Smart building: How ENGIE Deutschland implements the building management of tomorrow

Early in the morning just before getting up: The smart coffee machine comes to life and brews the first coffee of the day. At the same time, the lights go on in the apartment, while the intelligent heating control brings the bathroom to a comfortable temperature. A short request to the voice assistant, the messages of the day start, followed by the favorite radio station. A short command in the app starts the vacuum robot after leaving the house. The building of the future is already taking shape today, increasing our comfort and saving energy.

"What we already benefit from on a daily basis on a small scale in a networked home is becoming increasingly important in large special-purpose buildings: Smart Buildings. The advantages resulting from holistically networked, intelligent buildings are even greater than in the private sector, especially for facility management," explains Manfred Schmitz, CEO of ENGIE Deutschland.

Intelligent building management "powered by ENGIE"

Change of scene: At the University Heart Center Bad Krozingen, the AXI.COS SmartOperating control solution from ENGIE Deutschland works efficiently and inconspicuously behind the scenes. Thanks to the networking of all technical systems with the intelligent system, the employees can call up detailed information in real time from any mobile terminal. With the automated system control in the smart building, the heart center benefits not only from optimized processes. For emergency situations, the fire system is also directly connected to the control solution. This enables the system, for example in the event of a fire alarm, to automatically transmit all essential information, including a graphical map, to the fire department.

"According to recent studies, digital solutions still only play a minor role in building management in Germany," emphasizes Schmitz. "The potential for the future is correspondingly great. Whether it is office property, hospital, hotel or shopping center – smart building management solutions ensure that processes can be significantly simplified and accelerated," says Schmitz.

The Internet of Things enables efficient use of intelligent building technology

The Internet of Things (IoT) creates the basis for the networking of all production facilities, machines and systems. From lighting, heating and cooling to the alarm system and energy and load management – for intelligent building control, all records of the networked sensors are combined with the information from many other sources and analyzed in Smart Building Management. "This allows different processes in all building areas to be improved in parallel – not according to predefined schedules and set values, but by real-time control exactly when the current conditions require it. In this way, resources are used optimally," Schmitz makes clear.

The smart building thinks ahead

Thanks to smart building management, the networked buildings are not only thinking along, but even ahead. Intelligent sensors, for example, can trigger cleaning work or maintenance and repair operations in an automated manner and transmit the orders in detail to the responsible specialists. Such predictive maintenance avoids the failure of a plant – its availability and thus the general usability of the building increase. In the management of buildings, Smart Building Management leads in practice to:

• increased comfort
• more security
• higher efficiency and more savings
• increased (energy) efficiency
   

Smart building: smart solutions for the future

ENGIE Deutschland has been implementing efficient smart building management solutions for the Deutsche Sparkassenverlag in Stuttgart for more than 15 years. The basis for the intelligent building complex is an integrated security and building management system, which ENGIE Deutschland has gradually built up together with the customer. For example, a weather station records all environmental parameters that are relevant for the automated control of heating, ventilation and air conditioning technology. Furthermore, the system has intelligent networking with the fire and burglary alarm system as well as the option of dynamically controlling blinds and lighting. With the ENECTIV® solution, a management tool is also used, which ensures modern energy monitoring. In total, more than 25,000 pieces of information are collected, processed and evaluated in the DSV building for the control and optimization of processes.

Intelligent building management: Focus on tailored projects

When implementing intelligent solutions for efficient and future-oriented building management, ENGIE Deutschland relies on tailor-made concepts that match the building and the needs of the respective customer. "We combine technical, energy and service competence into a comprehensive portfolio," emphasizes Steffen Haller, Head of Energy Management for the South Region at ENGIE Deutschland. "This enables us to draw on a whole range of innovative and successful facility management solutions across the Group and to benefit from this comprehensive expertise. Ultimately, this will of course benefit our customers," says Haller.

Conclusion: ENGIE Deutschland relies on digital solutions in building management

In building and energy management in particular, the intelligent networking of devices and systems offers great potential for efficiency gains. Transparent data and the real-time control of the processes enable companies of every industry and scale to optimize the management of their buildings in a sustainable way. ENGIE Deutschland is one of the digital pioneers in the implementation of IoT solutions. Together with customers from various industries, we have already implemented numerous efficient smart building management projects – from smart operating solutions to knowledge-based systems such as weather forecast control to interactive room automation.