Designing scalable IT frameworks using cloud connectors to achieve seamless integration between learning platforms and energy management systems

This chapter provides a theoretical contribution to designing scalable IT frameworks for the integration of "interaction-based" informal learning environments for engineering education and cloud-based energy management systems developed within the scope of a project. The presented framework is based on a "loose coupling at all levels" design paradigm. This design paradigm aims to overcome the complexity overheads of tightly coupled fixed topologies while bringing to the domain of target systems the base features of heterarchical resilience that are seen within the living systems of the natural world.

The studied initiating example of this class of systems is educational services within a resource-aware scenario of a smart city with heterogeneous components of both the learning and energy domains operating within cloud-based settings. Specifically, the study investigates the relation between the educational function on one hand and the energy usage function on the other. This allows educational administrators to adjust the educational process in a way that aligns the usage of energy resources with the specific educational targets pursued. Positively, it provisionally motivates tenants in educational buildings to adopt more sustainable educational practices in their temporary living quarters. This behavior change should be the main concern of sustainability-oriented initiatives focusing on energy-related habits in educational frameworks that are developed in this setting, including e-learning services.