Climate Neutral Communities

Climate Neutral Communities

Cities are at the frontline of the energy transition: over two-thirds of the world’s energy is consumed in urban areas (IEA). Optimising local energy balance is a fundamental objective of a smart city. EIFER supports local decision makers in designing and implementing efficient and low-CO2 emissive sustainable energy systems. Thanks to our multi-disciplinary expertise and powerful 3D-modeling tools, EIFER can assess and visualize local improvement potential, increasing the efficiency of local production and distribution of renewable energy sources.

Smart urban mobility

The goals in urban mobility are efficiency, comfort and fewer CO2 emissions. EIFER develops models of smart mobility based on sustainable means of transport to improve economic efficiency, the well-being of citizens and air quality. These multi-modal solutions encompass integrated mobility systems, electric and hydrogen mobility, and charging station positioning.

Local governance and citizen empowerment

Efficient implementation and long-term operation of smart solutions requires local and suitable governance schemes. EIFER develops schemes for smart cities and relevant activity models based on suitable financial contracting patterns with urban service operators and urban data monitoring solutions. We also work on plans for citizen-level implementation, by first identifying causes of social reluctance and bottlenecks to deployment, such as data confidentiality, household and traffic monitoring, and cultural issues. We then leverage our findings to design and prototype mobile apps that help citizens understand the added value.

A multi-disciplinary approach

EIFER brings a range of perspectives to each research question, thanks to the strong academic and cultural diversity of our teams, which include sociologists, engineers, economists, political scientists, geographers and computer scientists. This allows us to better understand urban stakeholders’ needs and provide guidance from early planning phases to implementation.

Geospatial Analysis & Urban Data Management

During the realisation of multiple projects with local authorities, EIFER has validated reliable digital models and tools to facilitate decision making with data management at the urban level. This includes a unique 3D-modeling City Platform for visualizing and simulating urban energy planning scenarios to help local authorities understand the impact of their choices. Together with augmented and immersive reality devices, these digital solutions are an innovative way to virtually interact with future districts or develop urban dashboards connected to IoT real-time and open data.

Capacity to involve citizens into the urban transformation

Innovative and participative organizational schemes are key to realising the full potential of smart cities. Indeed, according to their expectations and wishes, citizens expect to benefit from dedicated services that improve their quality of life but also to be part of the choices and governance schemes through a bottom-up dynamic. EIFER organizes and runs workshops with citizen panels and develops participative geospatial platforms and energy concepts based on the expressed needs of citizens in different public funded projects.