Opportunities of Wireless Sensors and Controls for Building Operation

Abstract

ABSTRACT The rapid maturity of everyday wireless technologies—now widely used for mobile phones, wireless internet access, and even the replacement of barcodes—has had a significant impact on our ability to collect information from the physical world. There are tremendous opportunities in using wireless technologies in sensors and controls for building operation. To date, the market adoption rate of wireless systems in building automation has been limited by two factors. First, the cost of the wireless technology is still high because of the small production numbers. Second, there is still skepticism about the reliability of wireless systems as permanent controls solutions in buildings. The key promise of wireless technology in building operation is to reduce the cost of installing data acquisition and control systems (typically 20–80 percent of the cost of controls technology in a heating, ventilation, and air conditioning (HVAC) system). Reducing or eliminating this cost component has a dramatic effect ...