Question asked by Margherita Suss , lighting designer , owner of GMS Studio Associato , professor at the MLD Master Lighting design , Department of Architecture and Design at the Sapienza University of Rome > Are there any projects to accompany the sector towards digital urban transformation ? Replay by : Nicoletta Gozo , coordinator of the PELL Project and ENEA ' s SmartItaly Goal Project > For several years , the ENEA ( National Agency for New Technologies , Energy and Sustainable Economic Development ) has been promoting research and development activities aimed at encouraging and supporting the transition to smarter and more sustainable city models by launching a series of Projects such as , in particular , the Lumiere Project , the PELL ( Public Energy Living Lab ) Project , the SmartItaly Goal Project and the UCUM ( Urban Check Up Model ) project . These projects share the goal of promoting and guiding the urban transformation by offering the market a new generation of management models and related tools that enable the “ transition ” and supporting the Public Administration in the urban regeneration and management choices suitable to achieve it . They are projects focusing both on strategic urban infrastructures that help the transformation , on the city as a whole and on the collection , mapping and management of urban data that exist and / or are indispensable to kick off regeneration processes . Completing the project activity is the promotion and “ implementation ” of a national “ system ” convergence on goals , standards , management models and “ tools ” that have been or are being developed and proposed . The projects are based on the need to develop and equip the urban regeneration process with “ standards ” understood as a “ toolkit ” for reference and support of public administrators at the local level and of governance at the national level . It should be pointed out that the adoption of “ standardised ” paths and tools does not mean to standardize results but , today more than ever , it allows for customised results , meaning as targeted and tailored as possible to the needs of the context and / or service to be .
Question asked by Matteo Rossi , student of Energy Engineering at the University of Bologna > What is the PELL for public lighting installations and what role does it play ? Replay by : Renato Numeroli , REVETEC Technical Director > The PELL ( Public Energy Living Lab ) is a programme developed by ENEA ( National Agency for New Technologies , Energy and Sustainable Economic Development ), which has implemented an IT platform through which a census of installations is carried out using a “ census card ”. The platform foresees the collection of two types of information : a static one , which is a photograph at the time of the survey of the installation in all its functional and construction characteristics , and a dynamic one , consisting in a collection of data ( electrical quantities ) performed while the plant is in operation with a certain sampling criterion . Its structure responds to a logic of digitisation of energy-consuming public infrastructures that aims to transform them into intelligent networks through digitisation of information and continuous monitoring . To grasp the project ’ s potential , it is enough to realise that every public lighting installation becomes easy to read once surveyed and monitored . This makes it possible to :
• know the state of the installation for the purposes of proper management and redevelopment
• assess the level and potential for technological renewal
• assess the works required and estimate the payback time of the investments
• evaluate the energy savings achievable through upgrading
• assess the quality of the plant ’ s performance and functionality by means of performance indicators
• carry out impartial and transparent monitoring and control of the functioning of the system and service in order to prevent prolonged malfunctions and inefficiencies of the same system and / or service . The measured and transmitted data are MID-certified , as prescribed by the Measuring Instruments Directive 2014 / 32 / EU . In addition , measurements are collected by remote control systems every 15 minutes during system ’ s operating hours and every 60 minutes when the plant is switched off , making them accurate and particularly reliable . All this allows a simplification of procedures for those who want to offer a service and for those who need it .
Question asked by Marco R ., Design engineer and Lighting designer > What are the possible scenarios for the use of Artificial Intelligence in the management of lighting in Smart Cities and buildings ? Replay by : Lorella Primavera , Marketing Director & CEO of LoP Brand > Unquestionably , Artificial Intelligence ( AI ) will also have a development and impact in the control and management of lighting , especially in the process of learning people ’ s behaviour and use of places and spaces . At this time , however , it is perhaps still too early to say how much and to what extent this will impact on the smart city or smart building management systems . There is no doubt that , as in other sectors , even if the algorithms that process big data can be applied in a dynamic and evolutionary management of lighting systems ( or in correlation with other smart devices in cities and buildings ), it will always be crucial and necessary to make use of a human contribution to correct behaviours that cannot account for large numbers . A human input will be all the more indispensable in controlling and creating scenarios that must enhance human centric lighting and emphasise specific and personalised events . Indeed , light , in its role of communication and as a source of wellbeing and socialisation , responds not only to functional , safety or energy-saving needs , but also plays a role that goes far beyond the pure calculation of large numbers and processing based on quantitative learning algorithms . AI will probably help us to better manage , and automatically , those scenarios and configurations that can be based on learning formulas , such as traffic flow curves , or to generate correlated behaviour between different devices that make up the smart city landscape , such as weather detection sensors or smart cameras that detect dangerous situations and to link them to an increase in the level of automatic lighting .
LETTERS TO THE EXPERTS / LUCE 345 33