Chinese Business Review, May 2018, Vol. 17, No.5, 257-262 doi: 10.17265/1537-1506/2018.05.006 D DAVID PUBLISHING

Could We Design and Plan a Sustainable Future? A Possible Challenge

Andrea Rocchi Sapienza University of Rome, Rome,

Processes that aim at continuous innovation and help to plan paths that can support and help to build are encouraged by all of us and in particular by public administrations and private companies. Middle East 2018 is an international competition, aiming to design and realize the best sustainable and energy-efficient housing prototype on a real scale. The project aims to create a smart solar house that can guarantee maximum efficiency and effectiveness in the use of technology resources and provide an attractive, accessible, and comfortable environment. The aim of the paper is to analyze the contest from educational standpoint, highlighting the aspects of smart systems and smart people. The university team which is competing in this edition has the objective of designing and building in two years a full-scale prototype of the best and most attractive sustainable, zero energy, and smart solar house.

Keywords: environment, sustainable future, innovation

Introduction With the project “ReStart4Smart”, Sapienza team wants to take on new challenges of contemporary society that require a different way of designing, constructing, operating, and upgrading the buildings in which people live. IoT in a Smart House Internet of Things (IoTs) technology is a new development pattern through a network of physical objects and devices, embedded with electronics, software, sensors, and network connectivity, that enables these objects to collect and exchange data through network infrastructure (Ruggieri, Rossetti, D’Ascenzo, & Cappelli, 2017). The IoTs is an ecosystem made up of standard technologies and sensors that allow factory objects, devices, and finished products, to communicate and interact with each other via network (Machine to Machine—M2M) and people (Human to Machine—H2M). The “IoTs” is a term coined by Kevin Ashton in 1998. All the surrounding things are connected to the network, providing access to information (Gomez, Huete, Hoyos, Perez, & Grigori, 2013). Then it describes the interconnection of the objects, allowing the identification, the communication, and the data collection (Oriwoh, Sant, & Epiphaniou, 2013). The IoTs should change the information and the related social processes, providing unexpected possibilities (Vermesan et al., 2011). Kyriazis and Varvarigou (2013) suggested that the IoTs enables the provision of added-value applications, exploiting a crowd of devices

Andrea Rocchi, Ph.D., professor, Coris Department, Sapienza University of Rome, Rome, Italy. Correspondence concerning this article should be addressed to Andrea Rocchi, Coris Department, Sapienza University of Rome, Via Salaria 113, Rome 00186, Italy.

258 COULD WE DESIGN AND PLAN A SUSTAINABLE FUTURE contributing to the information. Wi-Fi is used for remote monitoring and control. Home devices are an important characteristic of the IoTs, when remotely monitored and controlled via the Internet (Jin, Jia, & Spanos, 2017). The web objects are focused on energy efficiency, allowing the monitoring in/outdoor environment, offering a comfortable room environment, managing the energy consumption, and adjusting the home appliances. IoTs has a basic role in the smart house and these objects characterize the entire ecosystem, creating the domotics that involve the control and automation of lighting, heating, ventilation, air conditioning, and security, as well as home appliances, such as washer/dryers, refrigerators/freezers. In the building automation, the smart house is a home where the IoTs technologies are present every day and interfaces with it as a building, as a plant system, in order to create a combination of simplicity and comfort supported by house performance in order to meet the household’s needs (R. Li, Yi, H. C. Y. Li, Mak, & Tang, 2016). Home automation is one of the most important issues in lifestyle-related technology and begins to have a major impact on residential safety (Rocchi, 2013). Due to comprehensive networking and individual adaptation to user experience, personal data protection and data security are particularly important issues. Networked devices constantly exchange signals and data and this traffic has to protect against unauthorized viewing and access. It is possible to secure the digital building technology, following these few basic rules: use contracts to protect the privacy, set up a multi-functional security concept, ensure professional installation, use secure passwords, protect networks carefully, carry out regular updates, and protect wireless networks carefully. Despite the data privacy limits, technology has to be exploited in order to improve people’s lives and let them progress in everyday life to make them aware that automating an action could be a big plus and to make certain tasks possible to those who are unable to carry them out.

An International Competition Solar Decathlon is a competition between international teams composed by university students. The aim is designing and building the best solar powered house during a contest long three years. Solar Decathlon is so much more than a simple competition and can be compared to an international process of sustainability promotion, impacting stake holders and common people too. The first Solar Decathlon was held in 2002; from 2005 the competition has occurred biennially. The next Solar Decathlon is planned in Denver, Colorado. Solar Decathlon’s goals are several. Each of them is linked to promote sustainability in large scale. In details, we can target three different goals: provide participating students with unique training; educate students and the public about the latest green technologies and sustainable buildings; demonstrate to the public the comfort that combines energy with onsite production. Since 2002, the U.S. Department of Energy Solar Decathlon has expanded to Europe, China, Latin America, and the Middle East. A new Solar Decathlon Africa is being planned for 2019 in . Solar Decathlon Middle East Solar Decathlon Middle East (SDME) is the first edition of this inter-university competition to have place in the Middle East. As the original Solar Decathlon U.S., one of the main characteristic elements of the SDME competition is its emphasis on sustainability, innovation, and research. The participant teams work not only to develop and build their houses, but also to enhance the systems’ integration and generation of knowledge on sustainable construction. As well as the American edition, the matrix of SDME 2018 is institutional. The contest was created through an agreement signed between Dubai Water and Electricity Authority (DEWA) and

COULD WE DESIGN AND PLAN A SUSTAINABLE FUTURE 259 the Department of Energy of the United States of America in June 2015 with the aim to organize a sustainable solar houses competition in Dubai in 2018 and 2020. The rules of the competition have been developed and adapted from the U.S. Department of Energy Solar Decathlon Rules and the Rules in order to meet the unique objectives and principles (see Table 1) of the Solar Decathlon Middle East Organization.

Table 1 Solar Decathlon Middle East 2018 Principles Middle East climate Innovation Sobriety Mobility Developing and promoting Architects and engineers are Through a limitation of Even if it is not an international ideas, capacities, and required to find the most photovoltaic power installed, competition for electric technologies that can be adapted solutions for the an important evaluation of vehicles, the social relevance implemented for the benefit of specific context while sharing energy efficiency and a strong about this topic cannot be the inhabitants of the Middle the most innovative ideas with incentive to produce and ignored in order to guarantee a East region, in consideration of colleagues from other countries consume wisely, coherently holistic approach on the cultural, climatic, and through an intercultural debate with the aim to increase the sustainability and lifestyle social particular contexts people awareness about sustainability

The challenge in the Solar Decathlon Middle East 2018 International Competition is to safely and effectively design, build, and operate solar-powered houses that are energy-efficient. In addition, they should be attractive and have the necessary customization to adapt the house designs to the heat, dust, and high humidity experienced by the Middle East region during part of the year. Competition designs must be sustainable for the Middle East climate zone based on temperature, humidity, aerosol, heating, and cooling degree-days. The climate in the Middle East is diverse and the designs will have to adapt to solve specific issues across the region. The winner of the competition is the team that best blends innovation and design excellence with optimal energy production and maximum efficiency. Competing solar houses will be evaluated on the basis of 10 separately scored contests (see Table 2).

Table 2 Solar Decathlon Middle East 2018 Contests Constests Sub-contests Architecture Spatial and environmental factors Engineering and construction Construction and engineering systems Energy management Management and reduction of energy consumption Energy efficiency Functionality and efficiency of the house design Comfort conditions Control of temperature, humidity, lighting House functioning Maximize the performance of the house Sustainable transportation Simulating the driving patterns of a typical household Sustainability Reducing the negative environmental impact Communication Teams communication capacity to find creative Innovation Evaluating the degree of innovation of the house

Sapienza University of Rome has become one of the selected international teams among 22 universities that will compete for two years within the Solar Decathlon Middle East 2018 Edition. The 22 university teams competing, coming from 16 different countries, were selected by an international jury in a shortlist of over 60 nominations.

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Material and Methods: A Large and Wide Research Team Sapienza is once again Europe’s largest university with about 145,000 students from all over the world. The university is competing in the Solar Decathlon Middle East 2018 edition with its team, a multidisciplinary group with the aim of designing and building in two years, from October 2016 to October 2018, a full-scale prototype of sustainable and smart solar house. The project has been named “ReStart4Smart”, which aims to take a challenge on a different way of designing, constructing, operating, and upgrading the buildings in which people live. This project points to introduce a new approach to architecture that, taking inspiration from the traditions of the past, manages to exploit all the possibilities offered by the use of renewable energy sources. The team is composed by over 50 undergraduates’, Ph.D.’s, and master’s students from the three Faculties of Architecture, Civil and Industrial Engineering and Political Sciences, Sociology and Communication of Sapienza University of Rome, coordinated and supported by key faculty members, each a leading academic in his own fields of expertise. This composition testifies to the desire of the team to involve directly students, giving them the major role into this process. As result of this choice, group members are deeply involved in project activities through training, research activities, design and experimentation processes, fully integrated in the academic programs. The “ReStart4Smart” strategy is focused on four different dimensions, four pillars strictly connected to the requests of Solar Decathlon Middle East contest, explaining the term “4” on which the entire project has been planned (see Table 3).

Table 3 The “ReStart4Smart” Four Pillars Smart shape Smart envelope Smart systems Smart people Shape and orientation of the Technical-construction Technological dimension Socio-cultural dimension building, the positioning and dimension concerning both the favoring the use of high through training and direct sizing of the openings and the characteristics of the structure efficiency system solutions, the involvement of users will be distribution of interior spaces integration of renewable energy able to better and consciously sources and the use of manage energy consumption advanced building automation and comfort levels systems and Internet of Things

In addition to the energy and environment efficiency features typical of a zero energy building and a , “ReStart4Smart” intends to add those of intelligence, through a continuous interaction with context and users in order to acquire data and information useful to the optimization of its operation and flexibility. Team Sapienza’s solar house will be built in Rome, at the multipurpose center of CEFME-CTP (Parity organism institute for education and security in Rome), starting from autumn 2017. After completion, the smart solar house will be disassembled and reassembled in order to test and simulate construction procedures and timing. Then, operational tests will be carried out during the hottest months of June, July, and August 2018, when the climatic conditions are closer to those found in Dubai during the competition. The achievement of all major energy and environmental certifications is also planned (LEED, Protocollo Itaca, Estidama, EU Energy Certification). During the construction and monitoring period, guided tours will be organized at the CEFME-CTP center to the construction yard for education and training on and renewable energy sources. This action, together with educational activities in schools, represents one of the main points listed in the team agenda, which aims to increase people’s awareness about these topics also starting vis-à-vis process and word of mouth. Coherently, past the competition phase, the “ReStart4Smart”

COULD WE DESIGN AND PLAN A SUSTAINABLE FUTURE 261 solar house will become a permanent laboratory open to the public. Furthermore, the house will be shown in Exhibitions and events of national and international relevance. All project impacts are expected to raise the awareness of the general public about energy efficiency and responsible energy use in buildings and encourage the use of innovative sustainable technologies and the architecturally attractive integration of solar systems in order to promote sustainability values, coherently with the recent request advanced by international important institutions, as previously exposed. The project is fully supported by institutions, industrial, and media partners of excellence, such as The Ministry of Education, University, and Research or The Ministry of Cultural Heritage and Activities and Tourism, in order to guarantee the most advanced and innovative solutions and the widest reach to both professionals and public at large. In particular, the team has planned to create: website, social media profiles, periodic service of newsletter, event, radio programs participations, partnership between scholastic institutions in order to allow students to visit house prototype. Finally, from the proposal phase of the competition, up to July 2017, the participation of team Sapienza and the Solar Decathlon Middle East have been widely publicized achieving 94 website articles, 23 events, three newspaper articles, and three radio services. An Innovative Challenge in a New Context The education and the direct involvement of the Sapienza team are analyzed, in order to deepen the socio-cultural context. The project offers the student’s members of the teams an opportunity to go over the theory dimension by learning pragmatic skills, facing technical issues, sustainable lifestyle, and socio-economic issues in order to ensure the viability of their project. In particular, it is developed by multidisciplinary team, giving students the opportunity to learn more (Rocchi & D’Ascenzo 2012) about teamwork, communication, a sustainable lifestyle, and the socio-economic issues. Sapienza team wants to take on the new challenges of contemporary society that require a different way of designing, constructing, and operating the buildings in which we live. The smart solar home prototype will act as a permanent laboratory open to the public for education and training on sustainable architecture and integration of renewable energy sources in buildings. All team members are deeply involved on project activities through a rigorous training, research, design, and experimentation process, fully integrated in the academic programs. The aim is characterized by two actions: educate the students and the public about the money-saving opportunities and environmental benefits presented by clean-energy products and design solutions; demonstrate to the public the comfort and home affordability that combines energy-efficient construction and appliances with renewable energy systems available today.

Conclusion Knowledge and dissemination of an industrialized sustainable solar building could be useful to educate students’ participation in the opportunities and benefits offered by the use of renewable technologies, careful energy management, and sustainable building, invite them to develop creative and innovative solutions for energy saving, encourage professionals to choose new and old materials and technologies that can reduce the environmental impact of their designs, optimize their economic convenience, and ensure occupant comfort and safety. Finally, this project is suitable to promote to the general public the conscious use of energy and technologies to increase the energy efficiency of housing; encourage the adoption of renewable energy sources by promoting the integration of formal high quality solar systems through the replacement of traditional building blocks; demonstrate how high-performance solar homes can be comfortable, aesthetically pleasing,

262 COULD WE DESIGN AND PLAN A SUSTAINABLE FUTURE and economically viable and that a well-designed home can self-produce all the electricity needed for domestic consumption. More than 20 universities admitted to the SDME arrange a small group of world excellence, ready to challenge the most important solar building event at world. One of the main features of the SDME is the importance of the sustainability, innovation, and research. The effort of participation teams will not be limited to the development and construction of their prototype, but also to the improvement of synergies between different systems and to the deepening of all aspects of sustainable construction.

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