Internet of Things (IoT) as Sustainable Development Goals (SDG) Enabling Technology towards Smart Readiness Indicators (SRI) for University Buildings

Abstract

Non-residential buildings contribute to around 20% of the total energy consumed in Europe. This consumption continues to increase globally. Smart building proposals (focused on Nearly Zero Energy Building (NZEB), air quality monitoring, energy saving with thermal comfort, etc.) were already necessary before 2020, and the pandemic has made this research and development area more essential. Furthermore, the need to meet the Sustainable Development Goals (SDG) and obtain technological solutions based on the Internet of Things (IoT) requires holistic contributions through real installations that serve as spaces for measuring, testing, study and research. This article proposes a “measure–analyse–decide and act” methodology to quantify the Smart Readiness Indicator (SRI) for university buildings as a reference environment for energy efficiency and COVID-19 prevention models. Two conceptual spaces (physical and digital) within two dimensions (users and infrastructures) are designated over an IoT three-level model (information acquisition, interoperable communication, and data-driven decision). An IoT ecosystem (sensoriZAR) was implemented as a proof-of-concept of a smart campus at the University of Zaragoza, Spain. Focused on CO2 and energy consumption monitoring, the results showed effectiveness through real installations, demonstrating the IoT potential as SDG-enabling technologies. These contributions allow not only experimental lab tests (from the authors’ expertise in several specialties of Industrial, Mechanical, Design, Thermal, Electrical, Electronic, Computer and Telecommunication Engineering) but also a reference model for direct application in academic works, research projects and institutional initiatives, extendable to professional environments, buildings and cities.

Internet of Things and Its Applications to Smart Campus: A Systematic Literature Review

“…Cloud computing enables intelligent and secure management of information in a private cloud created within the university's existing infrastructure [25]. Big data analytics facilitates better data processing, analysis, and information sharing to enhance decision-making [9]. The processing of big data through artificial intelligence can contribute greatly to creating innovative learning solutions and delivering sophisticated solutions [18].…”

“…Through a smart campus, educational institutions can improve their sustainability performance and enhance research experiences through easy access to data and campus facilities [9]. Additionally, they can improve the operation and management of university buildings, including energy conservation and environmental sustainability [10].…”

Smart Tree: An Architectural, Greening and ICT Multidisciplinary Approach to Smart Campus Environments

“…To improve conditions on university campuses, other universities in Spain have taken some first steps in this regard, such as the University of Zaragoza [28], which has a spatial and geographic information system on the campus that allows consulting the inventory of facilities and classrooms available at all times, or the University of Alicante [29], which has a management system for the mobility of vehicles that come to the campus and monitor the use of the car parks.…”

Knowledge Organization and the UN 2030 Agenda Through the Lens of Interoperability

“…In the literature, there is a remarkable amount of recent work that points to the relationship between interoperability and Sustainable Development. Themes such as smart cities (Jeong et al 2020), energy efficiency (Martínez et al 2021), cultural heritage (Turillazzi et al 2021), biodiversity (Buttigieg et al 2019;Magagna et al 2021), agriculture (Adam-Blondon et al 2016Alreshidi 2019), among others, show the diversity of research in the search for the construction of information systems that break up information silos (Pennington and Cagnazzo 2019), in pursuit of effective sharing and re-use of open and research data (Charalabidis et al 2018), concerning FAIR principles (Findable, Accessible, Interoperable, Reusable) (Grandcolas 2019). These principles were proposed in 2016 and have since been recommended by several organizations (Wilkinson et al 2016).…”