SMARTGREENS 2014 Abstracts


Area 1 - Smart Grids

Full Papers
Paper Nr: 2
Title:

A New Two-Degree-of-Freedom Space Heating Model for Demand Response

Authors:

Anita Sant'Anna and Robert Bass

Abstract: In today’s fast changing electric utilities sector demand response (DR) programs are a relatively inexpensive means of reducing peak demand and providing ancillary services. Advancements in embedded systems and communication technologies are paving the way for more complex DR programs based on transactive control. Such complex systems highlight the importance of modeling and simulation tools for studying and evaluating the effects of different control strategies for DR. Considerable efforts have been directed at modeling thermostatically controlled appliances. These models however operate with only one degree of freedom, typically, the thermal mass temperature. This paper proposes a two-degree-of-freedom residential space heating system composed of a thermal storage unit and forced convection system. Simulation results demonstrate that such system is better suited for maintaining thermal comfort and allows greater flexibility for DR programs. The performance of several control strategies are evaluated, as well as the effects of model and weather parameters on thermal comfort and power consumption.
Download

Paper Nr: 3
Title:

Increasing Self-consumption of Photovoltaic Electricity by Storing Energy in Electric Vehicle using Smart Grid Technology in the Residential Sector - A Model for Simulating Different Smart Grid Programs

Authors:

M. J. van der Kam and W. G. J. H. M. van Sark

Abstract: In this paper a model has been developed which intends to simulate the increase of self-consumption of photovoltaic (PV)-power by storing energy in electric vehicle (EV) using smart grid technology in the residential sector. Three different possible smart grid control algorithms for a micro-grid consisting of solar panels, a household and an EV are presented that manage the (dis-)charging profile of an EV, either in real-time or using linear optimization using predictions for PV-power and electricity demand. The different control algorithms are simulated for a year using data for PV-power and electricity demand from the Netherlands and one specific EV. Preliminary results of the model are presented, showing that all control algorithms could significantly increase self-consumption and reduce peaks in electricity demand from the main grid. Although the difference in performance of the control algorithms for self-consumption is marginal, we find that linear optimization works better than the real-time algorithms for peak reduction.
Download

Paper Nr: 20
Title:

Demand Management for Home Energy Networks using Cost-optimal Appliance Scheduling

Authors:

Veselin Rakocevic, Soroush Jahromizadeh, Jorn Klaas Gruber and Milan Prodanovic

Abstract: This paper uses problem decomposition to show that optimal dynamic home energy prices can be used to reduce the cost of supplying energy, while at the same time reducing the cost of energy for the home users. The paper makes no specific recommendations on the nature of energy pricing, but shows that energy prices can normally be found that not only result in optimal energy consumption schedules for the energy provider’s problem and are economically viable for the energy provider, but also reduce total users energy costs. Following this, the paper presents a heuristic real-time algorithm for demand management using home appliance scheduling. The presented algorithm ensures users’ privacy by requiring users to only communicate their aggregate energy consumption schedules to the energy provider at each iteration of the algorithm. The performance of the algorithm is evaluated using a comprehensive probabilistic user demand model which is based on real user data from energy provider E.ON. The simulation results show potential reduction of up to 17% of the mean peak-to-average power estimate, reducing the user daily energy cost for up to 14%.
Download

Paper Nr: 29
Title:

Practical Risk Assessment Using a Cumulative Smart Grid Model

Authors:

Markus Kammerstetter, Lucie Langer, Florian Skopik, Friederich Kupzog and Wolfgang Kastner

Abstract: Due to the massive increase of green energy, today’s power grids are in an ongoing transformation to smart grids. While traditionally ICT technologies were utilized to control and monitor only a limited amount of grid systems down to the station level, they will reach billions of customers in near future. One of the downsides of this development is the exposure of previously locked down communication networks to a wide range of potential attackers. To mitigate the risks involved, proper risk management needs to be in place. Together with leading manufacturers and utilities, we focused on European smart grids and analyzed existing security standards in the Smart Grid Security Guidance (SG)2 project. As our study showed that these standards are of limited practical use to utilities, we developed a cumulative smart grid architecture model in a joint approach with manufacturers and utilities to represent both current and future European smart grids. Based on that model, we developed a practical, light-weight risk assessment methodology covering a wide range of potential threats that have been evaluated and refined in course of expert interviews with utility providers and manufacturers.
Download

Paper Nr: 37
Title:

Thermal Storage in a Heat Pump Heated Living Room Floor for Urban District Power Balancing - Effects on Thermal Comfort, Energy Loss and Costs for Residents

Authors:

R. P. van Leeuwen, J. B. de Wit, J. Fink and G. J. M. Smit

Abstract: For the Dutch smart grid demonstration project Meppelenergie, the effects of controlled thermal energy storage within the floor heating structure of a living room by a heat pump are investigated. Storage possibilities are constrained by room operative and floor temperatures. Simulations indicate limitations for floor heating storage due to absorption of solar energy within the house. To balance power for district renewable energy supply, substantial energy can be stored into the floor without violating comfort limits. Heat loss to the outside due to floor heating storage is small in case of low energy houses and can be financially compensated. This may result in a proposition for residents which is equivalent to heating without thermal storage for power balancing purposes.
Download

Short Papers
Paper Nr: 1
Title:

Dynamic Modelling and Implementation of VSC-HVDC System - The Grid Connected Large Offshore Wind Power Plant Application

Authors:

Muhammad Raza and Oriol Gomis-Bellmunt

Abstract: This research contribution, investigates and analyse the operational characteristics of a voltage source converter (VSC), High-Voltage Direct Current (HVDC) transmission system. The main objective of this research endeavor is to evaluate the implementation of a HVDC transmission system for integrating offshore wind energy with the grid. Dynamic model of the system is developed in the Simulink environment. Stability analysis has been performed through three case studies namely the two active grid interconnection, active and passive grid interconnection and the offshore wind farm interconnection with the grid. Results are analysed and compared according to E.ON grid code requirements for offshore grid connection.
Download

Paper Nr: 11
Title:

Towards Energy-aware Optimisation of Business Processes

Authors:

Beatriz López, Aditya Ghose, Tony Savarimuthu, Mariusz Nowostawski, Michael Winikoff and Stephen Cranefield

Abstract: Time dependent energy tariffs are a matter of concern to managers in organisations, who need to rethink how to allocate resources to business processes so that they take into account energy costs. However, due to the time-dependent costs, the resource optimisation problem needs to be redesigned. In this paper we formalise the energy-aware resource allocation problem, including time-dependent variable costs; and present a case study in which an auction mechanism is used to find a solution. Our results show how the choice of cost (energy, monetary, or duration) affects the schedules obtained.
Download

Paper Nr: 35
Title:

Semantic Interoperability for Smart Grid - CIM Adoption Process

Authors:

Alfredo Espinosa-Reza, Tito Manuel Calleros-Torres, Marxa Lenina Torres-Espíndola, Nestor Adrian Aleman-Cruz and Raul Garcia-Mendoza

Abstract: This paper describes the experience obtained in the adoption process of the Common Information Model (CIM) as part of definition of a strategy for semantic interoperability for legacy information systems of Comision Federal de Electricidad (CFE by its acronym in Spanish). The strategy and the process described are supported by standards IEC 61968 and IEC 61970, as well as best practice in software development in the international context. Overall, the architecture for interoperability and the adoption process, will establish a solid infrastructure designed to meet Smart Grid requirements for management systems for the Electric Power System (EPS) in Mexico. Some results are discussed.
Download

Paper Nr: 44
Title:

Exhaust Thermoelements Redundant Strategy to Improve Temperature Reading Reliability and Serviceability

Authors:

T. Addabbo, O. Cordovani, A. Fort, M. Mugnaini and V. Vignoli

Abstract: Pollution linked to power generation is strictly connected to gas turbine control algorithms and efficiency performance. Parts life is affected by quality and type of combustion too. The control of the exhaust temperature is therefore a key parameter to indirectly monitor the effectiveness of the combustion in all the combustion chamber of an heavy duty gas turbine. Actually due to the high temperature and dynamics of the combustion chambers the performance measurement of the combustion is achieved through indirect pressure and temperature monitoring. Moreover, exhaust temperature monitoring may allow to avoid dangerous situations connected to flame loose in combustion chamber and subsequent gas leak towards gas turbine high temperature zone. A reliable readout configuration of such sensors may improve the system overall safety too. In this paper the authors discuss about the best thermoelements configurations in order to improve the reliability and serviceability performance in gas turbine in order to increase the system efficiency during power generation.
Download

Paper Nr: 61
Title:

Battery Charge and Discharge Optimization for Vehicle-to-Grid Regulation Service

Authors:

Wook Won Kim, Hong Yeul Shin, Je Seok Shin and Jin O. Kim

Abstract: Electric vehicles should be connected to power system for charge and discharge of battery. Besides vehicle's battery is charged for a power source, it is also reversibly possible to provide power source from battery to power system. Researches on battery usage for regulation resources have been progressed and could cause cost increase excessively because they distribute regulation capacity equally without considering the battery wear cost of SOC, temperature, voltage and so on. This causes increase of grid maintenance cost and aggravate economic efficiency. In this paper it is studied that the cost could be minimized according to the battery condition and characteristic. The equation is developed in this paper to calculate the possible number of charge and discharge cycle, according to SOC level and weighting factors representing the relation between battery life and temperature as well as voltage. Thereafter, the correlation is inferred between the battery condition and wear cost reflecting the battery price, and the expense of compensation is decided according to the condition on battery wear-out of vehicle.
Download

Paper Nr: 63
Title:

Communication Reduced Interaction Protocol between Customer, Charging Station, and Charging Station Management System

Authors:

Karl-Heinz Krempels, Christoph Terwelp, Stefan Wüller, Tilman Frosch and Sevket Gökay

Abstract: The emerging build-ups of charging station infrastructures require sufficiently secure and economic authentication protocols. Existing protocols for the purpose of authenticating a customer against a charging station have the inherent disadvantage that they expect a network connection to the management system, produce a communication overhead, or might reveal sensitive customer data depending on the protocol. The protocol, provided by us, enables a multiple-operator customer-to-charging station authentication system. The particularity of the protocol is that it does not require a permanent network connection between charging stations and a corresponding management system, reduces the communication overhead between the involved entities, and protects sensitive customer data at a high rate.
Download

Paper Nr: 7
Title:

PMU for Detection of Short-circuit Point in the Transmission Line

Authors:

K. V. Suslov, V. S. Stepanov and N. N. Solonina

Abstract: One of the challenges facing energy systems is failure of overhead and cable transmission lines. Short circuits pose a particular danger. The improvement of the quality of installation, and reliability of insulators and conducting materials decreases the probability of short circuits but does not eliminate it. Short circuits result in disconnection of certain companies and even regions. The suggested method is based on the fact that the short circuit current at the source end of the line depends on the distance to the point of short circuit. The paper considers the following issues: theoretical possibility of detecting the point of fault on the basis of time when the short circuit response arrives at the source and load ends of the line; development of an algorithm for primary data processing, development of a structural scheme of additional devices which are not envisaged within phasor measurement units.
Download

Paper Nr: 18
Title:

Intelligent Dynamic Load Management Based on Solar Panel Monitoring

Authors:

Gwendolin Wilke, Marc Schaaf, Erik Bunn, Topi Mikkola, Remo Ryter, Holger Wache and Stella Gatziu Grivas

Abstract: The Smart Grid will largely increase the amount of measurement data that needs to be processed on distribution grid level in order to fulfill the promised smart behavior. Many modern information systems are capable of handling the produced data amounts quite well. However they are usually highly specialized systems that are costly to change or limited to very basic analytical tasks. We aim to overcome these limitations by utilizing an optimized event processing based framework that can easily be customized to a certain application scenario. In the paper we outline our approach by applying it to one of our motivational scenarios from the area of intelligent dynamic load management.
Download

Paper Nr: 21
Title:

Energy Aware Clouds Scheduling Using Anti-load Balancing Algorithm - EACAB

Authors:

Cheikhou Thiam, Georges Da-Costa and Jean-Marc Pierson

Abstract: Cloud computing is a highly scalable and cost-effective infrastructure for running HPC, enterprise and Web applications. However rapid growth of the demand for computational power by scientific, business and web- applications has led to the creation of large-scale data centers consuming enormous amounts of electrical power. Hence, energy-efficient solutions are required to minimize their energy consumption. The objective of our approach is to reduce data center’s total energy consumption by controlling cloud applications’ overall resource usage while guarantying service level agreement. This article presents Energy aware clouds scheduling using anti-load balancing algorithm (EACAB). The proposed algorithm works by associating a credit value with each node. The credit of a node depends on its affinity to its jobs, its current workload and its communication behavior. Energy savings are achieved by continuous consolidation of VMs according to current utilization of resources, virtual network topologies established between VMs and thermal state of computing nodes. The experiment results show that the cloud application energy consumption and energy efficiency is being improved effectively.
Download

Paper Nr: 56
Title:

NRG-X-Change - A Novel Mechanism for Trading of Renewable Energy in Smart Grids

Authors:

Mihail Mihaylov, Sergio Jurado, Kristof Van Moffaert, Narcís Avellana and Ann Nowé

Abstract: In this position paper we propose a novel trading paradigm for buying and selling locally produced energy in the smart grid. Unlike recently proposed techniques that rely on predictions and a day-ahead market, here prosumers are billed by the distribute system operator according to their actual usage and rewarded based on their actual energy input, similar to the current state of affairs. Our mechanism achieves demand response by providing incentives to prosumers to balance their production and consumption out of their own self-interest. All rewards and payments are carried out using NRGcoin — a new decentralized digital currency similar to Bitcoin, that we introduce in this paper. Prosumers exchange NRGcoins with fiat currency on an exchange market for profit, or for paying their energy bills. We study the advantages of our proposed currency over traditional monetary payment and explore its benefits for all parties in the smart grid.
Download

Paper Nr: 60
Title:

Energy Management Solutions for Polish Prosumer Systems

Authors:

Marcin Jarnut, Grzegorz Benysek and Szymon Wermiński

Abstract: Last year the Polish government finally passed an act of parliament concerning renewable energy sources in response to the European Union Directive 2009/28/EC promoting renewable energy. This act liberalizes the interconnection of small on-site generation systems situated on the customer side, consisting of renewable energy sources (prosumer systems), with the electrical distribution system. Although most of the formal barriers have been removed, the proposed economic conditions are not likely to guarantee the expected dynamic growth in volume of renewable energy as part of the overall energy consumption. This paper introduces a solution for the economic and energy-effective management of energy generated in Polish prosumer systems. Moreover, the technical and formal conditions for implementing small-power renewable energy sources into the distribution system are mentioned as a background for the optimal choice of interconnection solution and topology. A complete energy management solution based on available technologies, such as power electronic converters, energy storage devices and home area networks has been proposed as well.
Download

Area 2 - Energy-Aware Systems and Technologies

Full Papers
Paper Nr: 41
Title:

Energy Aware Communication in the Smart Grid

Authors:

Zoya Pourmirza and John M. Brooke

Abstract: Recently some countries have investigated the transformation of their existing power grid to the so-called Smart Grid. A Smart Grid adds a communication network, which is the integration of a monitoring and control network, to the power network. In this research we have developed and implemented a communication network architecture for the neighbourhood sub-Grid level of the electrical network where monitoring has not previously been deployed. Since energy efficiency has been identified as one of the major limitations of such networks we have utilized a number of different techniques to tackle this problem. As such, we analyse the optimal topology of network for collecting and transmitting data to the local control unit for applying finer-grained control. Also, we have developed a data reduction algorithm suitable for Smart Grid applications, which can significantly improve the energy efficiency of the communication network by minimizing the communication energy cost and optimizing the network resource consumption while maintaining the integrity and quality of data. To the best of our knowledge, our work is one of the very first efforts to propose an energy efficient ICT architecture, combining power grid objectives, real data characteristics, and application-aware considerations.
Download

Short Papers
Paper Nr: 22
Title:

Energy Consumption Model and Charging Station Placement for Electric Vehicles

Authors:

Zonggen Yi and Peter H. Bauer

Abstract: A detailed energy consumption model is introduced for electric vehicles (EVs), that takes into account all tractive effort components, regenerative braking, and parasitic power users. Based on this model a software tool for EV reachable range estimation (EVRE) is developed and implemented. This software tool uses real driving distances and elevation data from Google Maps and can therefore much more accurate predict the reachable range of a given EV than the typical Euclidean distance models. Furthermore, an optimization model for the placement of charging stations to maximize the number of reachable households under energy constraints is established using EVRE. These results are illustrated by a number of examples involving the cities of New York City, Boulder Colorado, and South Bend, Indiana. The developed methodology can easily incorporate additional constraints such as popular destinations, preferred parking, driver habits, available power infrastructure, etc. to initially reduce the search space for optimal charging station placement.
Download

Paper Nr: 26
Title:

Energy Monitoring and Management Methodology for the Banking Sector - Portuguese Case Study

Authors:

A. M. Carreiro, J. Estima and A. Bernardes

Abstract: This paper addresses the problem of the worldwide electricity consumption increase, namely in the building sector, with the focus on the office (banking) market segment. Buildings are dynamic entities, with constantly changing needs and occupancy. An energy audit shows only a snapshot of the building profile because it is driven at a specific time, and utility bills can be viewed as “rear-view mirror” since they only show past consumptions and not real-time consumptions. In this way, this paper presents an energy monitoring and remote management methodology for the banking sector and the case study accomplished in one of the most well established Portuguese banks. The presented methodology reached measured annual savings of 18,5% of the total consumption of the 19 central buildings and the 358 branches involved in the project.
Download

Paper Nr: 30
Title:

Medicool European Project - A Demonstrative Example of Smart Solar Cooling/Heating System

Authors:

A. Molina-García, T. García-Egea and M. Moreno

Abstract: The main objective of this paper is focused on describing a demonstrative example of a thermal cooling/heating system. The proposed solution has been implemented in the pharmaceutical distribution sector, which involves strict and rigid European and national regulations regarding storage temperature conditions. The developed installation is one of the largest systems ever built in Europe based on solar cooling/heating technologies. It has a collecting surface of 22,500 m2 by using one of the latest technologies: the Ultra High Vacuum (UHV) collectors. These collectors reduce significantly both convection and conduction heat losses. The proposed system has two absorption chillers of 675 and 855 kW respectively. It is expected to provide an annual energy savings estimated of around 795 MWh, only for the cooling system representing more than 70% of the global energy currently needed for conditioning the selected warehouse. This solution can be easily extensive towards other industrial sectors in areas with similar energy characteristics and thermal requirements: large conditioning spaces and buildings with high cooling/heating power demand during the peak power periods.
Download

Paper Nr: 32
Title:

The Experiment Has Shown - Set Your Own Goal and save Electricity!

Authors:

Jurek Pyrko and Magdalena Uggmark

Abstract: This study describes the final results from so-called “The Experiment - Swedish largest energy saving experiment” carried out by E.ON Sweden. The purpose of the Experiment was to investigate whether visualization of electricity consumption in real time would lead to a reduced electricity use. Almost 10,000 customers participated in the project and received displays where they could observe their electricity use. Over 50% of the participants made an actual electricity saving; for these customers the mean electricity saving became 8%. At the beginning of the Experiment, participants could set a saving goal and about 22% of the customers managed to achieve the target. This group saved about 15% of electricity. All the participants in total had made a saving of 0.7% compared to a control group that had increased their use by 1.5% during the same period. The impact of different factors on the final result was investigated in four segmentations after space heating type, family composition, level of education and bidding area. Four surveys were sent out to all participants to investigate their opinions and views on the Experiment. The interest for possible changes in the service and the willingness to pay for it was also investigated.
Download

Paper Nr: 49
Title:

Beyond a Usage Threshold, NO Form of Energy is Sustainable or Green - We are Running Out of “Garbage Dump Space” To Dissipate “Used” Energy Into

Authors:

Dhananjay Phatak, Ryan Robucci and Nilanjan Banerjee

Abstract: To date, almost all of the research on green/sustainable energy has been concerned with procurement of ever increasing amounts of energy for human consumption. This singular focus only on the supply-side of the problem completely overlooks what happens to the energy after we use it; thereby implicitly making the dangerously wrong assumption that the earth has unlimited capacity to dissipate energy. In this position paper, we remind the reader that the earth can dissipate only a finite amount of even the greenest of the green forms of energy, while still maintaining thermal equilibria that have evolved over eons. Any long term sustainable energy solution therefore must include a curbing/limiting/controlling our demand for (and consequently, our consumption of) energy. Otherwise, even if and even after all the green-house-effects are fully eliminated, the earth still might eventually experience unnaturally large temperature increase because the amount of energy dissipated is too large.

Paper Nr: 55
Title:

An Optimization Model for the Aggregation of End-user Energy Management Systems in a Residential Setting

Authors:

Andreia M. Carreiro, Carlos Henggeler Antunes and Humberto M. Jorge

Abstract: This paper proposes a model for an aggregator of energy management systems (energy box aggregator - EBAg) to operate as an intermediary between individual energy management systems (local energy boxes) and the System Operator / Energy Market capable of facilitating a “load follows supply” strategy in a Smart Grid context. The EBAg is aimed at using the flexibility provided by end-users of demand-side resources to respond to system service requirements, via contracts, involving lowering or increasing the energy consumption in each time slot. The aim is contributing to the balance between load and supply, avoiding peaks in the aggregate load diagram, and coping with the intermittency of renewable sources. For this purpose an optimization model for the EBAg has been developed, which is tackled using a genetic algorithm based approach to deal with the combinatorial characteristics of the model.
Download

Paper Nr: 58
Title:

Towards Energy-aware IaaS-PaaS Co-design

Authors:

Alexandra Carpen-Amarie, Djawida Dib, Anne-Cécile Orgerie and Guillaume Pierre

Abstract: The wide adoption of the cloud computing paradigm plays a crucial role in the ever-increasing demand for energy-efficient data centers. Driven by this requirement, cloud providers resort to a variety of techniques to improve energy usage at each level of the cloud computing stack. However, prior studies mostly consider resource-level energy optimizations in IaaS clouds, overlooking the workload-related information locked at higher levels, such as PaaS clouds. In this position paper, we argue that cross-layer cooperation in clouds is a key to achieving an optimized resource management, both performance and energy-wise. To this end, we claim there is a need for a cooperation API between IaaS and PaaS clouds, enabling each layer to share specific information and to trigger correlated decisions. We identify the drawbacks raised by such co-design objectives and discuss opportunities for energy usage optimizations. Moreover, we outline the design of a set of extension modules for Libcloud to serve as building blocks for cross-layer information sharing and cooperation.
Download

Paper Nr: 17
Title:

EnergyAware - Mobile-based Architecture for Maximizing Energy Savings during Computer Idle Times

Authors:

Miguel Jimeno, Martín Diaz, John Candelo and Pedro Wightman

Abstract: Energy consumption of computers in office buildings remains an issue of concern for companies. For example, for a university campus, they might represent between 50% and 80% of all the power consumed. Besides that, computer usage behavior sometimes makes the application of energy saving policies a difficult task, as many users prefer not to be annoyed by waiting for computers to wake up. We present in this paper a novel software architecture to enable dynamic and static appliance of energy saving policies in office computers while observing and taking into account user behavior. The key is taking advantage of idle periods for the computers and the localization of the user to determine when to turn Off or On the PC and maximize the savings. We ran a study at our campus where we found that idle periods represented between 30% and 50% of the On periods. We simulated the savings for our policies and could potentially achieve savings between 32% and 38% of current power consumption numbers. With even more tuning, we believe savings could be higher and similar techniques could be used for other devices in buildings.
Download

Paper Nr: 31
Title:

A System for Enabling Facility Management to Achieve Deterministic Energy Behaviour in the Smart Grid Era

Authors:

Dejan Ilić, Stamatis Karnouskos, Per Goncalves da Silva and Sarah Detzler

Abstract: The vision of the Smart Grid empowers a variety of innovative approaches for flexible energy management that fuse the business goals with the asset monitoring and control offered by the Internet of Things. The facility management domain can benefit from these advances by building upon Smart Grid energy services thereby realizing new business opportunities that make the best out of its assets. Due to the increasing integration of highly dynamic assets in future buildings, short-term deterministic behaviour is difficult. However with the availability of controlled variable storage, and futuristic services such as energy trading, errors in prediction can be absorbed internally or traded with the ultimate aim of “making the best” out of the assets and situations. The latter has the potential to enable facility managers to reach strategic objectives and potentially use assets more effectively by seizing new business opportunities. In this work we propose an architecture, describe its key components and depict in scenarios its usage with the goal of enabling facility management to take informed business decisions by following enterprise strategies as well as considering the volatility of the available energy excess or shortage.
Download

Paper Nr: 57
Title:

A Study on Reliability Assessment for Offshore Wind Farm Configurations

Authors:

Je-Seok Shin, Wook-Won Kim, In-Su Bae and Jin-O Kim

Abstract: Due to environment concern, fossil resource exhaustion issue and so forth, an attention on the use of renewable energy is being increased sustainably and various types of renewable energy are being developed. In particular, wind power plant is one of the most used resources among them. The recent trend in development of wind power is the large-scale offshore wind farm. However, the burden of investment for offshore wind power is still considerable so that comprehensive evaluation must be performed in the planning stage. For the evaluation, this paper introduces the concept and method to assess offshore wind farm according to their configurations, in the reliability aspect.
Download

Area 3 - Sustainable Computing and Communications

Full Papers
Paper Nr: 33
Title:

In-Wall Thermoelectric Harvesting for Wireless Sensor Networks

Authors:

Aristotelis Kollias and Ioanis Nikolaidis

Abstract: We propose the use of embedded in-wall thermoelectric harvesters to power nodes of a wireless sensor network. We exploit the significant temperature differences between indoor and outdoor environments in cold climates. We use heat flow measurements of the exterior (outside-facing) wall of a number of apartments from the same apartment complex. We report on the degree of variability as well as on the seasonal changes that characterize the heat flow, and hence the potential for thermoelectric energy harvesting. We also examine whether the difference between indoor and outdoor air temperature is a good proxy for to the observed heat flow through the walls. Examples of data carrying capability of a particular harvester and sensor node combination are also provided.
Download

Paper Nr: 40
Title:

Minimizing Environmental Footprints of Data Centers under Budget and Service Requirement Constraints

Authors:

Waqaas Munawar, Jian-Jia Chen and Minming Li

Abstract: The energy consumption of data centers (DCs) has been increasing, which will continue due to the increase of Internet traffic and stringent service level agreements (SLAs). Analogously, the protection of global and local environments has also driven the regulation authorities to encourage energy consumers, especially corporate entities, for the usage of green energy sources. However, the green energy is usually more expensive (up to four to five times for some cases) than the traditional energy generated from coal and petroleum. One essential problem for managing DCs, according to the greenness tendency, is to minimize the environmental penalty (or equivalently to maximize the greenness) by dispatching the requests to proper DCs under the SLA and budget constraints. This paper presents optimization techniques for dynamic workload balancing for cloud-scale data center (DC) management. We present a model for commonly found electricity tariffs for green energy and provide an efficient heuristic algorithm to maximize its usage while incorporating its intermittent availability. We evaluate the presented solution with real-life traces of electricity prices and DC workloads. Extensive evaluations support our solution’s potential to minimize the environmental penalty for Internet service providers under the budget while fulfilling their SLAs.
Download

Short Papers
Paper Nr: 39
Title:

Evaluation of Femtocell Technology Challenges and Its Power Control Methodologies for Green Heterogeneous Networks

Authors:

Mazen Al Haddad and Magdy Bayoumi

Abstract: Femtocell technology brings extended low-power radio coverage directly in the indoor premises, where propagation loss is typically highest. It also enriches both macrocell wide-area and in-building solutions in terms of coverage & capacity. The integration of femtocells into heterogeneous cellular networks is foreseen as a low-power and low-cost solution to cope with the exponential growth of required data traffic volumes, offload the macro base stations and offer high performance mobile networks. However, the massive and unplanned deployment of femtocells and their uncoordinated operations may result in harmful co-channel interference and cause significant power waste in order to maintain an acceptable user performance. In this work, we survey the technical challenges of femtocells deployment and the available energy control techniques. Moreover, we look into adaptive mechanisms for femtocell technology to cover the way towards green-oriented mobile networks. Our intention is to examine how femtocell deployment can share the available radio resources efficiently in order to limit the average power consumption and mitigate cochannel interference. Besides the introduction of the basic ideas for optimizing the spectral and energy efficiency in femtocell networks, typical interference management techniques are discussed too, with a special emphasis on power control methodologies.
Download

Paper Nr: 48
Title:

Assessment of the Environmental Impact of Applications in Federated Clouds

Authors:

Barbara Pernici and Usman Wajid

Abstract: While in recent work the energy efficiency of cloud platforms has been emphasized and many approaches have been proposed to reduce the energy consumption in data centres, the evaluation of the environmental impact of applications running in cloud environments is still a research issue, as well as possible techniques to lower their environmental footprint. In the paper the approach taken in the ECO2Clouds project towards assessment of environmental impact of applications and the evaluation of its potential reduction based on adaptive services is illustrated and discussed, including in the discussion the evaluation of alternative possible uses of eco-metrics towards reducing the environmental impact of applications.
Download

Paper Nr: 54
Title:

On Energy-efficient Checkpointing in High-throughput Cycle-stealing Distributed Systems

Authors:

Matthew Forshaw, A. Stephen McGough and Nigel Thomas

Abstract: Checkpointing is a fault-tolerance mechanism commonly used in High Throughput Computing (HTC) environments to allow the execution of long-running computational tasks on compute resources subject to hardware and software failures and interruptions from resource owners. With increasing scrutiny of the energy consumption of IT infrastructures, it is important to understand the impact of checkpointing on the energy consumption of HTC environments. In this paper we demonstrate through trace-driven simulation on real-world datasets that existing checkpointing strategies are inadequate at maintaining an acceptable level of energy consumption whilst reducing the makespan of tasks. Furthermore, we identify factors important in deciding whether to employ checkpointing within an HTC environment, and propose novel strategies to curtail the energy consumption of checkpointing approaches.
Download

Paper Nr: 10
Title:

How Green Are Java Best Coding Practices?

Authors:

Jérôme Rocheteau, Virginie Gaillard and Lamya Belhaj

Abstract: This paper aims at explaining both how to measure energy consumption of Java source codes and what kind of conclusions can be drawn of these measures. This paper provides a formalization of best coding practices with a semantics based on quantitative metrics that correspond to the time, memory and energy saved while applying best coding practices. This paper also explains how to measure such source codes in order to provide repeatable and stable measures by combining both physical and logical sensors.
Download

Area 4 - Smart Cities

Full Papers
Paper Nr: 34
Title:

Developing Dynamic Heterogeneous Environments in Smart Building Using iPOPO

Authors:

Shadi Abras, Thomas Calmant, Stephane Ploix, Didier Donsez, Frederic Wurtz, Olivier Gattaz and Benoit Delinchant

Abstract: This paper contributes to the design of a smart monitoring system. The objective of this paper is to show that by using iPOPO framework, as an embedded application for sensors/actuators, it is possible to improve the configuration/reconfiguration of monitoring system. The proposed experimentation platform, called PREDIS/MHI (Monitoring Hbitat Intelligent), based on iPOPO framework, is characterised by its openness, its scalability and its capability to manage diversity. In this paper, we show how application based on iPOPO framework, well adapted to represent problems spatially distributed and opened, can dynamically be adapted to various contexts of environments.

Short Papers
Paper Nr: 36
Title:

Parking Lot Management for Charging Stations

Authors:

Sevket Gökay, Christoph Terwelp, Christian Samsel, Karl-Heinz Krempels, Sebastian Rabenhorst and Bastian Greber

Abstract: During the last years electric vehicles started to gain significant attention from customers and car manufacturers. As the number of electric vehicles on the road increases, new requirements emerge to update existing charging station infrastructures. In this paper we address the issue of management of parking lots where charging stations are deployed since existing parking management systems do not consider charging stations and charging station management systems are not able to manage parking spaces. We propose a solution in which a charging station uses sensors to detect whether the assigned charging spaces are occupied; monitors customer’s interaction with itself and forces to take actions within the given period of time. If there is a violation of terms of use, our solution enables to inform the management system in order to take the necessary steps. Furthermore, it provides visual guidance to customers in search for parking space and during the interaction.
Download

Paper Nr: 27
Title:

Optimizing Micro Renewable Generation for Smart Cities by Combining Solar and Geothermal Energy Potentials - A Case Study of the Hannover Region

Authors:

Claudia Palmas, Holger Jensen, Christina von Haaren and Robert Schöner

Abstract: In recent years there has been an increasing interest on small renewable energy production systems to supply energy consumption of buildings. In Europe, cities face the challenge of combining energy efficiency and sustainable urban development. This challenge is likely to have an impact on grid infrastructures by implementing intelligent networks and storage facilities in order to secure energy supply. This paper presents an approach for integrating solar and geothermal energy generation on the basis of a spatially explicit assessment of potentials for both energy sources. The results should be applicable for spatial planning. The case study area is the Hannover region. The results demonstrate that with data available in blanked coverage in Lower Saxony the assessment of both renewables energy potentials could be performed. The generated place based information meets the specific demands of regional as well as municipal land use planning. It can be used for allocation and prioritisation of housing development with micro-renewables and for proposing areas with the combination of both.
Download

Paper Nr: 45
Title:

Acceptation of a Demand-response Enabling Technology for using Electricity at Home upon a Simulated Marketing Campaign - Role of Sociodemographic Variables and Prior Energy Behaviors, in Tandem with Expectations and Attitudes Formed to the Message Target

Authors:

Maria São João Breda and Marta Lopes

Abstract: The present work addresses the usefulness of IT acceptance frameworks for studying consumers’ adoption intentions upon learning of a new technology described as affording demand-response and energy conservation at home. A survey study was conceived which relied on the exposure of respondents to a marketing campaign for this technology. In preceding steps Theory of Planned Behavior and Technology Acceptance Unified Theory were applied to adequately model and test predictive relations upon intention to adopt that technology and upon expectation of remaining with known methods that compete with the technology, with a Partial Least Squares structural modeling approach. Results suggest that the frameworks are useful for predicting intention to adopt this type of technology. Especially important predictors were Effort Expectancy, Social Factors and Positive Attitudes. Given validation of the nomological network, the goal is to comprehensively integrate differences in adoption across socio-demographic strata and tied to consumers’ energy behaviors with the structural network linking IT predictors to dependents.
Download

Paper Nr: 64
Title:

Encompassing Payment for Heterogeneous Travelling - Design Implications for a Virtual Currency based Payment Mechanism for Intermodal Public Transport

Authors:

Markus C. Beutel and Karl-Heinz Krempels

Abstract: As a result of a huge offering of different traffic modes, peoples mobility behavior is more and more characterized by multi- and intermodality. But this growing demand cannot be satisfied adequately yet. People have to use numerous separated software platforms and payment schemes to get access to these modes. Whereas some platforms already offer the access to few transport modes, an unconditional and comprehensive virtual payment scheme for intermodal travelling is not fully developed yet. This work examines existing virtual payment mechanisms and projects them onto the setting of the mobility sector. First, mechanism design is determined by companies strategies, the competitive environment and the access to the providing software platform. Basis is a scenario of an open software platform that provides offerings of different independent market actors. Critical for developing a comprehensive mechanism is a functional integration of (private) vehicle sharing, the consideration of specific product characteristics and appropriate system restrictions.
Download