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INTRODUCTION - CONTEXT, UNDERSTANDING AND FRAMEWORK
1.1 Introduction and global context The ‘Indicator-based Interactive Decision Support and Information Exchange Platform for Smart Cities’, or INDICATE is an EU-funded project involving participants from across Europe including Ireland, Italy, Switzerland and the UK. INDICATE proposes a novel city-wide decision support system which accounts for all major systems and activities relevant to developing energy-efficient cities. The creation of such energy-efficient cities is a critical part of global sustainability and will require integrated smart urban planning tools for both master-planning and detailed energy optimisation. In this regard INDICATE will support stakeholders in the transition towards smart cities by providing an interactive decision support tool for urban planning and design. The tool will assess the interactions between urban objects and spaces, buildings, the electricity grid, renewable technologies and ICT and recommend options for optimising infrastructure, installing technology, and providing cost-effective utility services. As outlined above, the INDICATE tool seeks to provide an integrated tool which considers urban energy efficiency in a holistic manner. Energy is now a key component of sustainable development and must be viewed in this context. According to the UN, approaches to sustainability should appropriately consider the three components of sustainable development – “economic development, social development and environmental protection – as interdependent and mutually reinforcing pillars” (United Nations, 2005.p12). In order for society to develop in a sustainable manner, there must be a careful balance between: the earth’s ecosystem, economic development, and societal progress, to ensure protection of the planet. This is a major challenge and represents a delicate balancing act, and to date humanity has not provided the stewardship required to achieve this balance. From the ‘The limits of growth’ in early 1970s (Meadows and Club of Rome, 1972), to the ‘Brundtland Report’ in 1987 (World Commission on et al., 1987), through to the Stern Report in 2007 (Stern and Great Britain, 2007) there has been many calls to redress this situation. As an illustration of the gravity of the current situation, it is currently estimated that if everyone on the planet consumed the same amount of resources as the average European, then the resources from the equivalent of four and a half planets would be needed to sustain the global population (WWF and Global Footprint Network, 2008). This current research considers urban energy efficiency in this wider context with an appreciation of the interrelationships that exist between the various sectors in society and the multiple components of the urban and built environment. The INDICATE tool, while energy focused, will adopt a holistic approach to urban energy efficiency and this is reflected in the material reviewed in this report and the ongoing stakeholder engagement processes which are being undertaken as part of this research.
1.2 Work Package and Task Overview The overall research project includes nine work packages in total which aim to inform and enable the INDICATE tool. This current deliverable report outlines the main findings from Task 3.1 and provides context and support for Work Package 3 (WP3) by undertaking a comprehensive examination of urban energy efficiency, and by evaluating current methodologies for monitoring and quantifying energy consumption in the urban environment. Overall WP3 is concerned with the selection of suitable sustainability indictors that integrate the energy characteristics of buildings (consumption and generation) with other components of a city’s infrastructure and governance. This refined set of Sustainable Urban Indicators will be used to aid decision support within the urban 31/03/2014
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