novatlantis gmbh – Gemeinnützige Gesellschaft für Nachhaltigkeit und Wissenstransfer

Smart Sites for Smart Cities

Smart Sites for Smart Cities

Smart City is a comprehensive approach. It claims to cover all areas of sustainable urban development and to focus on the quality of life and the well-being of the inhabitants of a city. A variety of measures, not only technology-based, contribute to the Smart City. But a city is not built in a day. Many small and larger area and site developments contribute to the Smart City.

Based on a project for smart 2000-watt sites commissioned by the Swiss Federal Office of Energy SFOE, novatlantis has developed a playful self-assessment – not only for 2000-watt sites. It provides an initial overview of the concept of “smart sites”. After 18 questions, you as an investor, site developer, building authority employee, local councillor or committed resident have an initial assessment of the smartness of your site. The evaluation is done graphically. A “Yes” is awarded 2 points, a “Partly” 1 point and a “No” 0 points. In addition, no entries are saved or sent to the server:


  • Mobility
  • People
  • Economy
  • Buildings & Environment
  • Management
  • Habitat Area

Mobility

Mobility is one of the key factors for a sustainable future. Thematic areas to be worked on for the mobility sector are: Area logistics, individual mobility solutions, intelligent sector coupling (e.g. coupling of building energy with electric mobility).
Is area logistics (i.e. the distribution of goods within the area) actively processed and managed?
Are environmentally friendly and energy-efficient solutions actively offered for individual mobility?
Is electromobility integrated into building management (sector coupling)?

People

Increasing quality of life is one of the most important maxims of the smart city movement. But what is quality of life and how is it positively influenced? One facilitating factor is certainly a vibrant and supportive neighbourhood.
Is a social mix of tenants (old/young, social diversity, inclusion of handicapped persons) promoted by a diverse housing offer with corresponding allocation practices?
Are there committees or vessels where dialogue among residents can take place?
Is neighbourhood help (e.g. childminding, shopping, house-sitting, tutoring) encouraged?

Economy

Digital platforms promote efficient, simple and accessible solutions and are the basis for new business models.
Are rooms available for rent as co-working spaces, for parties and meetings or as a flexible extension of living space, or are there boarding rooms for guests?
Are there offers for a local, regional and socially acceptable supply of daily necessities?
Are there efforts towards zero-waste?

Buildings & Environment

Buildings today are in some cases highly digitised, allowing for efficient operation. In addition, the longevity of buildings is increasingly coming into focus. This starting position can be used for further optimisation measures
Is as much energy as possible produced in an environmentally friendly way on the site and is there an association for self-consumption?
Are the buildings equipped with secure and maintained connections for IoT applications?
Will the buildings be designed and realised with BIM and will the BIM models be further used for other applications (e.g. for the creation of a material database or visualisations)

Management

Optimal operation of a building or site can simplify processes, improve communication between occupants and management, and better realise the potential to increase resource efficiency and reduce costs.
Are energy, electricity, water and wastewater data systematically collected and analysed?
Is collaboration with research institutions sought (e.g. in providing raw data for studies and research purposes) to achieve continuous improvement?
Will the data be visualised and published anonymously?

Habitat Area

The area as a living space exerts a direct influence on people’s well-being. Its design, the range of services on offer or the opportunities for co-design play a role in this.
Is there a digital platform for the reservation or exchange of rooms, cars or objects?
Are there support services for the elderly and needy?
Can the outdoor space be appropriated or co-created?

These questions give a first impression of the smartness of an area – of course they do not represent a final assessment. For a detailed analysis, please contact us!

Download (in german only): Questionnaire for Smart Sites