Smart Chemistry at Smart Cities Stakeholder

SusChem will be at the Smart Cities Stakeholder event in Budapest on 5 and 6 June demonstrating how chemistry can provide Key Innovations for improving energy efficiency in the urban environment and addressing other Smart Cities issues. SusChem has just published a new report - ‘Innovative Chemistry for Energy Efficiency of Buildings in Smart Cities’ - outlining where Key Innovations in chemistry can make an immediate impact to improve energy efficiency during the refurbishment of buildings.

SusChem coordinator and Innovation Manager at Cefic Jacques Komornicki will be attending the Smart Cities Stakeholder Platform Annual Conference in the Hungarian capital with a clear message on how chemistry can provide a range of sustainable solutions for Smart Cities.

“The Chemical Industry is a leading provider of innovative solutions for energy efficiency and construction in Europe,” says Jacques. “And these Key Innovations are available right now providing substantial savings for building owners and users.”

Efficient innovation

The Key Innovations described in the new SusChem report are:

• High Performance Insulation Foams and Vacuum Insulation Panels that can reduce energy heating costs from 30% up to 80%.

• Phase Change Materials (PCM) that enable walls and ceilings to absorb and store excess heat during the day and dissipate it at night, enabling further savings of energy on heating and cooling.

• High Reflectance and Durable Outdoor Coatings that if applied to roofs and walls reflect radiation from sunlight and reduce roof and wall temperatures, leading to energy savings on cooling.

• High Reflectance Indoor Coatings that reflect light better than normal paints and maximize the feeling of space and illumination.

“Overall using these tested energy efficiency solutions can reduce primary energy use in buildings by up to 70%,” claims Jacques.  Today 40% of primary energy n Europe is used for heating and cooling buildings.

These innovative solutions from chemistry combined with an annual urban building refurbishment rate of around 3% could result in direct savings for building owners and users, make a significant contribution to achieving EU energy targets, and generate jobs.

Tool-box, ballot box

“Clearly the chemical industry has a tool-box of solutions that can contribute to drastically decreasing the energy consumption of buildings,” continues Jacques. “These innovations are particularly suited to the renovation market and this market in turn has the potential to create growth and jobs in Smart Cities that adopt them whilst also contributing significantly to their emissions reduction goals - a double win!”

The conference is the first in a series of Annual Conferences of the Smart Cities Stakeholder Platform and follows a ‘bottom-up’ process conceived to allow matchmaking and active exchange between industry and city partners as well as other stakeholders on the best Key Innovations, which have emerged from the Platform’s stakeholders.

Key Innovations are right at the core of debate as these are what interest the cities as well as the solution providers. The first day is fully devoted to discuss all Key Innovations following which delegates will vote for a ‘Top Three’ to be presented at the plenary session on day two. Day two will also provide stakeholder perspectives on the achievements of the Smart Cities Stakeholder Platform.

The chemistry industry’s Key Innovations will be presented at the stakeholder event by Rinske van Heiningen of Akzo Nobel in his presentation on Advanced Materials for Energy Services on day one.

“We are confident that the Chemistry Key Innovations will contribute to reach the Smart Cities targets,” concludes Jacques.

What are ‘Smart Cities’?
 

Smart cities go beyond the EU’s “20-20-20” objectives (20% reduction in CO2 emissions, a 20% share of energy from low carbon sources and a 20% reduction in the use of primary energy through energy efficiency measures) for the deployment of cost-effective low carbon technologies with a particular focus on energy, ICT and transport sectors.

Many cities across Europe are already committed to building tomorrow’s cities today - in particular those involved with the Covenant of Mayors organisation to which Cefic and SusChem are affiliated . This group of city authorities is developing a sustainable development framework that will allow them to voluntarily go beyond the 2020 targets.

The chemistry industry is represented on the European Commission’s High Level Group for Smart Cities and Communities (HLG) by GiorgioSquinzi, CEO of Maipei and recent past president of Cefic. The HLG acts as an advisory body for the Commission on the Smart Cities Stakeholder Platform and the European Innovation Partnership. The Commission has recently launched its own website for the EIP on Smart Cities and Communities.

For more information on SusChem activities in support of the Smart Cities and Communities initiative, or to discuss potential collaborations in this area, please contact SusChem Coordinator Jacques Komornicki at Cefic.