This paper presents an overall concept developed by ENEA (the Italian National Agency for New Technologies, Energy and Sustainable Economic Development) in the Italian framework of renewable energy communities (RECs). The proposed work is driven by the idea that RECs are part of a long-term vision aimed at achieving the broader concept of smart communities (SCs) through smart energy communities (SECs). SECs are, therefore, the evolution of RECs toward SCs, where ICT (information and communications technology) and digitalization play a pivotal role in fostering and boosting the energy transition and addressing societal challenge goals by 2050. In this scenario, the proposed approach is based on three dimensions, as follows: digital tools, use cases, and the observatory. Digital tools can be utilized at different stages of the creation of RECs, ranging from the design and engagement phase to evaluation, analysis, and the token economy. The second dimension refers to some selected different business cases that are used to test and demonstrate the proposed tools and provide support to specific RECs in the different phases of their creation. Lastly, the EC observatory was created by ENEA to provide necessary support to the market and stakeholders on different aspects, such as data management, economics, legal issues, communication, and regional governance.

One of the key aspects of a smart city is to reduce CO₂ emissions by adopting different strategies that can also improve the quality of life of citizens. Current metropolises present additional issues compared to traditional cities, such as extremely heavy traffic and abandoned spaces. This paper, therefore, proposes two interventions aimed at improving the smartness of the municipality of Rome: the implementation of a photovoltaic field in an abandoned space used to charge electric buses and the implementation of smart traffic lights that optimise the traffic flow. To measure the impact and effectiveness of those interventions, key performance indicators (KPI) were defined to point out the benefits of the analysed strategies, and a quantitative matrix approach was applied. The aim was to establish a correlation between the different scenarios proposed, assigning numerical indices to each of them that can comprehensively express their impact on the identified smart axes. The results obtained showed the importance of selecting appropriate performance indicators to assess the impact of interventions. Furthermore, the findings revealed that the scenarios with the greatest number of indicators are not necessarily the most advantageous. Overall, the simulations indicated that the proposed interventions could produce a significant reduction in emissions due to the implementation of renewable energy production.

ENEA, within the activities carried out in the Italian programme “Research of the Electric System” along with the participation of Working Group UNI/CT 023/GL10 called “Energy Efficiency of Buildings”, of the Technical Commission UNI CT023 “Light and Lighting”, has developed the LENICALC software, which determines LENI (Lighting Energy Numeric Indicator) basically in residential and non-residential buildings, which is based on the comprehensive methodology indicated in the standard EN 15193–1:2017. In addition, the UNI/PdR 77:2020, was developed to support the use of the software LENICALC (both available for free). The goal of the software developed, is to have a graphical interface that allows step by step data input, helping users to carry out a very intensive calculation to achieve at the calculation of the LENI energy indicator, as to date there is no software for this this new indicator according to the procedure of the relevant standard. LENICALC Software, during its development, was tested by professional teams and, at the end of all activities, the UNI/PdR 77:2020 was subjected to an Italian public inquiry before distributing both the UNI/PdR and LENICALC software. This activity has been a good practice of sharing high levels of technical expertise made available to the market of energy designers and certifies all over the world as the standard is applied in the ISO field.