APPROACH
Digitalisation in existing buildings is not as widespread as in other sectors.
Consequently, building owners and occupants generally have a limited understanding of their building as an energy system. Improving the energy efficiency of existing buildings can and should be achieved through deep renovation. In comparison, smart technologies can increase the efficiency and flexibility of buildings in a shorter term and with much fewer investments.
The domOS project addresses the smart building sector through two axes:
In the first axis, technology, guidelines for an open, secure, multi-service Internet of Things (IoT) ecosystem for smart buildings are defined: in-building gateways, which connect to local smart devices and the smart appliance of any type, IoT platforms, and applications operated by different parties can be integrated seamlessly. Building owners can enforce privacy rules, they can allow/forbid access to any measurement or control point.
The second axis deals with the development of smart services. They increase the energy efficiency of space heating (heat pumps, district heating, gas boilers) thanks to innovative control algorithms using smart sensors and smart heating appliances. Automated advice services provide concise and sound information on building energy. Buildings become active nodes of an electricity grid or a District Heating grid.
OUR VISION
From a smartphone ecosystem…
Remember the times when you had a “stick” smartphone, a picture camera, a movie camera, a music player, and an agenda…?
At some time, smartphones showed up and integrated all devices. They not only reduce the number of hardware devices but also triggered the development of a huge set of apps capable to access all peripherals of smartphones.
The easy integration of several peripherals gave birth to new services, for instance, a service that bills public transportation using just positioning data. A new ecosystem with app developers, app stores, smartphone manufacturers and operating system developers was born!
…to a building ecosystem
Of course, buildings are not smartphones, but issues are similar: buildings host many devices and appliances – online heat pumps, electric vehicle charging stations, smart thermostatic valves… - and all applications should ideally have the capability to access any monitoring/control point if permitted. This is still a dream in most buildings!
Industrialising the smart building domain
The vision is that smart service developers, smart service operators, IoT platform operators, and system integrators offer compatible products or services.
By doing so, they concentrate on their key expertise, increase their customer base, and lower costs. This is meant to be the start of a virtuous circle: more compatible components trigger more customers and hence allow cost reduction, which leads to more customers and more compliant components.
