An approach to implement the "Smart Office" idea: the #SmartMe Energy system.

Getting cities and communities smarter means to use Information and Communication Technology (ICT) to transform their "metabolism" in order to offer sustainable services for people. This mission is a strategic but also very complex process that involves worldwide stakeholders (i.e., governments, entities, businesses and citizens), areas and infrastructures (e.g., buildings, homes, offices, urban parks, industrial plants). As part of this process, balancing sustainability and comfort objectives with energy efficiency and cost-saving requirements is a challenge. The Internet of Things (IoT) paradigm can help this process from the collection to the management of large amount of data. Generally, the conventional notion of sustainability is related to three main aspects, i.e., environmental, economic and social. If protection and resource conservation are typically environmental objectives, at the same time prosperity and continuity in urban contexts are two economical goals. Social well-being and equity complete the characterization of sustainability. Following this approach, in this paper we present and discuss the #SmartMe Energy system, implemented at the University of Messina as part of the #SmartMe crowdfunding project. It allows employees to optimize the use of all the electrical equipments. The result is the reduction of energy consumptions and costs also improving sustainability and comfort inside offices, thus becoming "smart offices". [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]