Wireless Sensor Networks for Building Automation

Commercial buildings, office buildings, retail outlets, hotels, hospitals, universities, light industrial buildings, and research centers are increasingly implementing energy-saving programs with building automation systems (BAS), energy management, and security technologies.

Benefits of wireless sensor networks for building automation:

• Lowers wiring costs (up to 80 percent lower than wired)
• Lowers labor costs by eliminating cumbersome manual monitoring techniques
• Accelerates retrofit projects by simplifying adds moves and changes
• Eliminates costs and constraints associated with rewiring and reconfiguration

Smart Buildings

With the explosion of sensors in commercial buildings, the underlying communications mechanism between the devices and the control system are increasingly based on wireless mesh networking—thanks to the dramatic cost reduction, reliability and low power requirements enabled by wireless mesh networks. In addition, the convergence of Web-enabled IT systems and all other BAS including voice, video, data, security, environmental management, and maintenance systems are helping fuel the shift.