Recent advances in energy efficient data center (DC) design in combination with predictive optimization techniques have led to the emergence of DCs that are able to adapt their operation to their environment. Current approaches towards assessing the operational efficiency of the DCs are mostly static, disregarding the flexibility aspects of modern DCs, also failing to reflect the effects of DC optimization on their sustainability profile. In this context, eight EU research projects have joined forces to present new metrics allowing for the evaluation of DC flexibility as well as of the effects of DC optimization to their general operational efficiency. The present paper presents these metrics along with the verification methodologies employed for the evaluation of the obtained measurements and results.

To achieve the “well below 2 degrees” targets, a new ecosystem needs to be defined where citizens become more active, co-managing with relevant stakeholders, the government, and third parties. This means moving from the traditional concept of citizens-as-consumers towards energy citizenship. Positive Energy Districts (PEDs) will be the test-bed area where this transformation will take place through social, technological, and governance innovation. This paper focuses on benefits and barriers towards energy citizenships and gathers a diverse set of experiences for the definition of PEDs and Local Energy Markets from the Horizon2020 Smart Cities and Communities projects: Making City, Pocityf, and Atelier.

As energy generation based on renewable resources does not always match energy consumption profiles, Positive Energy Districts (PEDs) should embody energy flexibility technologies to decrease possible negative impacts on existing grids due to, e.g., reverse power flows. As part of the EU H2020 Smart Cities and Communities project POCITYF, the cities Alkmaar (NL) and Évora (PT) aim to support the deployment and market uptake of such districts and in doing so demonstrate innovative and integrated technologies to enable flexibility in the energy system. This paper addresses implementation conditions for energy flexibility technologies that help cities to engender the expected impact and ensure replication of these technologies to other sites. It aims to guide both urban planners and technology solution providers through pitfalls and opportunities that can appear during the design and implementation of PEDs. Taking this into consideration, the RUGGEDISED innovation and implementation framework for smart city technology was taken as a starting point to describe and analyze the experiences in Alkmaar and Évora.

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Abstract. Information Technology is a dominant player of our modern societies; Data Centres, lying at the heart of the IT landscape, have attracted attention, with their increasing energy consumption being a constant topic of concern, especially when it comes to the negative impact on the quality of their surrounding environment. Nevertheless, recent technological and societal advances are paving the way for DCs to change their role from passive energy consumers into prosumers, thus, transforming themselves into leading players within their smart district surroundings. This paper describes the innovative GEYSER approach to enabling green networked DCs to monitor, control, reuse, and optimize both their energy consumption and production, and in particular from renewable resources, towards becoming active participants within Smart Grids and Smart Cities.