Articles and whitepapers

Going Green: Bringing KNX-based Energy Efficiency to Luxury Living in the Middle East (6/5/2010)

By Tarek Zakaria, Head of ABB KNX intelligent building technology in the Gulf

According to Institute for Energy Research, building technology is the largest consumer of energy after the areas of transport and power generation. Heating, cooling and lighting in residential and office buildings make up approximately 40% of the energy consumed in a building - a share that leaves a lot of scope for efficient optimisation.

In the Middle East, the home automation level in building installations has reached a very high standard in the past few years. This is in part due to the green building initiatives rolled out by a number of governments over the years.

Green buildings have become a major focus in the UAE. In Dubai, His Highness Sheikh Mohammed Bin Rashid Al Maktoum, UAE Vice President and Prime Minister and Ruler of Dubai, has made green building a top priority and launched a number of green building projects in the country.

Using home automation to reduce energy consumption

Supporting this initiative is ABB's smart home automation system, which has been used in the 52-story Le Rêve Tower in Dubai, home to a number of high-profile residents from across the globe. Using the ABB i-bus KNX building automation system in Le Rêve has helped to reduce energy consumption and CO2 emissions by as much as 35%. The building is one of the most exclusive addresses in Dubai, UAE and is one of the first smart home buildings in the Middle East.

Le Rêve tower in Dubai, while under construction.

In control of comfort

ABB i-bus KNX is used in applications in modern home and building control. It uses sleek, wireless touch screens to enable Le Rêve residents to control all of the functions of their homes, including lighting, air conditioning, heating and curtains in any room, and from any room. It relies on sensors and motion detectors to determine when and how much light and heat are needed in each room. Specifically, a presence detector used for control of the room lighting can simultaneously switch the room thermostat to absent mode as soon as the room is unoccupied for an extended period.

Curtain (or blind control) plays an important role in climate control. Closing the curtains on the facades of the tower on which the sun is shining in summer, can prevent the rooms from heating up - saving energy that would be needed to cool the working areas. In winter, the opposite is true. Here it is useful to capture as much solar heat as possible in the rooms, thus saving energy when heating rooms.

View of apartment in Le Rêve.

The technology

The ABB i-bus system is based on the simple, yet proven KNX technology which is now accepted as the world's first open standard for home and building control which includes smart applications like lighting, dimming, air conditioning and shading control for all types of commercial or residential buildings.

The main elements of the system, specified for each apartment, included light switching, motion detection and simulation, dimming, air conditioning, shading, water heater and Jacuzzi control and central monitoring, all controlled via a user-friendly touchpanel.

The ABB touchpanel that can be used to control all functions in the home, including security monitoring.

The system required a simple two-wire KNX cable inside the apartment to which all intelligent switches and the touchpanel were connected. This cable was then connected to the smart home panel within the apartment, which houses all of the intelligent control devices. ABB's KNX system combines the advantages of distributed intelligence and can be linked to central PC or touchscreen for control and monitoring. Furthermore, each floor is also connected to the building's TCP/IP network via a KNX IP router.

Using KNX meant that we could accommodate the relatively high number of applications in a single-device intelligent switch. It also allows users to control and monitor their apartments from remote locations. Since the system was so easy to use, no training of the occupants was required - all we needed to do was demonstrate the main controller switch just once to the tenants. Furthermore, every tenant has the flexibility of adding new functions, and many are already upgrading and doing so.

Energy savings

The solution has helped to reduce energy consumption and CO2 emissions. In general, intelligent lighting control can reduce the energy consumption by 30-40% and the same figures can be achieved by the air conditioning control. Savings are made thanks to KNX presence detectors, dimming the lights, and by the several predefined scenes such as night, shopping and vacation.

Conclusion

Using automation technology in apartment blocks has a number of benefits. It provides the required level of wow-factor for the developer, it helps the occupants to easily control their comfort, and it helps the occupants and environment by saving energy. In this installation, the control of energy-intensive functions, such as air conditioning and lighting in each room, can reduce power consumption and carbon dioxide emissions by close to 35% - a significant saving that can be replicated elsewhere.

Indeed in addition to Dubai's Le Rêve tower, the technology is already increasing energy efficiency and reducing energy bills in top hotels across the Middle East, including the Emirates Palace in Abu Dhabi, La Cigale Hotel in Doha, and the Four Seasons Hotel in Alexandria.

Tarek Zakaria is Head of ABB KNX intelligent building technology in the Gulf. ABB is a leader in power and automation technologies that enable utility and industry customers to improve their performance while lowering environmental impact.

www.abb.com/mea