This audio was created using Microsoft Azure Speech Services
The trend of urban demographics giving rise to new social and economical challenge. The cities are stretched beyond the capacity of their infrastructure and resource . There is a scarcity of resource , one is “Energy”. Energy use in cities is pivotal to their growth and Maintenance. The study suggests that the demand for energy in cities broadly classified as energy required for the growth of cities and energy required for the maintenance of cities. Its not surprise that the aging systems use more of their energy for maintenance & less for growth. As the model of smart cities evolves around ‘livable’ ‘sustainable’ & ‘efficient’ ; there is a greater deal of importance attached with the effective ways of energy usage. Its interesting to know that the research was able to establish a clear link between the GDP growth vs ‘energy consumption’ either accounted for growth or maintenance of cities. As a course of correction , emphasis is given on revamping the aging infrastructure of the cities so as to make it ‘smart’ to manage it more efficiently. Buildings are the building blocks of the cities , it consumes one fifth of the total energy. Without a second thought , there are refurbishment opportunities arising in ‘building’s’ in smart cities with needs for energy and asset management. From the perspective of ‘smart hubs’ here are few pointers on ‘maintaining the smart cities building blocks’
- W.A.G.E.S. “+” monitoring : Utilities parameter like W.A.G.E.S [ Water , Air , Gas , Electricity , Steam ] been monitored for better energy management. With the smart cities building blocks , certain critical functions as ‘ Fire Alarm’s’ , ‘Lift’ are equally finding common monitoring interests. A brown field opportunity propose refurbish the low voltage system with the incorporation of new compiling smart cities needs.
- Productivity : As the scope and complexities involved in the task , ‘Productivity’ is an important item on the list. Plug ‘n Play devices are coming handy. Once what been a ‘time consuming’ task , replacing , refurbishing an aging low voltage distribution system is now a Plug ‘n Play . The new digitized low voltage panels are ready to install and commission. The network connectivity device are factory configured and ready to ‘Connect’ .
- Compactness : The new generation breakers are with built in measurement , communication functionality . This is helping to cut the big bulky panel size to a lean ,compact. It is reducing the overall footprint at the same time assuring higher level of performance with quality.
- Modularity : Not every building is same . As the need based architectures , there are modular ‘tested’ & ‘validated ‘ solutions performing to meet the user criteria. They are available in modular formats ; a choice which was never available before.
- Scalibility : The new systems , networks are capable to handle the growing needs of the buildings. This is either at the component level or at the system , process level. A highly agile connectivity option of looking the data at local or remote level through cloud is just a beginning !
The values of the above parameters are just representative the sum total activities of the urban economies. There is a sense of becoming smarter, the pillar’s of the cities are increasingly rely on technology to overcome the challenge. The strategist should keep few variable in mind as they approach to make cities ‘smart’.
For more information on Schneider Electric’s solutions for eco cities, visit our web site.
