Modelling and Co-simulation of Multi-Energy Systems: Distributed Software Methods and Platforms

L'abstract è presente nell'allegato / the abstract is in the attachmen

Tools for modelling and simulating the Smart Grid

The Smart Grid (SG) is a Cyber-Physical System (CPS) considered a critical infrastructure divided into cyber (software) and physical (hardware) counterparts that complement each other. It is responsible for timely power provision wrapped by Information and Communication Technologies (ICT) for handling bi-directional energy flows in electric power grids. Enacting control and performance over the massive infrastructure of the SG requires convenient analysis methods. Modelling and simulation (M&S) is a performance evaluation technique used to study virtually any system by testing designs and artificially creating 'what-if' scenarios for system reasoning and advanced analysis. M&S avoids stressing the actual physical infrastructure and systems in production by addressing the problem in a purely computational perspective. Present work compiles a non-exhaustive list of tools for M&S of interest when tackling SG capabilities. Our contribution is to delineate available options for modellers when considering power systems in combination with ICT. We also show the auxiliary tools and details of most relevant solutions pointing out major features and combinations over the years

Co-simulation of cyber-physical systems using a DEVS wrapping strategy in the MECSYCO middleware

International audienceMost modeling and simulation (M&S) questions about cyber-physical systems (CPS) require expert skills belonging to different scientific fields. The challenges are then to integrate each domain's tools (formalism and simulation software) within the rigorous framework of M&S process. To answer this issue, we give the specifications of the MECSYCO co-simulation middle-ware which enables to interconnect several pre-existing and heterogeneous M&S tools, so they can simulate a whole CPS together. The middleware performs the co-simulation in a parallel, decentralized and distributable fashion thanks to its modular multi-agent architecture. In order to rigorously integrate tools which use different formalisms, the co-simulation engine of MECSYCO is based on DEVS. The central idea of MECSYCO is to use a DEVS wrapping strategy to integrate each tool into the middleware. Thus, heterogeneous tools can be homogeneously co-simulated in the form of a DEVS system. By using DEVS, MECSYCO benefits from the numerous scientific works which have demonstrated the integrative power of this formalism and gives crucial guidelines to rigorously design wrappers. We demonstrate that our discrete framework can integrate a vast amount of continuous M&S tools by wrapping the FMI standard. To this end, we take advantage of DEVS efforts of the literature (namely, the DEV&DESS hybrid formalism and QSS solvers) to design DEVS wrappers for FMU components. As a side-effect, this wrapping is not restricted to MECSYCO but can be applied in any DEVS-based platform. We evaluate MECSYCO with the proof of concept of a smart-heating use-case, where we co-simulate non DEVS-centric M&S tools

Portugal SB13: contribution of sustainable building to meet EU 20-20-20 targets

Proceedings of the International Conference Portugal SB13: contribution of sustainable building to meet EU 20-20-20 targetsThe international conference Portugal SB13 is organized by the University of Minho, the Technical University of Lisbon and the Portuguese Chapter of the International Initiative for a Sustainable Built Environment in Guimarães, Portugal, from the 30th of October till the 1st of November 2013. This conference is included in the Sustainable Building Conference Series 2013-2014 (SB13-14) that are being organized all over the world. The event is supported by high prestige partners, such as the International Council for Research and Innovation in Building and Construction (CIB), the United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP), the International Federation of Consulting Engineers (FIDIC) and the International Initiative for a Sustainable Built Environment (iiSBE). Portugal SB13 is focused on the theme â Sustainable Building Contribution to Achieve the European Union 20-20-20 Targetsâ . These targets, known as the â EU 20-20-20â targets, set three key objectives for 2020: - A 20% reduction in EU greenhouse gas emissions from 1990 levels; - Raising the share of EU energy consumption produced from renewable resources to 20%; - A 20% improvement in the EU's energy efficiency. Building sector uses about 40% of global energy, 25% of global water, 40% of global resources and emit approximately 1/3 of the global greenhouse gas emissions (the largest contributor). Residential and commercial buildings consume approximately 60% of the worldâ s electricity. Existing buildings represent significant energy saving opportunities because their performance level is frequently far below the current efficiency potentials. Energy consumption in buildings can be reduced by 30 to 80% using proven and commercially available technologies. Investment in building energy efficiency is accompanied by significant direct and indirect savings, which help offset incremental costs, providing a short return on investment period. Therefore, buildings offer the greatest potential for achieving significant greenhouse gas emission reductions, at least cost, in developed and developing countries. On the other hand, there are many more issues related to the sustainability of the built environment than energy. The building sector is responsible for creating, modifying and improving the living environment of the humanity. Construction and buildings have considerable environmental impacts, consuming a significant proportion of limited resources of the planet including raw material, water, land and, of course, energy. The building sector is estimated to be worth 10% of global GDP (5.5 trillion EUR) and employs 111 million people. In developing countries, new sustainable construction opens enormous opportunities because of the population growth and the increasing prosperity, which stimulate the urbanization and the construction activities representing up to 40% of GDP. Therefore, building sustainably will result in healthier and more productive environments. The sustainability of the built environment, the construction industry and the related activities are a pressing issue facing all stakeholders in order to promote the Sustainable Development. The Portugal SB13 conference topics cover a wide range of up-to-date issues and the contributions received from the delegates reflect critical research and the best available practices in the Sustainable Building field. The issues presented include: - Nearly Zero Energy Buildings - Policies for Sustainable Construction - High Performance Sustainable Building Solutions - Design and Technologies for Energy Efficiency - Innovative Construction Systems - Building Sustainability Assessment Tools - Renovation and Retrofitting - Eco-Efficient Materials and Technologies - Urban Regeneration - Design for Life Cycle and Reuse - LCA of sustainable materials and technologies All the articles selected for presentation at the conference and published in these Proceedings, went through a refereed review process and were evaluated by, at least, two reviewers. The Organizers want to thank all the authors who have contributed with papers for publication in the proceedings and to all reviewers, whose efforts and hard work secured the high quality of all contributions to this conference. A special gratitude is also addressed to Eng. José Amarílio Barbosa and to Eng. Catarina Araújo that coordinated the Secretariat of the Conference. Finally, Portugal SB13 wants to address a special thank to CIB, UNEP, FIDIC and iiSBE for their support and wish great success for all the other SB13 events that are taking place all over the world

Semantic discovery and reuse of business process patterns

Patterns currently play an important role in modern information systems (IS) development and their use has mainly been restricted to the design and implementation phases of the development lifecycle. Given the increasing significance of business modelling in IS development, patterns have the potential of providing a viable solution for promoting reusability of recurrent generalized models in the very early stages of development. As a statement of research-in-progress this paper focuses on business process patterns and proposes an initial methodological framework for the discovery and reuse of business process patterns within the IS development lifecycle. The framework borrows ideas from the domain engineering literature and proposes the use of semantics to drive both the discovery of patterns as well as their reuse

Model-Based Engineering of Collaborative Embedded Systems

This Open Access book presents the results of the "Collaborative Embedded Systems" (CrESt) project, aimed at adapting and complementing the methodology underlying modeling techniques developed to cope with the challenges of the dynamic structures of collaborative embedded systems (CESs) based on the SPES development methodology. In order to manage the high complexity of the individual systems and the dynamically formed interaction structures at runtime, advanced and powerful development methods are required that extend the current state of the art in the development of embedded systems and cyber-physical systems. The methodological contributions of the project support the effective and efficient development of CESs in dynamic and uncertain contexts, with special emphasis on the reliability and variability of individual systems and the creation of networks of such systems at runtime. The project was funded by the German Federal Ministry of Education and Research (BMBF), and the case studies are therefore selected from areas that are highly relevant for Germany’s economy (automotive, industrial production, power generation, and robotics). It also supports the digitalization of complex and transformable industrial plants in the context of the German government's "Industry 4.0" initiative, and the project results provide a solid foundation for implementing the German government's high-tech strategy "Innovations for Germany" in the coming years

Proceedings of Abstracts 10th International Conference on Air Quality Science and Application

This 10th International Conference in Air Quality - Science and Application is being held in the elegant and vibrant city of Milan, Italy. Our local hosts are ARIANET and ARPA Lombardia both of whom play a leading role in assessing and managing air pollution in the area. The meeting builds upon the series that began at the University of Hertfordshire, UK in July 1996. Subsequent meetings have been held at the Technical University of Madrid, Spain (1999), Loutraki, Greece (2001), Charles University, Prague, Czech Republic (2003), Valencia, Spain (2005), Cyprus (2007), Istanbul, Turkey (2009) Athens, Greece (2012) and Garmisch-Partenkirchen, Germany (2014). Over the last two decades controls to limit air pollution have increased but the problem of poor air quality persists in all cities of the world. Consequently, the issue of the quality of air that we breathe remains at the forefront of societal concerns and continues to demand the attention of scientists and policy makers to reduce health impacts and to achieve sustainable development. Although urbanisation is growing in terms of population, transport, energy consumption and utilities, science has shown that impact from air pollution in cities is not restricted to local scales but depends on contributions from regional and global scales including interactions with climate change. Despite improvements in technology, users still demand robust management and assessment tools to formulate effective control policies and strategies for reducing the health impact of air pollution. The topics of papers presented at the conference reflect the diversity of scales, processes and interactions affecting air pollution and its impact on health and the environment. As usual, the conference is stimulating cross-fertilisation of ideas and cooperation between the different air pollution science and user communities. In particular, there is greater involvement of city, regional and global air pollution, climate change, users and health communities at the meeting. This international conference brings together scientists, users and policy makers from across the globe to discuss the latest scientific advances in our understanding of air pollution and its impacts on our health and environment. In addition to the scientific advances, the conference will also seek to highlight applications and developments in management strategies and assessment tools for policy and decision makers. This volume presents a collection of abstracts of papers presented at the Conference. The main themes covered in the Conference include: Air quality and impact on regional to global scales Development/application/evaluation of air quality and related models Environmental and health impact resulting from air pollution Measurement of air pollutants and process studies Source apportionment and emission models/inventories Urban meteorology Special session: Air quality impacts of the increasing use of biomass fuels Special session: Air quality management for policy support and decisions Special session: Air pollution meteorology from local to global scales Special session: Climate change and human health Special Session: Modelling and measuring non-exhaust emissions from traffic Special session: Transport related air pollution - PM and its impact on cities and across EuropeFinal Published versio

Powerskin Conference: Proceedings

The “third skin†of human beings – the building envelope – has a long history of development with a major impact on architecture. As an interface between inside and outside, facades not only determine aspects such as performance and energy efficiency, they also determine the aesthetics of buildings and cities; to the extend that they can create cultural identity. The invention of the curtain wall made facades independent from the building structure, but it remained an important – yet passive – element.  Powerskin Conference: Proceedings, January 19th 2017– Munich &nbsp