Smart Buildings Show 2018: EnOcean presents self-powered wireless solutions for the digital transformation of buildings

At booth #D9, technology provider EnOcean will be demonstrating self-powered wireless switches and sensor solutions that deliver the required building data for IoT platforms to enable intelligent space usage and smart facilities services.

Oberhaching, October 17, 2018

At Smart Buildings Show 2018 (November 7-8, Barbican, London, UK), industry experts will discuss how to make buildings more economic and functional. At booth #D9, EnOcean, world leader in energy harvesting wireless technology, will demonstrate how the latest self-powered wireless solutions satisfy these high requirements at lowest installation and maintenance cost. Visitors can experience wireless switches and sensors, powered by their surrounding environment, which deliver the necessary data required for the digitalization of buildings and the Internet of Things (IoT). Connected with cloud-based IoT systems, the self-powered sensors enable buildings to flexibly adapt to the current situation, in different workplaces and the changing needs of its occupants. In addition, digitally collected building data allows facility managers to create new adaptive service models to make buildings more energy-efficient, more cost-effective and more comfortable.

Digitalization is making rapid strides forward in buildings. The Internet of Things (IoT) facilitates a digital twin of a building, which maps the exact usage requirements in the virtual world. This leads to automated service processes in facility management, greater energy savings and a more personalized sense of wellbeing on the part of the users.

“This high degree of flexible digital buildings can be realized by the deep networking ability of cloud-based IoT platforms together with innovative technologies such as self-powered wireless sensors,” said Andreas Schneider, CEO and Co-Founder of EnOcean GmbH.” These sensors can be placed wherever needed and deliver real-time insight into a building’s condition and technical health as a basis for new service models and on demand space utilization.”

At Smart Buildings Show 2018, EnOcean will be presenting self-powered wireless sensor solutions based on its proven energy harvesting technology for innovative building control on the basis of open standards such as EnOcean and Bluetooth®.

Field-proven wireless smart building standard

Maintenance-free wireless sensor solutions based on the EnOcean wireless standard (ISO/IEC 14543-3-1X) introduced by the EnOcean Alliance in the sub 1 GHz band have been successfully established for use in intelligent building automation and smart home solutions. The self-powered wireless standard provides a maintenance-free system for controlling all building areas including heating, air conditioning, lighting or security. Due to its high reliability and a radio range of up to 30 meters it is ideally suited for stable wireless communication within a building. Standardized sensor profiles help ensure the interoperability of products from the EnOcean ecosystem, which makes it possible to develop interoperable system solutions. Installers can quickly and flexibly implement and expand the self-powered EnOcean-based solutions making them the ideal fit for retrofit projects as well as new constructions.

Visitors to the show will find further EnOcean standard-based solutions for smart buildings at the EnOcean Alliance’s members booths of Pressac Communications (booth #F1), WAGO (booth #A7) and IA Connect (booth #E1).

Data for intelligent IoT platforms

At the event, EnOcean will also be presenting self-powered wireless switches and sensors for maintenance-free applications providing reliable data to IoT systems, such as temperature, humidity, occupancy/non-occupancy and light level. An IoT gateway interconnects the sensors and actuators over the Internet with cloud-based platforms such as IBM Watson, Microsoft Azure, Apple HomeKit, Amazon Echo, Google Home and Crestron. This builds the technological foundation for a building’s digital transition enabling facility managers to develop and automate new services. It includes, for example, room use management. Presence sensors can detect at all times how many people use a conference room and how often or when the cafeteria is especially crowded. Room occupancy and thus the use of cost-intensive resources, such as heating, air-conditioning and lights as well as staff and inventory, can be optimized based on usage data. Thus, room utilization becomes more flexible and hybrid enabling different and reconfigurable usage scenarios.

Detailed usage patterns of the building can be prepared with the aid of additional sensor data collected by door contacts, activity meters in electronic devices, etc. These patterns supply real-time information about the actual demand and allow appropriate measures to be taken to make services more efficient, energy-saving and dependent on the situation. Such IoT solutions can be used not only in asset management but also for ambient assisted living projects, insurance or hotel and campus projects.

Self-powered control solutions for Bluetooth® lighting systems

At the EnOcean booth, visitors can also learn more about LED controls for Bluetooth® lighting systems in 2.4 GHz based on the proven EnOcean energy harvesting technology. The self-powered and wireless Easyfit Bluetooth® switches with Near Field Communication (NFC) allow simple or complex lighting scenes and effects, and enable simple, flexible installation of lighting applications.

Easyfit Bluetooth® switches are compatible with various solutions from leading LED lighting manufacturers and have already been installed in hundreds of buildings. Combined with Bluetooth® lighting systems from Casambi, Helvar, Silvair, Vossloh-Schwabe, Xicato and Wirepas, Easyfit wall switches offer lighting installers the benefits of maintenance-free, easily positionable and ready-to-use solutions, allowing flexible control as well as intuitive usage.

At this event, EnOcean will also present first samples of the upcoming solar-based sensors for Bluetooth® lighting systems, for example, an occupancy/light sensor, a temperature/humidity sensor and a magnet contact.