Page 36 - Climate Control News Magazine Feb 2019

Safety in HVACR
Era of talking
buildings has arrived
AN AUSTRALIAN COMPANY, USING A WIRELESS SOLUTION DEVELOPED BY UNIVERSITY OF NSW, IS ROLLING OUT TECHNOLOGY ACROSS THE COUNTRY THAT ALLOWS BUILDINGS TO MONITOR THEMSELVES AND REPORT PROBLEMS AUTONOMOUSLY –
AND EVEN TALK TO YOUR SMARTPHONE.
Dr Wen Hu of UNSW's School of Computer Science and Engineering
etc – can connect, interact and exchange data seamlessly with each other and across the Internet. What’s new is that WBS, an emergency light- ing manufacturer in Sydney, is using the technol- ogy to transform itself into an entirely new busi- ness: instead of just making and selling emergency lights, it also offers ‘sensors as a ser- vice’. For a fixed monthly fee, WBS provides a network of emergency and other lights that mon- itor themselves, react to their surroundings and to remote commands, and can have other devic-
es added to the same network.
At the retrofitted apartment building in Castle
Hill, lights in the underground carpark dim when there’s no movement and brighten when there is, as do lights in hallways and common areas. If a light fitting fails, building managers know which one and how long it has been inoperative.
As the network expands, energy usage and the status of heating and cooling can be tracked, flow gauges report back on water usage and identify leaks, ventilation and pumping systems monitored remotely, and hot water systems checked for faults. Even residents trapped in an underground carpark would be able to commu- nicate with building managers via an app.
“EMERGENCY LIGHTS CAN BE NETWORKED WITH OTHER DEVICES.”
– DR WEN HU, UNIVERSITY OF NSW.
Luke Gibbeson of WBS Technology said the company has created a smart building ecosystem.
“There’s 14 buildings in this apartment com- plex, and we’ve installed a networked emergency lighting solution throughout them without any cabling and with no supporting network infra- structure,” he said.
“Our communications gateway looks like a standard exit sign, which relays other emergency lights communication to the cloud and acts like a normal exit sign – so it’s a plug and play system.”
KNOWN AS EMIOT, the new wireless platform relies on LED exit signs as the backbone of a low- power meshed network that cov- ers 99.9% of a building – even reaching underground carparks, pump systems and air conditioning.
The company which is commercialising the technology, WBS Technology, has installed it in more than 10 apartment complexes – the latest is at Castle Hill, northwest of Sydney.
Dr Wen Hu of UNSW's School of Computer Science and Engineering, said its as simple as in- stalling emergency lights. “They all automati- cally connect to each other, and that creates the network,” he said.
“The emergency lights can then be networked with other devices via various wireless technolo- gies, including Bluetooth, which allows them to be controlled locally with a smartphone or via the Internet from anywhere in the world.”
Each exit sign or emergency light acts as a node in the network, passing information back and forth across a building. Once operating, oth- er devices can be connected to the network – ventilation and pumping systems, security cam- eras and sensors, access doors to common areas and halls – allowing all of them to be controlled and monitored remotely.
EMIoT is an example of the much-vaunted Inter- net of Things (IoT) network, in which all manner of devices – computers, lights, cars, home appliances,
CLIMATECONTROLNEWS.COM.AU
36