The researchers of the FinEst Centre for Smart Cities of Tallinn University of Technology (Estonia, Europe) developed the DigiAudit platform to monitor and analyse energy use and indoor climate indicators of buildings and large real estate portfolios in real time. Thinnect, an Estonian IoT start-up company, will help sell the solution and market it worldwide.
We can only reach zero-emission buildings when we have reliable data
The European Union has set a target for all buildings to be zero-emission, or near-zero energy, by 2050. However, there is no reliable data on the energy consumption of many buildings, so it is not possible to monitor the condition of buildings or estimate their energy use. The DigiAudit platform solves this problem and also allows companies to simplify the additional reporting obligations imposed under the European Corporate Sustainability Reporting Directive (CSRD).
In the pilot project, 25 educational buildings in Tallinn and Tartu were connected to the IoT platform. Continuous monitoring of energy, ventilation and air quality in hundreds of buildings generated big data, which analytics were developed to handle. It enables the monitoring and comparison of the condition of the buildings, as well as diagnostics and detection of errors in the technical systems of the buildings and the use of the buildings.
Comparative overview of the energy consumption and indoor climate quality of large real estate portfolios
The platform provides property owners with information on the total energy use, energy costs and carbon footprint of their portfolio of buildings. The energy labels and indoor climate classes of all buildings connected to the platform are also presented, which enables comparison with other similar buildings.
According to DigiAudit's project lead, Professor Jarek Kurnitski, the uniqueness of the solution lies in the real-time energy labeling of the entire real estate portfolio. Improving the energy efficiency of buildings is crucial from the point of view of the Estonia 2035 strategy, as buildings already account for 53% of the final energy consumption. The platform gives building owners and managers a simple, comparable overview of the actual energy consumption of the various buildings in the entire portfolio, as well as the quality of the indoor climate.
In the project, a method was developed to compare the energy efficiency of an individual building with other buildings of the same type. A data set containing energy efficiency indicators of 35,000 Estonian buildings was analyzed. Based on this, a model was developed that approximately shows the energy efficiency of a single building position. As a result of the study, the project team saw that energy efficiency measures to date have improved the performance of buildings, and if progress continues, 73 percent of new or renovated buildings could achieve carbon neutrality.
DigiAudit platform solutions are based on data, and in order to achieve meaningful analysis results, it is crucial to assess the quality of the data. Building ventilation performance and air quality are assessed based on the carbon dioxide level measured in the premises. It turned out that the raw data collected by the installed building automation systems are sometimes unreliable. To solve the problem, a method was developed that corrects the data in such a way that they can be compared with the limit values of the carbon dioxide level specified in the indoor climate standards. Also, a method was made to automatically evaluate whether the room is in use or not. The impact of the methods on the assessment of the indoor climate was important, and the assessment of the period of use is particularly important. If nighttime and weekends are used in the analysis of air quality in schools and kindergartens, the situation appears more positive than it is.
The platform separates capacity monitoring functions from maintenance-related automatic diagnostics. The user interface consists of three views, in which the detail of the information presented depends on the user. Dashboard views were created for the city government, city property board and those responsible for administration/maintenance according to their information needs.
 At the Ehituse Mäemaja inside the ventilation systems were tested.
Scientists can solve multifaceted problems
The goal of all pilot projects of FinEst Centre for Smart Cities is to create a functioning product or service that is usable in many cities. DigiAudit is one of the first examples where the goal has been successfully achieved. The cooperation with the start-up company Thinnect has been going on for some time and now the solution has been transferred with a licensing agreement and the first working product has been created.
According to Jürgo Preden, the CEO of Thinnect (the company bringing the solution to the market), DigiAudit is a scientific breakthrough that has no competitor on the market today. ‘Nowadays, no building manager can keep track of where exactly energy is being used because buildings are so complex and their operation changes over time. This is where the DigiAudit system plays an important role – it helps understand where energy is being used and how to reduce the consumption,’ Preden said.
BACKGROUND
Thinnect is a start-up, predominantly owned by Estonian capital, offering IoT technology and services – namely, solutions that enable accurate monitoring and management of buildings. In addition to Estonia, the smart environment solutions of Thinnect are used in eight other countries. The systems developed by the company can be used for saving energy as well as for improving the ease of use and efficiency.
The FinEst Centre for Smart Cities, located at Tallinn University of Technology (Estonia, Europe), has six pilot projects in operation where Estonian and Finnish cities develop and test innovative smart city solutions. The founders of the center are TalTech, Aalto University, the City of Helsinki innovation company Forum Virium and the Ministry of Economic Affairs and Communications. The creation of the center is funded by the European Commission and the Ministry of Education and Research through Horizon 2020 and the European Regional Development Fund.
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