Edison, historically committed to a sustainable energy future, intervenes in the debate on architecture and its contribution to the development of smart territories. The aim is to redesign cities with a view to bringing together the efficient use of resources, the intelligent management of data and the integration of services under a single umbrella; to conceive urban centres as usable spaces in which applied solutions respond to tangible needs regarding quality of life and environment, safety, mobility and connectivity via the involvement of all agents: administration, citizens, urban planners and architects; to use digital transformation, among other methods, to overcome the vertical division of competence among organisations dealing with buildings, with systems and with the management of data and information in favour of an integrated approach capable of producing true well-being for the community.

This is how Edison sees the process of approaching the city of the future. “We have assigned ourselves an important challenge: improve the quality of life for people, creating and designing the spaces and the places in which we live”, stated Paolo Quaini, Head of Energy & Environmental Services for Edison. “Architecture and sustainable development are closely linked. This is why we are honoured to bring our competence to the Venice Biennale, lending our support to the Architecture Exhibition. The efficient use of resources is a fundamental element of architecture and contemporary living, just as it is for us, and we have been committed to considering it a clear goal for more than 135 years”. 

If the first step towards energy efficiency lies in the understanding of how energy is consumed, Edison shows the way for a sustainable future through digital transformation, making use of the most evolved BIM techniques for the modelling of buildings, of Building Management Systems (BEMS) in order to optimise energy management, and the best IoT solutions for increasing the comfort and use of spaces.

But a city is not smart simply because it is digital. It becomes so when it manages its resources in an integrated manner, and invests more in human and social capital, and infrastructures both traditional (mobility and transport) and modern (ICT). By promoting an integrated and participatory approach that creates a relationship between the individual buildings and the district, the city and the territory as a whole, the company plays an active role in the development of the smart cities of the present and the future.

“We imagine a world where the forms and the spaces in which we live need nothing more than natural energy. This is why we are constantly seeking exchanges with those creating, designing and managing spaces and functions, in order to help to conceive the best possible energy performance from the outset”, concludes Quaini. “The energetically self-sufficient community of the future and positive energy buildings are our goals, but in order for these goals to truly be achieved, local communities, architects and energy experts must simultaneously conceive form, function and performance”.