Customer application
The Key to Greater Efficiency

Integrative building concepts: Lanfer Automation unifies the varying systems of individual building technology sectors via the WAGO I/O System 750.

Smart buildings significantly reduce energy consumption. Thus, it is truly smart for all the technical components to be intelligently networked. Lanfer Automation GmbH, based in Borken, Germany accomplishes this using WAGO Controllers. The result is not just energy savings, it also opens up energy synergies.

Alfred Lanfer scans a QR code on a conference room’s door with his smartphone in order to prepare for the next meeting. With just one finger swipe on a tiny screen, the blinds lower, the lights dim and a projector and screen descend from the ceiling. “This is the presentation function that we were able to create with just one switch by using EnOcean technology,” explains the CEO of Lanfer Automation GmbH. This small, concerted display of technical finesse is just one piece of what the project developer, located in the Westphalian town of Borken, can do. The company completely renovated its headquarters in late 2013, in which the building was equipped with innovative automation technology – from cellar to ceiling – and targeted energy efficiency. It would be easy to view the entire office building as one big showroom. “Technologically, a lot more can be done today than is conventionally implemented,” explains Lanfer. And the company from Borken wants to demonstrate just what can be done. However, the building does not just reflect the visionary philosophy that led to the company’s founding in 1979; the project also reveals a groundbreaking change in the design and networking of technical systems.

Lanfer Automation:

Linking Intelligent Islands
Getting a Grip on Interface Problems
Web-Based Energy Monitoring

Linking Intelligent Islands

Another finger gesture on the smartphone allows Lanfer to reset the conference room to its original configuration. “The demands placed on buildings and individual rooms naturally vary quite a bit,” he says. “The basic idea is to accommodate multiple demands under one roof. It can’t be too warm or too cold, the light has to be right; at the same time, everything must be as energy efficient as possible. The key to this is automation. Moreover, the individual intelligent components cannot be intelligent islands.

It is really smart and efficient when they are networked.” This type of integrative application has been a focus of sector experts for a long time, as the potential for additional energy savings is high. While energy efficiency is an important factor in real estate, according to Lanfer, these types of projects are uncommon. “Only a few design companies are currently pursuing integrative concepts in which the individual building systems are synchronized with each other.”

Whether it’s heaters, air-conditioning technology or illumination, Lanfer says each system presents good opportunities for adding intelligence to buildings and for using energy as efficiently as possible. However, since these individual building systems in their traditional forms do not have overlapping technology or combined installations, the end result is not always the optimal. “A typical example is when the heating and cooling systems work against each other. It is too warm, so the air-conditioning system automatically switches on; however, the heating does not switch off at the same time,” explains Lanfer. An integrated concept would prevent this. In this case, the advantages extend well beyond additional energy savings. Synergistic effects also came from the installations themselves; for example, bus technology alleviated the need for laying multiple cables. Lanfer Automation achieves additional savings by using the flexible WINSTA^® Pluggable Connection System from WAGO, which simplifies connections between systems and devices.

Getting a Grip on Interface Problems

Through renovating their own headquarters, Lanfer Automation proved how latent possibilities can be successfully exploited by integrated concepts. The point of origin is the basement, where the central heating unit that's supplied by district heat, is located. The central heat was connected to the building-wide ETHERNET bus system, which intelligently distributes the warmth. In addition, sensors constantly measure the temperature in the offices on the building’s three floors, where the heating system and a synchronized air-conditioning system adjust the actual values to meet the target. The current outside temperature, as reported by a linked weather station, is also included.

And there’s more: movement sensors detect whether anyone is in a particular room. If no one is there, the system shuts off the lighting and reduces the heating level. In addition, light sensors measure brightness levels in the offices and dim the LED-equipped rooms to optimal levels. These actions occur in coordination with external shades that are lowered automatically depending on the angle of the sun; this, in turn, offloads the air-conditioning system. Additionally, there is a roof-mounted photovoltaic system that employs the power of the sun in yet another way. The building’s intelligence extends to the doorknobs; red and green LEDs on the outside knob indicate whether or not a conference room is occupied.

Although this may seem rather whimsical, the complete design and the technical implementation is anything but. Lanfer explains while sketching out the actual goal, “In coordination with our holistic approach, we wanted to unite all components at central points to minimize the interfaces.” In order to harmonize the different systems from the individual building technology sectors, each floor received its own control unit. And at the core of each is a modular WAGO I/O System 750. “In the end, the customer should benefit from the intelligence of individual technologies and not have to grapple with interface problems. This can be done,” states Lanfer, “using the open and extremely flexible WAGO Controllers”. With WAGO's controller, there is basically only one ETHERNET interface. It functions centrally for all data and ensures that the building’s technical components work together. For this purpose, the I/O modules collect information belonging to different bus systems from each building sector, such as from DALI for lighting control and from KNX for the climate system. SMI is similarly integrated for outside shading, as are EnOcean wireless touch switches and many others.

Web-Based Energy Monitoring

Lanfer Automation continues to evolve the system. Most recently, sensors were installed in a few rooms to measure the CO2 content in the air. “The measure of what makes sense regarding intelligence is naturally very individual,” says Lanfer. Thus, Lanfer Automation’s services begin with advising. With engineering firms as partners, the company from Borken determines in advance which technologies and systems are best suited for the project and the customer, and takes a detailed look at the cost-benefit ratios. The services offered extend from installation and construction of control cabinets, up to programming and software development. Lanfer Automation also performs maintenance and emergency services around the clock, 365 days a year. Modern security technology is also offered. However, the attraction remains the centralized and intelligent unification of all systems. Since WAGO's controller also communicates using Internet protocols, maintenance tasks can be managed remotely using the web. Likewise, mobile users with additional software can change settings like room temperature, lighting schemes, and other aspects via tablets or smartphones.

Lanfer Automation has also tapped into Web-based data retrieval via WAGO's controllers to provide even greater levels of service and support. The automation experts have set up an energy monitoring system that is based on their proprietary software. The tool displays electrical and heat consumption within specified time frames using clear graphics through an Internet browser. Based on these load profiles, companies can meet their legal requirements, determine their energy consumption, implement further optimizations, and track how well these measures are working. In the meantime, Lanfer is thinking a step ahead and he shares that, “It is conceivable for us to detect and improve not only the power consumption values, but project future energy consumption based on the analysis.” The anticipated result: Utilities would make electricity and heat available at reduced rates. And that would be really smart.

Author: Jörg Gruner | 01.11.2014

Image sources: Lanfer Automation

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Customer application The Key to Greater Efficiency