To achieve these goals, the project is structured into several complementary lines of action.

Smartainability®: ex-ante assessment of the sustainability-enhancing benefits that can be achieved in a smart city

The research activity aims to define a methodology and carry out ex-ante assessments of the sustainability benefits that can be achieved through the application of smart technologies in an area. The tool will enable governments to direct public spending towards the most effective and least flawed solutions that maximise societal benefits, allowing for quantitative assessment and ranking. Smartainability®, the original assessment system developed by RSE, can deal with a very complex issue, given the highly articulated characteristics of the interventions and the wide range of spillover areas. The ability to assess the benefits of the presence of new services at the planning stage is crucial and makes the tool unique. The value of the Smartainability® tool is illustrated by its application in international contexts, such as the European Sharing Cities project (with a particular focus on buildings and mobility). Research is also focused on the development of a serious game centered on Smartainability, in order to raise awareness.

Supporting technological development for smart territories

It is important to support, in close contact with industry, efficient technological development related to smart interventions of territories that can generate good practices. To this end, RSE develops methodologies and tools for the integrated development of urban, energy and water supply infrastructures. This is the case of the integrated and efficient optimization of urban networks. RSE is researching the integration of heat and water networks, both because of the importance of these sectors in terms of consumption and because of the potential they offer in terms of integration and service provision. The activity focuses on research and experimental verification of methodologies aimed at defining protocols for the efficient and joint management of electricity and water networks. On the subject of the interaction between the Integrated Water Service (IWS) and the energy system, research will complete the analysis of data at the ATO (Territorial Authority) scale for the estimation of possible energy savings at the national level in the IWS, and the application of water and energy balance models – metabolic type models – for the strategic evaluation of development plans for the Integrated Water System.