IoT Integration of Infrastructure Systems in Smart Cities: The Impact of Interdependencies in Building Energy Systems

Capitalizing on technology to establish smart city capacities that respond to urbanization, sustainability, and resilience challenges have gained momentum in recent years. The increased use of sensors and systems-e.g., Internet of Things (IoT)-has enabled more cohesive networks among and between human and infrastructure systems to support services for complex cities. However, it is still considerably uncertain how IoT can improve sustainability and resilience in city operations due to interdependencies that exist between the sub-system operations. Lack of effective IoT system integration can further hinder its ability to improve real-time interoperability of infrastructure systems. Here, we examine the interdependencies between buildings' sub-system operations (operations efficiency) in an urban university campus, to identify the key drivers of sub-system interdependencies that are likely affecting efficiency rankings (energy performance) across buildings. High levels of interdependence among infrastructure sub-systems are an important consideration in making cities smarter because of such systems' close association with urban vulnerability and resilience. Our study highlights the need for understanding systems' unique operations infrastructure beyond global efficiency rankings when examining their scope of readiness for efficiency interventions and developments that are intended to foster smart sustainable cities.