FM & TECHNOLOGY
HOW TO MAKE A BUILDING SMARTER
Developments in low power, wide area network (LPWAN) technology are making buildings smarter and the lives of facilities managers easier, says Marc Pegulu of Semtech.
Smart buildings have been enthusiastically anticipated, but implementation of smart building technology has been challenging due to complexity as well as an overwhelming number of options available in the market. Complex and costly issues can inhibit smart building rollout, including the high costs associated with cellular networks and the fact that networks used by smart buildings can clash and interfere with each other, derailing smooth operation.
The worldwide market for smart building systems is predicted to grow from $80bn today to $328bn by 2029, driven by the benefits inherent to incorporating buildings into the Internet of Things (IoT).
For example, networked sensors allow for more precise control over HVAC systems which reduces energy costs and enables better management of lighting, security and health and safety systems. Sensor networks also improve building efficiency via real-time management of occupancy and room usage as well as providing the ability to access up-to-date data to ensure proactive maintenance and management. When rolled out effectively, this ensures building comfort, which boosts worker productivity, as well as generating demonstrable efficiencies for facilities management.
While some equipment in an IoT-enabled network benefits from being hard-wired, battery-operated sensors often make more sense. Battery operation offers significant flexibility in terms of where sensors can be placed in a building, and with a working life of 10+ years, battery- operated sensors ease maintenance headaches. Apart from the issues inherent to installing miles of cabling in a hard-wired system, identifying system faults in such a system can be problematic, which can be avoided using certain wireless technologies.
Another notable difference in some smart building systems and devices is network reach. For a communications network to be reliable, facilities managers need accurate data. For minimum disruption and maximum efficiency, it is vital that the signals used are able to pass through thick walls, through several storeys and even across many miles to interact with another building’s networks. An additional essential factor is data security – sensitive commercial data needs to be watertight when shared via any network and between structures.
The latest developments in network technology using LoRaWAN address these issues. The LoRaWAN standard central to these networks was specifically designed for long range and low power connections to battery-backed
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sensors, using the unlicensed sub-GHz radio bands at 915MHz in North America and 868MHz in Europe. This provides extensive reach with a superior penetration compared to standard 2.4GHz networks, and allows sensors to be placed exactly where needed rather than near a power source or network cable. Low power usage ensures that these sensors will run for a decade off a single battery, avoiding costly replacement cycles.
The Indoor Air (IAQ) & Environment Quality (IEQ) sensors from IQnexus exemplify smart building success. These sensors use Semtech’s LoRa devices utilising the LoRaWAN standard for building automation systems in order to monitor carbon dioxide emissions in real time, and comply with the WELL and RESET standards — key benchmarks for building operations.
Through LoRaWAN connectivity capabilities, the IAQ sensor is able to communicate via standard protocols including BACnet and ModBus to any building automation or energy management system, as well as supervisory control and data acquisition (SCADA) systems.
The worldwide market for smart building systems is predicted to grow from $80bn today to $328bn by 2029
A typical installation of IAQ sensors features one IoT platform installed on an on-premise server to connect 20 to 30 gateways with 700-1000 sensors for a 30-50 floor building. The sensors cover IAQ and IEQ, as well as ensuring climate comfort by measuring single HVAC zones.
In some areas, the ISM Sub-GHz band is scarce. Semtech’s latest devices support an even more rugged protocol: the Long Range - Frequency Hopping Spread Spectrum (LR- FHSS), which offers significant additional capacity for low data rate end devices where a large number of channels cannot be allocated. LR-FHSS is designed to coexist with sensors using LoRa, and can penetrate building layers in order to provide reliable infrastructure monitoring. While this could previously be achieved with multiple gateway devices, enhancements to the protocol simplify network design and implementation.
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