With the energy crisis, smart home issues have come to the fore more than before. Even those who smiled at home automation systems yesterday as expensive, superfluous gadgets are now showing serious interest.
In the meantime, homeowners and tenants alike are no longer just asking for ecological solutions, but especially for energy-efficient ones. At the same time, holistic offers are increasingly coming into focus due to the current increasing efficiency targets. Efforts are being made to make even better use of the individual system and equipment parts through stronger networking. The focus remains on the classic smart home promise: to achieve maximum comfort and security with a minimum of restrictions and visibility.
But in order to realize this in everyday living, it is no longer enough to simply integrate intelligent tools. Rather, a comprehensive view of living is to be realized in order to live everyday life with as little energy and environmental pollution as possible. The potential is still great, explains Mirco De Conto, Team Leader Sales in German-speaking Switzerland at eSMART Technologies, more than 40,000 apartments will be built in this country every year: "We see a clear trend that in cities and their agglomerations many new buildings be equipped with smart home systems and in recent years more and more existing buildings have been added.» The rural regions, where people are moving to, are also following suit, explains De Conto the current situation. In view of the current crisis situation, the question arises as to which smart home developments are pending, where there is further potential for differentiation and optimization in the industry and which innovations can be expected in the near future.
Farewell to the island solution
Optimizing self-consumption, efficient heating and energy-saving lighting are the important current topics, says Philippe Burkhalter, Deputy Head of Technology at ISP Electro Solutions in Ostermundigen. In addition to installations, electricians throughout the canton of Bern also address building automation and photovoltaic solutions, and for Burkhalter it is clear that today only systems that can cover all aspects of living are recommended. "Isolated solutions can be exciting for lighting, for example, but they don't meet our requirements for an overall system."
Interest in this is also growing in the homeowner sector, "in any case, automation systems are a part of every new building these days, just as a beautiful kitchen shelf has become standard." Burkhalter expects manufacturers to be very open about this. Their systems should currently allow "requirements that are not yet known to be integrated at a later date". For him, there is no question that smart home manufacturers will also dedicate a special focus to the further development of their products in terms of energy consumption and energy control.
Energy savings in focus
It is interesting that Rolf Fischbacher, head of development at the TEM Group, which specializes in heating, air conditioning and building automation and has its headquarters in Chur, states that awareness of intelligent and needs-based energy management is currently growing: "Energy should not be wasted unnecessarily", what from the use of passive energy thanks to intelligent blind control to the rooms that are only illuminated and heated when required and occupied, to room climate control via CO2 sensors. New additions in recent months are energy monitoring systems. Fischbacher adds that the question of “where and how much energy is needed” is no longer an abstract one. He also emphasizes that holistic smart home solutions are on the rise. «Small isolated solutions will have no future. Good energy management requires communication with various devices. This is only possible with a comprehensive home automation control », as offered by myTEM, says Fischbacher.
It is already clear to him that home and building automation can make up a significant part of saving energy. Fischbacher refers to the European standard for the energy efficiency of buildings (EN 15232), the aim of which is energy-efficient functions and designs in smart homes. In addition, it includes the assessment of thermal and electrical energy forms such as heating, cooling, ventilation, lighting, drinking water heating, movable sun protection devices and technical house and building management in order to keep energy consumption of every form as low as possible. For example, by comparing the actual and target equipment in new building projects on the basis of this standard, it is possible to estimate how large the possible reduction in energy requirements is through the introduction of building automation and its expansion. And, emphasizes the TEM chief developer, this "is in turn important for a sensible investment cost decision".
"It's good for the environment and your wallet"
De Conto from eSMART Technologies also names the energy crisis as the trigger for increased pressure to innovate in the real estate industry, which smart home systems can address. Only, “the challenge lies more in the fact that the real estate industry is still very cautious in this regard and the focus is still strongly on location and returns. – The energy crisis offers an opportunity to do things differently now,” adds De Conto.
Specifically, he refers to the in-house energy tachometer, which has been used since the beginning of eSMART, i.e. for more than 10 years, to record energy consumption in real time, among other things. "Combined with the eSMART Holiday mode, which automates the heating regulation simply and easily", heating energy can also be saved with little effort. "It has been proven that residents with these and other features of eSMART save around 12 to 15 percent in energy compared to conventionally built properties, i.e. without a smart home system. That's good for the environment and for your wallet," says the salesman.
De Conto, like his colleagues from the other companies, also emphasizes that the networking and interoperability of the various trades are at the top of the to-do list of smart home providers today. At eSMART, the all-in-one solution is the model for success, he explains his view. Additional integrators, De Conto speaks of «so-called specialists», would not be needed, so the dependencies on different actors would be reduced and a smooth interaction of the technologies would be guaranteed.
However, there are also complex issues such as the connection to e-mobility or charging stations right down to the billing of self-consumption. However, the eSMART man warns, "in addition to reliable, future-oriented technology, the timely implementation of these projects should not be lost sight of, just as an easy-to-use system on the existing infrastructure" should be offered inexpensively. "Keep it simple and smart" is the motto, which means that "innovations on the existing power lines in the apartments can be easily and simply integrated not only in new buildings but also in existing buildings," De Conto continues. He is addressing the powerline technology on which the eSmart home system is based.
Customization right down to load management
Regarding the importance of energy consumption, Loxone CEO Rüdiger Keinberger briefly outlines that more than 40 percent of the world's energy is currently used to operate buildings. In the private sector, 71 percent is used for heating, the remaining 29 percent in roughly equal parts for hot water preparation and the operation of other electrical equipment such as lighting. According to Keinberger (see interview), savings of 40 percent and more can be achieved with intelligent building control.
The topic of energy management has been central to Loxone for years, in order to let "all trades in an intelligent building automation implemented with Loxone work hand in hand". But now, with various innovations, a new level has been reached, says Keinberger. The Miniserver, the brain of the Loxone system, has been optimized even more for energy savings without loss of comfort for commercial and private buildings. Behind this is an ongoing energy offensive, which started with a free update of the Loxone software, around its own configurator (Config) and the app, with new modules and associated visualizations.
Seamless and holistic energy management is central to the current software release. This includes the recording and optimal control of the energy flows for different meter values. In addition, there is an energy flow monitor that maps the data from the various counter modules in the Loxone Config and makes it possible to categorize them down to the individual consumer. What is new is that the energy flow monitor not only displays the electrical consumers, but also provides information on water, heat and gas consumption. Furthermore, Keinberger explains that the individualization of the in-house energy manager has been pushed forward, in terms of wallbox individually adaptable charging modes are now possible. An update of the load management also allows load tracking every quarter of an hour, which is important for commercial buildings.
Now we have to wait and see whether and how such innovations prove themselves in everyday life and in possible times of crisis. Because the smart home of tomorrow also promises maximum energy efficiency, comfort and security with a minimum of interventions and thus optimal energy savings without compromising on the comforts of living.
What tasks does building automation perform?
Due to the interoperability of the building systems, for example, cross-trade processes can be combined in scenes. The GA increases comfort and security, increases energy efficiency and helps to save costs (smart building).
Standardized field bus systems serve as communication networks. The most common protocols are wired such as BACnet, KNX, LON or DALI. Mixed and wireless bus systems have also become established, which offer easy retrofitting, but in contrast to the wired ones, often do not have any interfaces to the building management level (BMS) and are therefore more suitable for use in residential buildings (smart home). The latest development in GA is the integration of cloud- and IoT (Internet of Things)-enabled solutions via Ethernet.
