Connecting building automation with the IoT

With EnOcean Alliance promoter member and certified IBM business partner Pressac, the organisation will be showcasing self-powered wireless sensor solutions for energy monitoring and sustainable building operations.

The EnOcean Alliance offers the advantages of an extensive and established ecosystem of interoperable energy harvesting wireless sensor solutions that are available to smart buildings worldwide.

In combination with intelligent IoT systems such as IBM´s Watson IoT Platform, self-powered sensor solutions help optimise the utilisation of buildings, create new service models and make buildings more flexible, more energy efficient and altogether more cost effective.

Intelligent building control calls for solutions that can be flexibly adapted to individual project requirements.

Breaking down the barriers of isolated applications, the interoperable EnOcean Alliance ecosystem of more than 400 member companies and over 1,500 products offer integrated systems that connect several building applications and control them depending on the current situation.

EnOcean Alliance connects building automation with the IoT
Due to partnerships with organisations of the IT industry, such as the Open Connectivity Foundation, and industry leader IBM, the EnOcean Alliance opens the world of energy harvesting wireless communication to develop interoperable self-powered wireless solutions as a standard for the Internet of Things.

“The key advantages of wireless control are the ease of upgrading existing buildings and expanding a system at any time. Wireless control systems can even provide greater installation flexibility if units within the system do not require dedicated cabling or batteries for power. Energy harvesting wireless sensors, switches and controls therefore perfectly fit in with the sustainable characteristics of energy saving building automation systems. This makes EnOcean one of the most important wireless standard for maintenance-free applications for building automation and the IoT,” said Graham Martin, CEO and Chairman of the EnOcean Alliance.

At Smart Buildings Show, the EnOcean Alliance will show an integrated building system covering the following areas:

Self-powered switches and sensors
Wireless sensors can lay the foundation for energy savings, increased comfort, and healthier living through automated HVAC control. Self-powered temperature, gas, and climate sensors combined with hydronic heating valves form a wireless network that supplies heat or cool air depending on individual needs and behaviour or when room conditions need to be adapted to predefined set points.

Intelligent lighting control can be covered on the basis of three main wireless components: kinetic-powered light switches, including dimmers, solar-powered light sensors, and solar-powered occupancy sensors. This system can additionally support a wireless daylight harvesting application, which is a lighting controls system that automatically adapts the light level to the amount of available natural light in a room measured by light level sensors.

Gateways and local controllers
The approach of seamlessly integrating the control of different building areas can be realised with gateways and local controllers. These directly communicate with the self-powered wireless devices and with each other to process the delivered data and information for a synchronised building management system. This results in better energy efficiency while increasing comfort and security at the same time.

Building management systems
These same gateways can also bridge the EnOcean standard to work with other established protocols such as BACnet, LonMark, WiFi, or the cloud. This provides maximum flexibility to installing professionals to expand and adapt building automation systems based on other protocols at any time with wireless components and to centrally control the whole system.

Cognitive buildings with IBM
With IBM joining the EnOcean Alliance as a promoter member, the organisation strengthened its programme in building automation and the Internet of Things. For its Watson IoT ecosystem and cognitive buildings solutions, IBM relies on the energy harvesting EnOcean technology in sub 1GHz.

In close collaboration, the EnOcean Alliance and IBM define and expand standards for self-powered solutions for the IoT. These solutions can be used in various cases from asset management, ambient assisted living projects, insurance or hotel and campus projects, giving maintenance-free wireless switches and sensors based on EnOcean technology.

Energy, environment and space
At the Smart Buildings Show, UK manufacturer Pressac Communications will be showcasing Pressac Sensing, its product series of self-powered wireless sensors used for energy monitoring, environmental monitoring and building space utilisation.

Special highlights include a solar-powered, wireless CO₂, temperature and humidity sensor, the only one of its kind on the market. The stand will also feature a series of wireless Current Transducer (CT) clamps that use induction as the energy source and can be easily clamped around any AC cable to measure the instantaneous current flow. The Pressac Sensing portfolio also contains a three channel temperature sensor, thermally powered temperature sensor, smart relays and an under desk PIR sensor.

Moreover, Pressac work with their partners and customers to understand the specific challenges they face. If required Pressac can modify existing devices or develop tailored devices or solutions to address those needs.