For us, contract research means finding transparent and practicable solutions for the problems that our customers or conveyor institutes present. Our participation in the most varied research projects has led to an extensive list of publications. Some examples can be found on this page.
(EU research project coordinated by RISA and co-funded under the "H2020-EU.3.3.1. – Reducing energy consumption and carbon footprint by smart and sustainable use" programme topic) Personalized ICT-tools for the Active Engagement of Consumers Towards Sustainable Energy (Status: ongoing)
Eco-Bot aims to utilize recent advances in chatbot tools and advanced signal processing (i.e. energy disaggregation) using low-resolution smart meter-type data with the goal of changing their behaviour towards energy efficiency. Eco-Bot targets to a personalized virtual energy assistant to deliver information on itemized (appliance-level) energy usage through a chatbot tool. The chatbot functionality will use an attractive frontend interface, permitting seamless communication in a more natural and interactive way than a traditional mobile application. This way, Eco-Bot aims to achieve a higher level of engagement with consumers than previous efforts (i.e. serious games, gamification, competitions or other interactive ICT), by adding a more engaging form of interaction with existing platforms that has been proven in different market settings. The proposed system explores knowledge in multi-factorial behavioural models, including rebound-effects, as a result of the baseline research on both European and International activities. Then, based on advanced ICT, such as knowledge engineering, machine learning, and expert systems, the project transforms the multi-factorial models for energy reduction to interactive, personalized and targeted recommendations to consumers on how to save energy. Eco-Bot uses also Non-Intrusive Load Monitoring (NILM), i.e. energy disaggregation methods, and data analytics to break down consumption to the appliance level, where this is possible (smart meters at reasonable granularity, adequate amount of information collected) so as to make consumers aware of their most energy-consuming devices. The system will be demonstrated in three different business cases, each one representing a different business model (B2B / B2B2C / B2C), and will be validated across real and diverse conditions such as socio-cultural, environmental, demographic, climate and consumption, so as to draw concrete conclusions regarding performance, effectiveness, affordability, etc. Project website: www.eco-bot.eu
The main goal of the research project wwwEneffKA (Improving the energetic efficiency of sewage plants through internet based analyses, BMBF support code “01LY0908A”) is to produce an internet platform for sewage plants operators. There they can analyze the energetic situation of their plant using forms. This is suggested to work automatically and therefore without charge. So hopefully a lot of plants get analyzed.
The need of energy of the municipal sewage plants today is 30% of the whole energy use auf the municipal authorities. So reduction means not only cut costs, also sets the money free for other useful things.
This research project is to summarize the IVU-Guideline (2008/1/EG) and six other Guidelines in one new industrial issues Guideline (IED, 2010/75/EU). It is an UFOPLAN research project (support code 3711 12 332). It is the further development of our first completed pilot study “Requirements and prerequisites for an electronic conveyance of information on the state of the art for specific setters to the European Commission ” (UFOPLAN-support code 3710 44 316 / 04). The Main Goal is to figure out opportunities for computerized support in association with the new reporting duties according to the new guideline.
The reporting duties of the new guideline concern operators, federal states and the federal republic of Germany. Besides the analyses of existing data management systems or systems under development this project monitors corresponding projects like “Non Stop Government“ (P23R). One important goal is to define a data model for the new IE-reporting duties.
A subject relevant also for practical use, is the question of the organisation of data exchange between different data models of equal or superior technical questions. We have developed, based on XML, an attachment which allows the definition of an interface data model which is capable of collecting data from various specific data models at the exchange of waste water discharge data .
We were contracted by the Federal Environment Agency (UBA) to develop a concept for the compilation of the generic database tool UDIS for the construction of a Water Emissions Inventory. Based on this concept, UDIS has been transformed into a working database software. With these database tools a considerable shortening of the development time and a systematisation in the production of specific data models is attainable.
Built on the UDIS basic concept, several other research and development plans were carried out for other environmental issues. The central research theme for its use is the analysis of the available or required data and its organisation to fulfil the objective in the field of environmental protection.
The European government requires its member states to provide data on their emissions into the air and water (EPER). RISA transformed this formal request into a data collection, under the project leadership of the Federal Agency for the Environment, Recording and Nature Protection in Baden-Württemberg (LUBW) for the Federal Environment Agency.
On contract for the Federal Environment Agency to develop the program system MONERIS. Its function is the determination of nutrient discharges from non-point sources and from point sources in the river basins of Germany. As part of a MONERIS follow-up project financed by the Federal Environment Agency, RISA transformed the MONERIS calculation model, which had previously been in Excel format, into a database application. In doing this, special consideration was taken that the used basic data and the model equations and model parameters were adequately documented and that descriptive information could be entered and recorded with the data.