Building Automation

Building Automation using WSNs

Building automation was identified, a few years ago, as a major means of reducing energy usage in buildings. Some already installed building automation systems (BAS) have achieved between 20% to 80% reductions in energy cost, increased occupant security/safety, increased occupant comfort and a reduction in building operations cost. Although several building automation systems have been installed so far, they have not yet achieved a significant market penetration nor have they successfully achieved their full potential. Several issues still remain unresolved, like:

• increased interoperability between individual sub-systems like HVAC, lighting control etc.
• use of wireless sensors that facilitate reduced installation/wiring cost
• increased information sharing between the various sub-systems
• integration with installed IT enterprise networks
• better application modeling and deployment toolkit
• real time monitoring and analysis

In this project we try to explore the use of WSNs for building automation. The use of sensor networks for building automation enables high-density sensing and control at lower operational costs and could therefore enable more efficient building management. Figure 1. shows an example of a WSN deployment for building automation.

Sensors

• Air Quality Sensors
• IR/acoustic Sensors

Resources

• NIST Project, Development of testbed for wireless sensor network use in buildings
• DOE report, Advanced Sensors and Controls for Building Applications: Market Assessment and Potential R&D Pathways
• Sensor Networks for Building Automation: Energy Efficiency
• Interesting List of Data Sources

Companies

• Millennial Net
• Ember
• Gridlogic
• Siemens
• Honeywell

People

This work is being conducted by Sangeeta Bhattacharya, a current PhD student, under the guidance of Dr. Chenyang Lu and Dr. Gruia-Catalin Roman.