The building wing in which the Swiss ABB Central Research Center is located contains small offices for three people as well as rooms with laboratory equipment (electrical engineering, computer science) and a recreation room. The building was constructed in 1967.
Within a comprehensive research project looking at the topic of SmartGrids, ABB CRC wanted to shed light on the interaction between building automation and the power grid. Therefore the electrical installation of selected wing of the building (including the luminaries) was upgraded to state of the art. This connectivity (communication) of the building automation with the power grid enabled the collection of revealing information about SmartGrid / SmartBuilding.
The building automation reacts to changes from the electricity supply company (price). Due to widespread consumption measurements it was confirmed, that an optimised lighting control enables energy saving of up to 40% (measured difference of the new lighting installation with and without constant light regulation).
The main challenge was the direct communication with the SmartGrid. Further the project claims the achievement of the greatest possible energy efficiency in lighting, shutter and heating with the todays technical possibilities. In addition, loads like lighting, water dispenser, laptops, monitors, loading units should be load-dependent switched.
KNX is THE standard in building automation and offered due to a large product range the best solution.
The lighting control was already intended during the planning phase and provides due to presence dependent control and constant light regulation optimal light levels.
40% (lighting)