International Standard Organisation (ISO), an independent, non-governmental international organisation with a membership of 165 national standard bodies has rolled out standards to assist in de-carbonising urban areas.
This is sequel to a new report from the World Economic Forum (WEF).that promotes an integrated approach as the solution to de-carbonising urban areas.
More than half the world’s population live in cities, which are crammed into just 3.00 % of the globe’s surface and are responsible for 70 % of greenhouse gas emissions, according to the WEF report.
Net Zero Carbon Cities: An Integrated Approach highlights that, as urbanization is tipped to grow, more action needs to be taken by cities to achieve net-zero emissions and slow down rising earth temperatures.
“Systemic efficiency” is the answer to all our current crises, the report urges, encompassing “clean electrification, smart digital technology, and efficient buildings and infrastructure, along with a circular economy approach to water, waste and materials”.
ISO has thousands of standards to help city leaders heed the advice of the WEF and make their cities cleaner, healthier and more sustainable, from overarching frameworks to those that tackle every individual action.
They help to build urban environments that meet the needs of citizens today, while investing in a better future for both us and the planet. Following is a small selection of standards that can help.
Holistic Approach
Having a clear understanding of what a sustainable city means and what areas a city needs to address is the logical starting point.
ISO 37101, Sustainable development in communities –Management system for sustainable development –Requirements with guidance for use, provides an overall framework for sustainable development in communities, helping cities determine their objectives and put in place a strategy to achieve them.
Directly aimed at city leaders, this management system standard covers everything a city must address, such as responsible resource use, environmental management, citizens’ health and well-being, governance, mobility and more.
ISO 37101 is supported by many other standards in areas such as terminology (ISO 37100) and key indicators for measuring the performance of city services (ISO 37120).
The ISO committee of experts that developed these standards also has a range of guidance documents for smart community infrastructures, including important aspects such as transport. ISO 37161, Smart community infrastructures – Guidance on smart transportation for energy saving in transportation services, is one such standard that provides the transport industry and local and national governments with recommendations on how to reduce energy used in transportation for passengers, delivery, freight and postal services.
Keeping it circular
Moving from a throw-away society to one where nothing is wasted and everything gets reused or transformed is the key to a sustainable future and preserving the world’s precious resources. Known as the circular economy, it is a “trillion-dollar opportunity”, according to the WEF, with huge potential for job creation and economic growth. Recognizing its value in a sustainable future, ISO recently created a technical committee dedicated to the cause, with experts from over 80 countries and counting.
Some of its standards in development include ISO 59004, which offers a framework and principles for implementing a circular economy, ISO 59010, which provides guidelines on business models and value chains, and ISO/TR 59031, a future technical report that looks at a performance-based approach through the analysis of case studies.
Efficient energy management
Having an energy management system in place such as ISO 50001, Energy management systems – Requirements with guidance for use, helps organisations and entities of any shape and size achieve greater efficiencies and identify areas of improvement.
But ISO 17742, Energy efficiency and savings calculation for countries, regions and cities, is aimed specifically at communities and provides indicator-based and measure-based methods for calculating energy savings, taking into consideration end-use sectors such as households, industry, services, agriculture and transport.
Potential of buildings
As global population grows so too does energy need of the building sector. Responsible for 28 % of global energy-related CO2 emissions in 2019, building and construction represent an enormous potential for improving efficiencies and achieving the net-zero target.
ISO’s subcommittee SC 17, Sustainability in buildings and civil engineering works, of technical committee TC 59, Buildings and civil engineering works, is continually developing standards to help capitalize on this opportunity to enhance the carbon footprint of every aspect of the building trade.
These include ISO 15392, Sustainability in buildings and civil engineering works – General principles, and the ISO 16745 series, which provides requirements for determining, reporting and verifying the carbon metric of an existing building while it is in use.
Better future
With information communication technology (ICT) underpinning the vast majority of systems, services and processes in a city, having seamless, interconnected systems can help with many things, from improving energy use to reducing traffic jams.
However, it is extremely complex. A new series of standards helps to remove some of that complexity by giving a clear overview of how systems interact. In this way, city leaders can best identify areas of potential improvements and efficiencies.
ISO/IEC 30145-3, Information technology – Smart City ICT reference framework –Part 3: Smart city engineering framework, outlines a smart city engineering framework from the ICT perspective. Consisting of both the horizontal engineering layers and the vertical systems, it provides a clear mapping of the different techniques and components needed for smart city business processes.
Developed in collaboration with the International Electrotechnical Commission (IEC), the new series will soon be joined by standards that include ISO/IEC 30145-1, Information technology –Smart City ICT reference framework – Part 1:Smart city business process framework, and ISO/IEC 30145-2, Information technology – Smart City ICTreference framework – Part 2: Smart city knowledge management framework.
Cloud computing, the Internet of Things, mobile networks and artificial intelligence are just some of the tools cities use to increase efficiency and improve the quality of life of their citizens, yet they also expose us to risks and vulnerabilities related to personal privacy and security.
Responsible use of resources, preserving the environment and improving the well-being of citizens are the end goal for experts of ISO technical committee ISO/TC 268, Sustainable cities and communities, whose flagship standard ISO 37101 helps communities define their sustainable development objectives and implement strategies to achieve them.
This core standard is joined by a series of standards on city indicators including ISO 37120 (indicators for city services and quality of life) and the two upcoming standards ISO 37122 (indicators for smart cities) and ISO 37123 (indicators for resilient cities).
ISO also has hundreds of standards on intelligent transport systems, water management, business continuity and community resilience, designed to make communities safe, sustainable and adaptive to face challenges.
These include ISO 22313 (business continuity management systems) and a number of standards currently in development such as ISO 22326 (emergency management), ISO 22395 (guidelines for supporting vulnerable people in emergency situations) and ISO 24526 (water efficiency management systems).
Solutions and standards abound, but they are not always easy to navigate when the systems and interconnections are as complex as the stakeholders are many. A new technical specification has just been published that aims to help.
ISO/IEC TS 27570, Privacy protection – Privacy guidelines for smart cities, provides recommendations and guidance on the management of privacy and on the use of supporting standards. These recommendations apply to organisations and stakeholders concerned with the delivery, use or availability of a service in a smart city ecosystem, where many technologies, systems and stakeholders interact in many and complex ways.
Prof. Kai Rannenberg, Convenor of the group of experts[1] that developed the technical specification, said this complexity can pose challenges to privacy protection, “but there are many different standards that can be used, including those for big data, cloud computing, IT governance and much more”.
“The key, is knowing which one, is most appropriate and how. ISO/IEC TS 27570 provides guidance on how to benefit from the standards available in the most effective way.”
The document takes a multiple-agency as well as a citizen-centric viewpoint and provides guidance on how privacy standards can be used at a global level and at an organizational level for the benefit of citizens.
What’s more, it will pave the way to future privacy standards for smart cities, including those for communication, privacy management plans and policy making, as well as consent management, to name a few.
ISO/IEC TS 27570 is applicable to all types and sizes of organisation, including public and private companies, government entities and not-for-profit organisations that provide services in smart city environments.
The technical specification was developed by subcommittee SC 27, Information security, cybersecurity and privacy protection, of joint technical committee ISO/IEC JTC 1, the information technology arm of ISO and the International Electrotechnical Commission (IEC). The secretariat of SC 27 is held by DIN, ISO’s member for Germany.
