Artificial intelligence and climate control: Venice airport gets smarter
Venice's Marco Polo Airport is getting smarter and more cutting-edge: artificial intelligence has been put at the service of systems [...]
VCE
Venice Marco Polo Airport becomes more and more smart and cutting-edge: artificial intelligence has been put at the service of air conditioning systems to create comfortable environments and most importantly, To reduce energy consumption and carbon dioxide emissions. This advanced system is called Sybil: created by Alperia, a South Tyrolean energy service provider, has been adopted by the Venetian airport for the air conditioning of its buildings and is able to ensure its management through sophisticated automation techniques.
How does Sybil work?
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The Sybil system uses some Patented machine learning and predictive control algorithms to improve comfort and air quality inside the air terminal, which, with 60,000 square meters of floor space and 1 million cubic meters of air treated per hour, is one of the most complicated air-conditioning spaces to manage.
The innovation of the Sybil system lies in its ability to analyze, continuously, external weather conditions, ambient temperature and CO2 levels but also the degree of crowding in each area of the airport, both in real time and in future projection. Simply put: at peak times - When passenger flow increases - the system is able to anticipate cooling/heating and then reduce it, autonomously, when the flow decreases.
"Industry experts have welcomed the data measured since Alperia Sybil HVAC was gradually implemented at Venice Airport." Says Luca Fresi, director of BU Smart Region in Alperia. "First activated at the end of June 2023 with a limited number of air handling machines, the system has proven its effectiveness such that by September 2023, all 40 machines were already integrated and managed by Alperia Sybil HVAC. The statistics speak for themselves: there are energy savings exceeding 30%, a remarkable achievement for a plant of this size and complexity".
"The revolutionary technology implemented within the Sybil System is the result of years of research and development that has enabled Alperia to design and implement innovative software solutions applicable to various industrial and residential sectors. In the specific case of the Marco Polo airport in Venice, the algorithm uses as input the trend of some exogenous variables (e.g. outdoor temperature and humidity, radiation level), interfaces with the airport's information systems to acquire in real time the flow of passengers in transit or arriving from flights; based on this information Sybil predicts the future evolution of the indoor environmental conditions and consequently identifies the best combination of operating parameters by implementing in real time actions on the system in order to Ensuring the best comfort conditions while ensuring maximum energy efficiency". Comment James Astolfi, Head of Innovation, IoT & New Business at Alperia Green Future.
John Lamenza, Technical Director of SAVE Group., confirms the goodness and effectiveness of the project, "Qhese savings not only indicate optimized operations, but also reflect Venice Airport's commitment to reducing the carbon footprint of its operations, saving money and meeting ESG goals. With the Sybil technology, Venice Marco Polo Airport has not only succeeded in improving the quality of the indoor environment for passengers and staff, but has also set a new benchmark in terms of energy efficiency in the airport sector. The initiative is a clear demonstration of how smart technologies can be successfully implemented in large infrastructures to achieve sustainability and cost-saving goals."
