating across Europe at an
individual project level (EU project Apollon). The
European Network of Living Labs (ENoLL)23
participates as an association in several EU-
funded projects such as CitySDK and EPIC.
28
E n e r g y R e s e a r c h K n o w l e d g e C e n t r e

7. Policy implications
at EU level
In view of the European targets for achieving of a great variety of actors from industry,
a low-carbon economy (2020 targets and cities, civil society and research. It focuses
European Energy Roadmap 2050) the concept on three specific areas: sustainable districts,
of Smart Cities can provide solutions on both sustainable urban mobility, and integrated
a technological and process level for shaping infrastructures across energy, ICT and trans-
the future of European cities in a sustainable port. It proposes a variety of actions to drive
way. Key elements will be a highly increased forward improvements in these areas.
energy efficiency and maximum integration
of renewable energy sources into existing
systems24.
Existing technologies
Current needs for energy research and imple-
mentation in the context of Smart Cities focus
or very near to market
on the following thematic areas (Schwartz, technologies will be
2012):
integrated in an
I ntegrated urban energy planning and intel-
ligent energy management on regional and innovative way.
city level;

 erge of ICT and energy as well as transport

M
technologies;
 mart urban energy networks (thermal and
S cooperate with industry and innovative SMEs
electric, complemented by gas grids);
Energy-efficient interactive buildings;
 enewable energy supply for urban areas;
R and financial models shall combine industry
and
Sustainable mobility.
In October 2013, the High Level Group of the
European Innovation Partnership for Smart Cit-
ies and Communities presented their Strategic
Implementation Plan (SIP) for speeding up the
transformation of European cities into Smart
Cities. The SIP is based on the consultation
Lighthouse Initiatives shall provide the basis
for Smart City solutions. Groups of cities shall
from the ICT, energy, mobility and transport
sectors to reduce the risk for political decision
makers as well as investors. New business
with public investments at European, national,
regional and local level (SIP, 2013). Lighthouse
projects are also envisaged as a key initiative
in the Horizon 2020 programme. They will
target primarily large scale demonstration
of replicable SCC concepts in city context
where existing technologies or very near to
market technologies will be integrated in an
innovative way.

24 www.smartcities.at/europe/transnational-cooperations/the-smart-cities-member-states-initiative/
 29
Energy research challenges for Smart Cities

Such ambitious demonstration and testing support through standardisation and data
programmes are contributing to the realisation management.
of the technology roadmap of the SET-Plan .
Smart City open standards shall be devel-
They shall prove the feasibility of innovative
oped through the CEN-CENELEC-ETSI Smart
systemic approaches under real life conditions.
City Coordination Group providing a strategic
Key elements of this roadmap include large
programme for Smart City standards. Smart
scale deployment of renewable energy heating
City information shall be made available
and cooling in cities and their integration in
through infrastructure platforms and com-
energy efficient buildings. Near zero energy
mon architectures. ‘Open data by default’ shall
buildings with different design options shall
become a new culture with public and private
be tested in different climatic zones. These
actors. ‘Innovation zones’ in cities shall serve
solutions shall be cost efficient with less than
as incubators and test beds for innovative
5% additional cost compared to conventional
solutions. Integrated Smart City planning and
construction. Performance monitoring will be
operation shall deliver more agile processes,
part of the programme.
employing modern simulation and visualisa-
The implementation of smart energy grids in tion tools. A common ‘Smart City Indicator’
this roadmap will cover heating, cooling and framework shall help cities to self-evaluate,
electricity networks including smart meter- monitor progress, and more reliably compare
ing for the deployment of local renewable themselves with other cities (SIP, 2013).
resources and energy efficiency potentials.
The European Parliament (ITRE, 2014) rec-
The key performance indicators include a 50%
ommends that public authorities at all levels
coverage of the heat and cooling demand
should consider ways to use demand-side
from renewable energy carriers for the 10-20
measures to stimulate demand for city-based
envisaged programmes.
‘smart solutions’. Regulatory and procure-
The transport sector will be supported by test- ment authorities should encourage Smart
ing programmes facilitating the deployment City initiatives by selective use of regulatory
of alternative fuel vehicles (electric vehicles, forbearance and/or precompetitive sourcing.
hydrogen and fuel cells, etc.) and the imple-
mentation of the fuel/energy supply infra-
structure. Participating pioneer cities shall
use 100% clean fuels in their municipal fleets.
Futuristic
Indicative costs for related investments (public buildings in
and private) are estimated at 10,000-12,000 ‘Media
million Euro for the period 2010-2020. They Harbor’,
Düsseldorf,
are closely interlinked through the Covenant Germany
of Majors and other European initiatives. Fur- © iStock
thermore, implementation needs technical
30
E n e r g y R e s e a r c h K n o w l e d g e C e n t r e

8. Recommendations
on future research
directions
According to challenges identified in the current Promote integration of energy and
Horizon 2020 programme, European research transport infrastructure
and innovation should provide tools and meth- Sustainable urban mobility will be achieved
ods for more sustainable, open, innovative and through the integration of energy / fuelling
inclusive urban areas. Targets also include infrastructure with vehicle fleets powered
a better understanding of the dynamics of by alternative, clean energy carriers for the
urban societies and social changes and of the transport of people and goods. Implications
interplay of energy, environment, transport and on energy management, resource manage-
land-use. Pressure on natural resources will be ment and in the case of electro-mobility, the
reduced by measures stimulating sustainable impact on the electricity grid, of the deploy-
economic growth while improving the quality ment of high numbers of vehicles and/or the
of life of European urban citizens. alternative fuel blends performance needs
to be assessed.
Promote exploitation of local resources
and active participation of consumers.
Promote research into linking energy
Research within the Horizon 2020 pro-
and communication infrastructure
gramme25 on (nearly zero) or low energy
Smart energy grids and PolyGrids will enable
districts shall improve the integration and
overall energy management in Smart Cities.
management of the supply of energy with
The integration of decentralised renewable
predominant exploitation of local resources
energy sources into existing energy grids brings
(e.g. waste heat, renewables, storage) and the
up some major technical issues that have to
active participation of consumers. The cost-
be treated. Many gaps have been identified
effective refurbishment of existing buildings
in the distribution grid area such as lacking
(with a special focus on residential buildings)
monitoring data or lacking simulation models
shall be achieved without significant disruption
(EEGI, 2012).
for tenants (use of sustainable materials). ICT
solutions for buildings and districts shall be
designed to allow for the overall management
of energy / transport systems.

25 http://ec.europa.eu/research/participants/portal/desktop/en/opportunities/h2020/topics/2145-scc-01-2014.html

Energy research challenges for Smart Cities
Support for e-governance through
standardisation, data opening and
data security
The interaction between advanced communi-
cations infrastructure, mathematical model-
ling techniques, and numerical simulation
environments needs to be further developed.
Research gaps exist in the integration of ICT
systems into open service platforms and in the
verification of latest communication technolo-
gies used in system control and automation
(EEGI, 2012).
The development of efficient and effective
e-governance is identified as a prerequisite
in Smart City implementation. Smart Cities
need to be able to integrate themselves into
national, regional and international infra-
structures. Authentication systems for citi-
zens and businesses, agreed frameworks for
data privacy, and the sharing and collection of
individual and business data, are needed. For
future research, work towards interoperability
of different identity management systems,
as well as automatic consideration of user’s
preferences, is required. Smart City platforms
based on open data and integrated cloud
computing are an important element for this
purpose (Net!Works, 2011).
The consumer shall be in the center
of the new energy landscape
The consumers’ behaviour needs stronger
consideration. Main gaps with regard to suc-
cessful implementation of smart solutions
come from the non-technical field. Key items
include the acceptance of new energy systems
(tackling concerns about privacy and the fear
of degraded quality of supply), the behaviour
of individual consumers (including chances of
26 www.annex51.org
31
non-monetary incentives by applying psycho-
logical, marketing and societal means), and
the positioning of final consumers in the new
energy/electricity landscape (including the
legal and regulatory framework for advanced
market models).
Smart energy solutions shall comple-
ment the overall sustainable develop-
ment of cities.
Successful business cases for new and intel-
ligent energy services need to be developed.
Innovative concepts for cities and their energy
systems emerge in different sectors and for a
wide range of technologies. On the other hand
strategic urban planning today is primarily con-
cerned with societal challenges amongst which
local climate protection plans are just one of the
needs. Findings from the IEA EBC Annex 5126
indicate that the need to provide affordable
housing or to overcome urban inequalities was
often at least an equally important objective
compared to the energy performance of build-
ings or the integration of renewable energy
sources. Thus the challenge also lies in combin-
ing urban development with the larger require-
ments of a sustainable growth of cities. New
instruments and policy mechanisms will have
to be identified that will allow local planning
agencies and decision makers to tackle both
challenges at the same time and effectively
implement advanced concepts.
32
E n e r g y R e s e a r c h K n o w l e d g e C e n t r e

References
All relevant EC Directive and Communications are listed in Chapter 3 and are therefore
not included in the list of references.
Building-Up (2012): ‘Multi-stakeholder, Cross-sectorial, Collaborative Long-term Research and
Innovation Road Map to Overcome Technological and Non-technological Barriers towards more
Energy-Efficient Buildings and Districts’, Deliverable D3.2: Roadmap, 24.7.2012.
CONCERTO (2010): ‘Report on the integration of renewable energy sources and energy effi-
ciency’, Executive Summary.
CONCERTO (2014): ‘Energy Solutions for Smart Cities and Communities - Recommendations
for Policy Makers from the 58 Pilots of the CONCERTO Initiative’, European Union 2014.
DKE/DIN (2014): ‘DKE/DIN Roadmap Version 1.0, The German Standardization Roadmap Smart
City’, April 2014, www.dke.de/de/std/aal/documents/nr_smart%20city_en_version%201.0.pdf
EeB (2013): ‘Energy-Efficient Buildings Multiannual Roadmap for the Contractual PPP under
HORIZON 2020’, European Union 2013.
EEGI (2012): ‘Report by the EEGI Member States Initiative: A Pathway Towards Functional Pro-
jects for Distribution Grids, Mapping & Gap Analysis of Current European Smart Grids Projects’,
Smart Grids ERA-Net, April 2012.
Elber, U. (2013): ‘EERA Executive Committee JP Smart Cities Review’, Brussels, 18 April 2013,
http://www.eera-set.eu/lw_resource/datapool/_items/item_755/ reviewsmartcites_web.pdf
EPIC (2013): ‘EPIC Platform and Technology Solution’,
www.epic-cities.eu/sites/default/files/documents/EPIC_Platform_Whitepaper.pdf
ETSI (2012): ‘Interoperability Best Practices’, edition 2, www.etsi.org
EU-China Smart and Green City Cooperation (2014): ‘Comparative Study of Smart Cities in
Europe and China’, March 2014, http://eu-chinasmartcities.eu/?q=node/100
European Union Regional Policy (2011): ‘Cities of Tomorrow Challenges, Visions, Ways Forward’,
October 2011.
Frost & Sullivan web conference, 5 September 2013, www.prnewswire.com/news-releases/
frost--sullivan--connected-and-intelligent-infrastructure-e-government-services-and-smart-
security-solutions-to-drive-smart-city-market-221155871.html
Gröger, Gerhard and Plümer, Lutz (2012): CityGML – Interoperable Semantic 3D City Models,
ISPRS Journal of Photogrammetry and Remote Sensing, Volume 71, July 2012, Pages 12-33,
http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.isprsjprs.2012.04.004
International Energy Agency (2009): ‘Cities, towns & renewable energy’.
ITRE (2014): European Parliament, Directorate General for Internal Policies - Policy Department A:
‘Economic and Scientific Policy: ‘Mapping Smart Cities in the EU’, IP/A/ITRE/ST/2013-02, January 2014.
Kamal-Chaoui, Lamia and Alexis, Robert (eds.) (2009): ‘Competitive Cities and Climate Change’,
OECD Regional Development Working Papers N° 2, 2009, OECD publishing.
 33
Energy research challenges for Smart Cities

Komninos, N (2013): ‘Smart Cities and the Future Internet: Innovation Ecosystems of Embedded
Spatial Intelligence; Proceedings of International Conference for Entrepreneurship’, Innovation
and Regional Development ICEIRD, Istanbul 2013.
Maier, M.W. (1998): Architecting principles for systems of systems, Systems Engineering, vol.
1, no. 4, pp. 267-284, 1998.
Net!Works (2011): Net!Works European Technology Platform, Expert Working Group on Smart
Cities Applications and Requirements, White Paper, 20.5.2011, http://www.networks-etp.eu/
publications/sra-and-white-papers.html
Nielsen, P. S., Ben Amer, S., Halsnæs, K. (2013): ‘Definition of Smart Energy City and State of
the Art of 6 Transform Cities using Key Performance Indicators’, EU-FP7 TRANSFORM project
Work Package 1, Deliverable 1.2, http://orbit.dtu.dk/ws/files/60555188/ Definiton_of_smart_
city_D1.2_FINAL.pdf
Nikonowicz Ł., Milewski J.: Virtual Power Plants – general review: structure, application and
optimization; Journal of Power Technologies 92 (3) (2012) 135–149.
OIP (2014): European Innovation Partnership on Smart Cities and Communities: ‘Operational
Implementation Plan’, First Public Draft, 2014, http://ec.europa.eu/eip/smartcities/
Ojo, A., Curry, E., Janowski, T.: ‘Designing Next Generation Smart City Initiatives – Harnessing
Findings and Lessons from a Study of Ten Smart City Programs’, 22nd European Conference
on Information Systems, Tel Aviv 2014, http://ecis2014.eu/E-poster/files/0575-file1.pdf
Pallot, M., Trousse, B., Senach, B., Scapin, D: ‘Living Lab Research Landscape: From User Centred
Design and User Experience Towards User Cocreation’, 2010.
Schwartz, H.-G.: ‘The Smart Cities Member States Initiative Helping Cities to become the Drivers
of Energy Innovation’, GEODE Autumn Seminar, November 2012.
SCSP (2013a): Smart Cities Stakeholder Platform: ‘Advanced Materials for Energy Efficient
Buildings’; http://eu-smartcities.eu/content/ki-advanced-materials-energy-efficient-buildings
SCSP (2013b): Smart Cities Stakeholder Platform: ‘E-mobility and Power Matching’,
http://eu-smartcities.eu/sites/all/files/E-mobility%20and%20Power%20Matching%20-%20
Smart%20Cities%20Stakeholder%20Platform%20january.pdf
SCSP (2013c): Smart Cities Stakeholder Platform: ‘Multimodal Personal Mobility’;
http://eu-smartcities.eu/archives/keys-to-innovation
SGIG (2013): US Department of Energy: ‘Smart Grid Investment Grant Program Progress Report
II’, October 2013.
SIP (2013): European Innovation Partnership on Smart Cities and Communities: ‘Strategic
Implementation Plan’, 14.10.2013, http://ec.europa.eu/eip/smartcities/
SWD (2013) final: Commission Staff Working Document ‘Technology Assessment’ Accompanying
the Document ‘Energy Technologies and Innovation’, COM 2013/253 final.
Samad, Tariq and Parisini, Thomas (2011): ‘The Impact of Control Technology’, Samad, T. and
Annaswamy, A. M. (eds.), www.ieeecss.org
Travers, M. G. (2011): ‘Smart Integrated Infrastructure - The Progression of Smart Grid’, Pres-
entation to National League of Cities, 18.5.2011, www.nlc.org
34
E n e r g y R e s e a r c h K n o w l e d g e C e n t r e

TRIP (2013): Transport Research Innovation Portal, Thematic Research Summary ‘Urban Transport’,
2013, www.transport-research.info/Upload/Documents/201312/20131202_121219_33243_
TRS08_fin_rev.pdf
Urbact II (2011): Project Results, Report December 2011, http://urbact.eu/fileadmin/gen-
eral_library/Rapport_Urbact_II.pdf

Web references
European Innovation Partnership on Smart Cities and Communities (EIP-SCC): http://ec.europa.
eu/eip/smartcities/
Energy Infrastructure Package : http://ec.europa.eu/energy/infrastructure/strategy/2020_en.htm
European Energy Research Alliance (EERA): www.eera-set.eu/eera-joint-programmes-jps/15-eera-
joint-programmes/smart-cities/
http://setis.ec.europa.eu/newsroom-items-folder/eera-joint-programmes-coordinating-energy-
research-for-a-low-carbon-europe
The Fuel Cell and Hydrogen Joint Undertaking: www.fch-ju.eu/
Transport Research Innovation Portal (TRIP): www.transport-research.info/web/news/archive.cfm
ERKC Compendium http://setis.ec.europa.eu/energy-research/content/compendium
Covenant of Mayors: www.covenantofmayors.eu/about/covenant-of-mayors_en.html
EUROCITIES: www.eurocities.eu/eurocities/home
Energy Cities: www.energy-cities.eu/spip.php?page=index_en
ICLEI - Local Governments for Sustainability: www.iclei.org
EU-China Policy Dialogues Support Facility (PDSF): http://eu-chinasmartcities.eu
‘EnEff:Stadt’ research initiative of the German Federal Ministry of Economics and Energy:
www.eneff-stadt.info
Fraunhofer Gesellschaft ‘Morgenstadt’ Initiative: www.morgenstadt.de/en.html
Climate KIC Flagship project ‘Building Technology Accelerator’ (BTA): http://platformtbe.org/
projects/flagship-bta/
The EU FP7 project ‘Buildsmart – energy efficient solutions ready for the market”:
www.buildsmart-energy.eu/index.html
Future Internet EU FP7 project Fireball: www.fireball4smartcities.eu
EU FP7 Project EPIC: www.epic-cities.eu
EU project i-SCOPE: www.iscopeproject.net
EU project RADICAL : www.radical-project.eu
EU FP7 Project WATERP: www.waterp-fp7.eu/ Climate KIC project ‘Smart Urban Water’ (SUW)
www.climate-kic.org/projects/smart-urban-water/
EU project APOLLON: www.apollon-pilot.eu
 35
Energy research challenges for Smart Cities

List of Acronyms
3D Three dimensional
CEN European Committee for Standardisation
CENELEC European Committee for Electronical Standardisation
CHP Combined heat and power
CIP Competitiveness and Innovation Framework Programme
DHC District heating and cooling
EC European Commission
EeB Energy-efficient Buildings PPP
EERA European Energy Research Alliance
EII European Industrial Initiative
EIP European Innovation Partnership
EIT European Institute of Innovation and Technology
EPIC European Platform for Intelligent Cities
ENoLL European Network of Living Labs
ERKC Energy Research Knowledge Centre
ETP European Technology Platform
ETSI European Telecommunications Standards Institute
EU European Union
FP7 Seventh Framework Programme
GHG Greenhouse gas
ICT Information and communication technology
IEE Intelligent Energy Europe Programme
ITS Intelligent transport systems
IoT Internet of Things
JP Joint Programme
JPI Joint Programming Initiative
KIC Knowledge and innovation communities
METI Ministry of Economy, Trade and Industry
OECD Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development
OGC Open geospatial consortium
PC Personal computer
PCM Phase change materials
PPP Public-private partnership
R&D Research and development
RD&D Research, development and demonstration
RES Renewable energy sources
SCIAM Smart City infrastructure architecture model
SDO Standard developing organisations
SEAP Sustainable energy action plan
36
E n e r g y R e s e a r c h K n o w l e d g e C e n t r e

SET-Plan European Strategic Energy Technology Plan

SGAM Smart grid architecture model
SoS System of systems
SSCC-CG Smart and Sustainable Cities and Communities Coordination Group
SUW Smart urban water
TRIP Transport Research Innovation Portal
TRS Thematic Research Summary
TSB Technology Strategy Board (UK)
UIM Urban information model
US United States
VPP Virtual power plants
Cities are becoming more and more of a focal point
for our economies and societies at large, particularly
because of on-going urbanisation, and the trend
towards increasingly knowledge-intensive economies
as well as their growing share of resource consump-
tion and emissions. To meet public policy objectives
under these circumstances, cities need to change and
develop, but in times of tight budgets this change
needs to be achieved in a smart way: our cities need
to become ‘smart cities’.

European Innovation Partnership on Smart Cities and

Communities - Strategic Implementation Plan