EnOcean Alliance Unveils Self-Powered Wireless Standard For Integrated Building Automation

January 24, 2017 – At AHR Expo 2017 (Las Vegas Convention Center, Las Vegas, NV, January 30 - February 1, 2017), the EnOcean Alliance will demonstrate the benefits of the interoperable EnOcean ecosystem for integrated building control and self-powered Internet of Things (IoT) applications. The ecosystem wall – shown at booth C1768 – will represent a complete automation system based on the EnOcean energy harvesting wireless standard. It will include all necessary components for intelligent HVAC and lighting control as well as energy management. The solutions presented offer maximum flexibility based on maintenance-free wireless devices, which are powered by their surrounding environment. Due to EnOcean Alliance’s open approach to interoperability, users can combine products from different vendors seamlessly.

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 - Maintenance-free sensor solutions for open standards
Due to strong partnerships with leading organizations 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 (IoT).

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 behavior 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. In a typical commercial building with such an automated lighting control system, it is possible to reduce energy consumption by up to 30%.

Gateways and Local Controllers

The approach of seamlessly integrating the control of different building areas can be realized 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 synchronized 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 bridge the EnOcean standard to work also 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 organization strengthened its program 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 1 GHz. 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.

More details can be found at http://www.enocean-alliance.org/en/products