Application of a KPI-Driven Protocol for Sustainability Assessment

Traditionally, the energy efficiency in buildings has been evaluated through well-established protocols that highly depend on Key Performance Indicators (KPI). However, nowadays, the trend has moved from buildings to districts and cities where not only energy efficiency is pivotal, but also the sustainability under the scope of smart city. There exist several widely recognized environmental assessment methodologies such as BREEAM or LEED that aim to assess the sustainability of buildings based on a rating system represented by a set of indicators, namely credits. Nevertheless, the application of these standards is complex and costly. Hence, this paper presents an alternative holistic sustainability protocol, developed under the European project CITyFiED, driven by a comprehensive set of indicators to assess the sustainability of urban areas in terms of energy efficiency, environmental, economic and social impact, together with the effect of the information and communication technologies.