Improving the efficiency of energy consumption is a central theme of any energy policy. Improved energy efficiency meets three energy policy goals: security of supply, competitiveness and protection of the environment. Systematic energy management is a body of knowledge and skills based on an organizational structure that links people with assigned responsibilities, efficiency monitoring procedures and continuous measurement and improvement of energy efficiency. This body of knowledge must be supported by appropriate ICT for gathering, processing and disseminating data on energy consumption, energy efficiency targets and information. Intelligent Information System for Monitoring and Verification of Energy Management in Cities (ISEMIC) will be a software tool that connects processes of gathering data on buildings and their energy consumption, monitoring consumption indicators, setting energy efficiency targets and reporting energy consumption savings.

In order to actively improve energy efficiency in buildings, raise building users’ awareness of energy consumption and utilize measurements from smart meters, creation of an integrated information system for energy monitoring and verification system is the critical first step. An energy management information system (EMIS) for energy consumption data gathering has already been implemented in Croatia, but is implemented without any significant analytical engine for data analysis, as accent is put on creating a network of people regularly monitoring and manually entering consumption data in EMIS via the web. Also, there is no smart meter input capability in the system. These two missing features are the focal point of ISEMIC development.

ISEMIC aims to upgrade, improve, add functionality and reengineer features of the existing EMIS application used in cities in Croatia used within the project „Removing barriers to energy efficiency in Croatia“, and to enable its transfer to other countries, who are starting to follow the same methodology as in Croatia.

During ISEMIC development research will be especially directed on:

• Introduction of the concept of Energy Consumption Centres (ECC) for monitoring and verification of energy management in cities by enabling entry of different configurations of meters within a building or groups of buildings (i.e. campus, large hospital complex);
• Introduction of advanced regression analysis for energy consumption data in order to define energy and water consumption baselines;
• Introduction of algorithms for detecting patterns and outliers in energy data and possibility of documenting reasons for exceptions;
• Introduction of data verification and oversight routines for energy management – supervising users (i.e. energy management officers in cities) use the software to intelligently detect outliers and bands of variability regarding consumption to determine optimal consumption of individual types of buildings and/or consumers;
• Introduction of the CUSUM method for monitoring change in energy consumptions and control of energy efficiency improvement progress.

The important focus through the R&D efforts in development of ISEMIC will be ensuring constant proper education and learning processes that will ensure that the use of software is flexible and can adapt to emerging changes in energy consumption data, indicators and targets. Only this way the full potential on energy efficiency savings on a national level can be achieved.

ISEMIC creates added value in the following ways of presenting new, ready-to-use concepts:

• Interconnectivity with smart meters subsequent to creation of data bridges, which enables consumption monitoring on a daily basis or more frequently;
• Use of ICT for energy management in buildings as a service rather than a product (only an Internet connection is needed, and provisions will be made for places where internet connection is spotty);
• Use of algorithms that support expert knowledge and decision makers by discovering patterns of energy usage to identify waste, to find opportunities for change, and to set targets for improvement;
• A streamlined, robust system of determining baselines of consumption using regression analysis on past consumption data, defining consumption targets and verification of savings using the CUSUM technique;
• System of accounting for exceptions on outlier values of energy consumption, which are commented on by both the technical person in the building as well as the city energy manager;
• Monitoring for changes in energy performance to evaluate the effect of improvements that have been made, to check whether consumption targets are being met, and to provide evidence of progress towards improved energy savings.

ISEMIC will upgrade and improve the existing EMIS platform with new functionality for continuous collection, storage and analysis of data on energy consumption of buildings owned by a city, county or ministry. ISEMIC will further implement a newly developed methodology for past energy consumption data analysis using regression analysis, least square method, best-fit lines, scatter trending and advanced pattern recognition, as well as setting and cascading targets using correlation analysis, fuzzy logic and risk analysis using probability distribution for planning improvement measures.

Once fully developed and implemented, ISEMIC will enable or support implementation of:

• Introduction of smart meters in buildings and processing received data from measurements;
• Early detection of unnecessary energy consumption as data is entered as opposed to manual check-ups in EMIS;
• Alignment of individual buildings consumption targets and policy constraints pertinent to the local area (Kyoto Protocol, Croatian legislation, municipal development plans and energy action plans);
• Decision support for municipal authorities regarding energy related aspects of public buildings;
• Support for energy management office leaders in Croatian cities in their work in establishing ongoing energy management procedures in cities, counties (EM project) and ministries (HIO project);
• Involvement of stakeholders in energy related matters by utilizing a tool that works across departmental borders and shows clear and near-real time data on expenses for energy;
• Comparison of building performance between individual buildings, types of buildings in the same city, groups of buildings in different cities, etc.

It is expected that ISEMIC will improve energy efficiency in buildings, raise building users' awareness of energy consumption and utilize measurements from smart meters. Examples from praxis show that introducing an energy consumption monitoring system raises employee awareness on energy expenditure, which leads to 5% of energy and water savings without any additional investments in energy efficiency measures. After full ISEMIC implementation and implementation of some simple energy efficiency measures it is expected that energy and water savings will reach at least 10% of current consumption expenses of all project partners.

The potential impact of this project is very large and it would be a great example how significant savings can be achieved by systematic energy monitoring and management provided by the use of ISEMIC.