An effective monitoring of indoor comfort and evaluation of energy consumption in a complex urban energy system

The European Commission is supporting many projects intended to improve the use of renewable energy sources and a special attention has been devoted to the case of large-scale urban areas. The Polycity project represents a significant demonstration of this energy policy, which was applied to 3 cities: Barcelona, Stuttgart and Torino. The case of Torino appears of particular relevance because it is dedicated to the improvement of energy performance of existing buildings and installations which is, in our opinion, the most frequent situation. In particular the most qualifying characteristic of Torino project is the installation of a new combined heat and power generator (CHP), coupled with an absorption chiller, in order to supply energy more efficiently in a district which include the Housing Authority of the Province of Torino (ATC) building and 30 council buildings. The trigeneration plant is able to supply electricity and cooling power to the main office building and, thanks to the coupling to the existing district heating system, it provides thermal energy for space heating and hot water to the council buildings in the district. The paper reports the analysis activities performed during Polycity project to understand the role of monitoring and control in a complex energy system with the aim of improving the efficiency and reducing the energy consumption also in the BECA project.