Solution Blueprint
Internet of Things (IoT)
Affordable Building Automation
System Enabled by the Internet
of Things (IoT)
HCL Technologies* uses an Intel-based intelligent gateway to deliver a powerful, yet cost-effective
building management solution for small to medium-sized buildings.
Executive Summary
The Internet of Things
creates new opportunities
in building automation.
Building managers face growing pressure to reduce energy consumption
and increase operational efficiency in order to boost the bottom line. Making
this difficult, many buildings have disparate systems that must be controlled
independently due to a lack of integrated building automation. For instance, it is
not uncommon for companies to have various types of heating, ventilation, and air
conditioning (HVAC) systems and security systems across their locations or even in
the same building.
These issues can be addressed by deploying a building automation system
(BAS); however, the high cost of such solutions has traditionally been difficult to
justify for small to medium-sized buildings. This is now changing as leading edge
technologies for the “Internet of Things” (IoT) are being used to drive down BAS
cost and change the market dynamics for building management. This solution
blueprint describes a cost-effective BAS solution from HCL Technologies* that
delivers energy savings and productivity gains in all types of commercial buildings,
including retail stores, factories, and corporate office spaces. The solution gives
building managers full flexibility and keeps structure alterations to a minimum.
Affordable Building Automation System
Enabled by the Internet of Things (IoT)
Table of Contents
Executive Summary . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1
Key Business Objectives . . . . . . . . . . 2
Business Challenges. . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2
Solution Benefits. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2
Solution Overview. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2
Technology . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 4
IoT Tenets. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5
Summary . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 6
Resources. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 6
Key Business Objectives
Reduce facilities operating costs
with the ability to monitor multiple
building systems and properties at
once, and optimize fine-tune building
performance to a degree not possible
via human capabilities alone.1
Business Challenge
There are BAS solutions on the market
today that allow multiple building
systems to be managed through a
single web site portal; however, they
can cost hundreds of thousands, even
millions, of dollars (USD), making them
too expensive for operators and owners
of small to medium-sized buildings.
The high price tag is partly due to the
closed, custom, and proprietary nature
of these systems, which also gives the
original equipment manufacturer full
control over installations and upgrades.
Solution Benefits
The BAS from HCL is an integrated IoT
solution that delivers clear advantages:
• Reduced Price Point: A low cost
alternative to proprietary BAS
solutions is to instrument a building
using IoT technologies, such as lowcost wireless sensors, on-premises
gateways, and cloud analytics.
Instrumentation involves installing
an independent network of actuators
and sensors (e.g., temperature,
light) throughout a building, thus
eliminating the need to retrofit
existing equipment.
• Lower Operating Costs: A centralized
portal provides building managers
with the analytic tools needed to
increase energy efficiency and
productivity through advanced
data gathering and analysis,
comprehensive reports, system-wide
alarm management, etc.
2
• Minimal Infrastructure Changes:
Since the HCL solution can be
implemented with wireless sensors
and actuators that only need power,
which is often already available in the
vicinity, infrastructure modifications
can be minimal. The use of wireless
sensors can reduce deployment cost
by around 30 percent,2 while at the
same time increasing installation
flexibility.
• Ease of Use: The intuitive interface
enables building managers to
visualize building data, thus
facilitating fast and precise decision
making. In addition, building
managers can receive important
building alerts and notifications
on their wearable devices, like a
smartwatch.
Solution Overview
IoT is enabling billions of Internetconnected devices, ranging from
building sensors to simple pedometers.
While the traditional Internet is based
on an open architecture that invites
broad developer participation, IoT
extends the reach to include any
electronic device. This openness
creates an environment that fosters
a rich ecosystem and reduced costs
through economies of scale.
Bringing the power of IoT to building
automation, HCL Technologies is able
to dramatically reduce BAS cost for
its clients. Solutions can be tailored
to meet the specific requirements of
different types of commercial buildings
given HCL’s partnerships with a wide
variety of sensor manufacturers. HCL is
a global company that solves complex
business problems by combining IT and
engineering services expertise under
one roof.
Affordable Building Automation System
Enabled by the Internet of Things (IoT)
User Interface Devices
Control and Monitoring
Tablet, Web Access,
Smart Watch
RFID
Tag
RFID
Video
Camera
Wi-Fi
Ethernet
Cloud
3G/4G
Ethernet
HCL* Building Automation
System Software
Intel® IoT Gateway
HCL Building Automation System Software
- Remote control and monitoring from mobile devices (e.g., tablets and smartwatches)
- Real-time remote monitoring of video surveillance
ZigBee*
RFID
Module
- HVAC control, including operation modes and temperature set points
>alerts when motion detected
by cameras
HVAC Energy
Control Meter
Wi-Fi
Light
Light
Noise Smoke Temp
Sensor Sensor Sensor Humidity
Sensor
>alerts when actual values exceed defined threshold values.
Wi-Fi Router
Figure 1. Building Automation System (BAS) Configuration Example
- Alarm configuration: activate, deactivate, and reset alarms
Key Components
Example Use Models
Figure 1 shows the main ingredients of
a BAS solution consisting of
There are four main building
automation use cases that are detailed
in the following sections:
• Intel® IoT Gateway
• HCL building automation system
software runs on gateways and/or in
the cloud
Solution Capabilities
Operations features simplify building
system management
- Single interface for managing multiple systems
Administration
• Analytics from Log Reports
• Costing Strategies
CONTRO
L
S
Building
Automation
System
(BAS)
Processes
• Connected
Surveilance
• Policy Generation
• Alarm Detection
LIG
H
HCL’s BAS solution provides a range of
powerful features to monitor building
edge-devices and systems, including
HVAC, security, lighting, water,
hydraulics, and electrical equipment.
All these features are designed for
optimal energy efficiency and cost
effectiveness, and can be integrated
into new and existing mechanical
and electrical equipment. The BAS
solution controls various security and
surveillance solutions, like CCTVs,
access control devices, fire safety etc.,
and thereby provides full control of all
disparate systems of the building.
1.Core Automation and Control
Features facilitate the automation/
control, operation, maintenance, and
management of building systems,
including HVAC, safety and intrusion
alarms, access control, and lighting
(Figure 2). The features improve
building comfort level, economics,
security, and safety.
C
HVA
• User interface devices
NG
TI
• Sensors and actuators
- Integration with smoke, noise, temperature, and humidity sensors
Maintenance
• Operator Control
• Predictive Analytics
• Predictive
Maintenance
- Data visualization
Management features drive
consistent building system
performance
- Preconfigured settings for the configuration and execution of systems
- Scheduler functionality to automatically switch systems on/off
- Trend logs
- Cost allocation analysis
- Global strategy implementation
2.Energy Consumption Analysis
helps building managers identify
trends that can drive more efficient
energy usage. For instance, HCL
BAS software can monitor the realtime energy consumption of an
HVAC, compare it against predicted
usage, and provide the results
visually. The predicted usage trend
is based on complex logic, which
takes into account parameters like
usage history, average ambient
temperature, etc. When the actual
energy consumption deviates
from the expected, it is possible
to trigger a preconfigured action,
such as alerting the building
Figure 2. Core Building Automation and
Control Features
3
Affordable Building Automation System
Enabled by the Internet of Things (IoT)
When the number of people in a
particular area exceeds a defined
threshold range, it is possible to take
action based on preconfigured rules.
Some examples include:
• Switch on the air conditioning
• Reset the set point on the thermostat
• Play targeted promotions on digital
signage display terminals
• Stock popular products in congested
regions
Low
Charge
Zone
High
Charge
Zone
Mid
Charge
Zone
Technology
Sensors and Actuators
Figure 3. Energy Consumption Monitoring in Real Time
manager. Additionally, the trend
analysis module is integrated with
a recommendation engine that
suggests possible reasons for
an alert and what actions should
be taken in order to correct the
observed deviation. The suggestions
are accessible by selecting the alert
symbols (!) shown in Figure 3. The
graphs also indicate energy charges
by time of day, allowing the building
manager to schedule building system
operation during off-peak times, thus
minimizing energy costs.
wearable devices. These tags are
read by different readers, which
are located in various locations
within the building, primarily at
entry and exit gates. After counting
the number of people in different
areas of the building, the solution
creates a people density heat map
that identifies high traffic areas, as
shown in Figure 5. This feature is
particularly useful in retail since
it measures number of customers
visiting different regions in a store
(i.e., footfalls).
3. Occupant Comfort Level Tracking
enables building managers to
continuously monitor the comfort
level of building occupants and have
preconfigured actions triggered
when key parameters fall outside
a predefined range. Comfort level
parameters include temperature,
humidity, noise, and light intensity
level. Figure 4 shows a sample
screenshot of comfort level trends.
4. People Proximity Sensing measures
the density of people in a particular
location and can take action
based on predefined rules. People
presence is detected by RFID tags in
mobile devices carried by building
occupants or embedded inside their
4
Figure 4. Occupant Comfort Level Tracking
Building owners and operators can
choose from an assortment of sensors
and actuators offered by vendor
partners of HCL. These devices
have been validated to ensure their
compatibility and interoperability with
HCL building solutions.
User Interface Devices
Building managers can use a variety
PCs, tablets, and smartwatches to
interface to HCL BAS solutions.
Affordable Building Automation System
Enabled by the Internet of Things (IoT)
Region 1
HCL Building Automation System
Software
Region 3
Region 2
Region 4
Figure 5. People Proximity Sensing
Intel® IoT Gateway
The Intel IoT Gateway offers companies
a key building block to enable the
connectivity of legacy as well as
new building systems. It integrates
technologies and protocols for
networking, embedded control,
enterprise-grade security, and easy
manageability on which applicationspecific software can run.
IoT Tenets
The HCL building automation system
is designed to provide security and
interoperability from edge to cloud in
keeping with five key tenets defined
by Intel:
• World-class security as the
foundation
The Intel IoT Gateway (Figure 6) enables:
• Connectivity up to the cloud and
enterprises
• Connectivity down to sensors and
existing controllers embedded in
the system
• Pre-process filtering of selected data
for delivery
• Local decision making, enabling easy
connectivity to legacy systems
• A hardware root of trust, data
encryption, and software lockdown
for security
• Local computing for in-device analytics
In an HCL solution, the gateway
communicates with building sensors
and actuators, and collects event
HCL BAS software performs the
automation, control, monitoring, and
analytics functions previously described.
With its advanced alarm management
and extensive data gathering and
analysis, building manager can remotely
control and monitor appliances, like
lights, load controllers etc., from their
mobile devices. Real-time remote
monitoring of video surveillance can also
trigger an alert when motion is detected
by cameras. The software is designed
to deliver very high levels of stability,
reliability, and scalability when running
solely on Intel IoT Gateway or with
portions running in the cloud for larger
deployments.
Figure 6. Intel® IoT Gateway
data on an as-needed basis or at
specific intervals. It can also execute
BAS data analytics and host web
pages that provide a user interface
for building managers.
The Intel IoT Gateway has several
performance SKUs, providing HCL
customers a solution that scales
from one to multiple buildings. The
gateway is support by a comprehensive
software stack, Wind River* Linux*
operating system, and hardware- and
software-based security features.
-The solution implements robust hardware and software-level protection that secures data from building systems to gateway to cloud.
• Automated discovery and
provisioning of edge devices to ease
deployment
-HCL and its partners ensure select sensors and actuators operate in Plug and Play fashion with HCL BAS software.
• Data normalization through
protocol abstraction to improve
interoperability
-HCL software performs protocol translation (e.g., ZigBee*, Ethernet, Wi-Fi) without building manager intervention.
5
Affordable Building Automation System
Enabled by the Internet of Things (IoT)
• Broad analytics infrastructure from
edge to cloud to realize customer value
-HCL software running on gateways and servers analyzes building data, generates actionable data, and creates easy-to-read reports.
•Infrastructure to monetize hardware,
software, and data management from
edge to cloud
-The HCL solution enables building owners and operators to realize
substantial savings though reduced energy consumption and increased operations efficiency.
Summary
The vast majority of small to medium-sized buildings are not equipped with
building automation systems (BAS), mostly because solutions have been too
expensive. As a result, facility operating costs are significantly higher than they
need to be. The Internet of Things (IoT) is changing this paradigm by enabling
powerful solutions that make existing buildings or new construction much more
efficient and economical to operate. Taking advantage of IoT technologies from
Intel, HCL developed a flexible BAS capable of driving innovative solutions in
building automation, such as sending alerts to a building manager’s smartwatch or
other mobile device.
Resources
Intel® Internet of Things Solutions Alliance
Members of the Intel® Internet of Things Solutions Alliance provide the hardware,
software, firmware, tools, and systems integration that developers need to take a
leading role in IoT.
Intel® IoT Gateway Development Kits
Intel IoT Gateway development kits enable solution providers to quickly develop,
prototype, and deploy intelligent gateways. Available for purchase from
several vendors, the kits also maintain interoperability between new intelligent
infrastructure and legacy systems, including sensors and data center servers.
For more information about HCL* solutions for building automation, visit www.hcl.com.
For more information about Intel® solutions for smart buildings, visit www.intel.com/iot.
HCL Technologies is a member of the Intel® Internet of Things Solutions Alliance. From modular
components to market-ready systems, Intel and the 250+ global member companies of the
Alliance provide scalable, interoperable solutions that accelerate deployment of intelligent devices
and end-to-end analytics. Close collaboration with Intel and each other enables Alliance members
to innovate with the latest technologies, helping developers deliver first-in-market solutions.
1Source: Dan Probst, “The Business Case for Smart Building Technology,”, Oct. 8, 2013, (greentechmedia web site), www.greentechmedia.com/articles/
read/the-business-case-for-smart-building-technology.
2HCL Technologies* estimate based on deployments in Indian market since 2012
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