Author supplied: Within the Netherlands the interest for sustainability is slowly growing. However, most organizations are still lagging behind in implementing sustainability as part of their strategy and in developing performance indicators to track their progress; not only in profit organizations but in higher education as well, even though sustainability has been on the agenda of the higher educational sector since the 1992 Earth Summit in Rio, progress is slow. Currently most initiatives in higher education in the Netherlands have been made in the greening of IT (e.g. more energy efficient hardware) and in implementing sustainability as a competence in curricula. However if we look at the operations (the day to day processes and activities) of Dutch institutions for higher education we just see minor advances. In order to determine what the best practices are in implementing sustainable processes, We have done research in the Netherlands and based on the results we have developed a framework for the smart campus of tomorrow. The research approach consisted of a literature study, interviews with experts on sustainability (both in higher education and in other sectors), and in an expert workshop. Based on our research we propose the concept of a Smart Green Campus that integrates new models of learning, smart sharing of resources and the use of buildings and transport (in relation to different forms of education and energy efficiency). Flipping‐the‐classroom, blended learning, e‐learning and web lectures are part of the new models of learning that should enable a more time and place independent form of education. With regard to smart sharing of resources we have found best practices on sharing IT‐storage capacity among universities, making educational resources freely available, sharing of information on classroom availability and possibilities of traveling together. A Smart Green Campus is (or at least is trying to be) energy neutral and therefore has an energy building management system that continuously monitors the energy performance of buildings on the campus. And the design of the interior of the buildings is better suited to the new forms of education and learning described above. The integrated concept of Smart Green Campus enables less travel to and from the campus. This is important as in the Netherlands about 60% of the CO2 footprint of a higher educational institute is related to mobility. Furthermore we advise that the campus is in itself an object for study by students and researchers and sustainability should be made an integral part of the attitude of all stakeholders related to the Smart Green Campus. The Smart Green Campus concept provides a blueprint that Dutch institutions in higher education can use in developing their own sustainability strategy. Best practices are shared and can be implemented across different institutions thereby realizing not only a more sustainable environment but also changing the attitude that students (the professionals of tomorrow) and staff have towards sustainability.
To achieve the “well below 2 degrees” targets, a new ecosystem needs to be defined where citizens become more active, co-managing with relevant stakeholders, the government, and third parties. This means moving from the traditional concept of citizens-as-consumers towards energy citizenship. Positive Energy Districts (PEDs) will be the test-bed area where this transformation will take place through social, technological, and governance innovation. This paper focuses on benefits and barriers towards energy citizenships and gathers a diverse set of experiences for the definition of PEDs and Local Energy Markets from the Horizon2020 Smart Cities and Communities projects: Making City, Pocityf, and Atelier.
B4B is a multi-year, multi-stakeholder project focused on developing methods to harness big data from smart meters, building management systems and the Internet of Things devices, to reduce energy consumption, increase comfort, respond flexibly to user behaviour and local energy supply and demand, and save on installation maintenance costs. This will be done through the development of faster and more efficient Machine Learning and Artificial Intelligence models and algorithms. The project is geared to existing utility buildings such as commercial and institutional buildings.
In the road transportation sector, CO2 emission target is set to reduce by at least 45% by 2030 as per the European Green Deal. Heavy Duty Vehicles contribute almost quarter of greenhouse gas emissions from road transport in Europe and drive majorly on fossil fuels. New emission restrictions creates a need for transition towards reduced emission targets. Also, increasing number of emission free zones within Europe, give rise to the need of hybridization within the truck and trailer community. Currently, in majority of the cases the trailer units do not possess any kind of drivetrain to support the truck. Trailers carry high loads, such that while accelerating, high power is needed. On the other hand, while braking the kinetic energy is lost, which otherwise could be recaptured. Thus, having a trailer with electric powertrain can support the truck during traction and can charge the battery during braking, helping in reducing the emissions and fuel consumption. Using the King-pin, the amount of support required by trailer can be determined, making it an independent trailer, thus requiring no modification on the truck. Given the heavy-duty environment in which the King-pin operates, the measurement design around it should be robust, compact and measure forces within certain accuracy level. Moreover, modification done to the King-pin is not apricated. These are also the challenges faced by V-Tron, a leading company in the field of services in mobility domain. The goal of this project is to design a smart King-pin, which is robust, compact and provides force component measurement within certain accuracy, to the independent e-trailer, without taking input from truck, and investigate the energy management system of the independent e-trailer to explore the charging options. As a result, this can help reduce the emissions and fuel consumption.
Door COVID-19 crisis zijn er extra uitdagingen om de verdere doorontwikkeling van het praktijkgerichte onderzoek en de onderliggende infrastructuur en professionalisering kwalitatief en kwantitatief te realiseren. De Hogeschool van Arnhem en Nijmegen (HAN) zet de IMPULS 2020 middelen in om de rol van het praktijkgericht onderzoek hierin te bestendigen en versterken. Het betreft een academie overstijgende aanvraag. Het beschikbare budget vanuit de regeling bedraagt 550.000 euro en zal in 2021 via twee lijnen worden ingezet: 1. Netwerk- en visievorming Dit richt zich op de versterking van de strategische netwerkvorming en samenhang overstijgend aan de zwaartepunten als focus gebieden voor de samenwerking onderwijs, onderzoek en werkveld (deels is hier aandacht voor de ontwikkeling en samenwerking bij regelingen als SPRONG of MMIP). Dit moet leiden tot het ontwikkelen van een meerjarige roadmap SLIM, SCHOON & SOCIAAL (S3). De regie ligt bij dit deel bij het zwaartepunt management. (Sustainable Energy & Environment (SEE), Smart Region en Health). 2. Professionalisering onderzoeksondersteuning Dit gedeelte betreft het vervolg op het project professionalisering onderzoeksondersteuning en richt zich (in lijn met het nationale project DCC) op de doorontwikkeling van: datastewardship, FAIR data & open access, ICT kennisinfrastructuur en communicatie rondom onderzoek en ondersteuning, verdere ontwikkeling van een Open Science Platform en voorbereiding op een HAN Open Access Fonds. Dit deel zal vanuit Services Onderwijs, Onderzoek en Kwaliteitszorg gecoördineerd worden. Middels deze inzet geeft de HAN een extra stimulans aan de strategische samenwerking en de verdere ontwikkeling van een consistente en herkenbare onderzoeksprogrammering en -ondersteuning.
