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smart homes
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Your business technologists. Powering progress
Smart Homes
and Buildings
The field of domotics and building automation is not really new, and the concept of smart
homes and buildings has been a recurring
theme in the media for some time. However,
while it cannot be considered a complete
failure, it certainly has not fully delivered on
its promises. Skepticism around the concept
is not rare and has even tarnished it with a
“rich geek toys” stereotype.
But this is changing. The growing importance
of sustainability means home and building
automation is maturing. Two important areas
of action are shaping its future:
``
The focus on an intelligent and transparent
user experience, following in the footsteps
of ambient intelligence (AmI).
``
The importance of energy efficiency,
mainly in terms of integration with smartmeter/smart-grid technologies.
The combination of these two areas will drive
domotics in the near term, helping move it
from «DIY» toward a more systemic view, in
which smart homes and buildings form the
base of bigger order entities, like smart cities.
About the Authors
Edited by Celestino Güemes, Solutions R&D
Manager and member of the Atos’ Scientific
Community, Atos Worldgrid, Spain (celestino.
guemes@atos.net). Also based on contributions
from:
Lidia Hernández Álvarez, Head of Innovation at Atos
Engineering and member of the Atos’ Scientific
Community, Spain (lidia.hernandez@atos.net)
Jorge Gonzalez Hernando, Business Development
at Atos Worldgrid and member of the Atos’ Scientific
Community, Spain (jorge.gonzalez@atos.net)
Jordi Safont, Consulting Manager at Atos and
member of the Atos’ Scientific Community, Spain
(jordi.safont@atos.net)
Pascal Pediroda, Innovation Manager at Atos and
member of the Atos’ Scientific Community, France
(pascal.pediroda@atos.net)
Contributions were also made from:
Benoît Alquier, Business Solution Manager Downstream Energy Management at Atos
Worldgrid, France (benoit.alquier@atos.net)
Jorge Pereira, Atos Research & Innovation Manager
at Atos, Spain (jorge.pereirac@atos.net)
2
Contents
The Basics of Smart
Homes and Buildings
An explanation of domotic systems and
the technologies and devices required for a
typical domotic installation. A differentiation
between domotics and inmotics is also given,
along with the technical, and social and
economic drivers behind the smart homes
and buildings concept.
Ambient Intelligence
(AmI): ContextAware Computing
applied to Buildings
AmI offers a new way of interacting with
physical world environments that are aware of
people’s needs and preferences, this chapter
shows how it can enhance quality of life in
the home, although it also raises a number of
challenges.
The Energy
Perspective:
Smart Buildings as
Essential Blocks for
the Smart Grid
How the need for increased energy efficiency
is driving home automation forward, including
a look at smart meters, energy consumption
in smart buildings, and the integration of
generation sources in buildings.
Atos’ Experience in
Domotics and Smart
Buildings
A consideration of the work in this field being
carried out by various Atos businesses.
Atos’ Views
Atos believes that the end-user experience
will determine the future of domotics, with
energy efficiency remaining an important
driver, alongside a need for smart homes and
buildings to be distributed and cloud-oriented
systems.
Smart Homes and Buildings
The Basics of Smart
Homes and Buildings
Definition of Domotics
(Home Automation)
Domotics (also known as home automation)
means the automation of diverse home activities
in order to increase convenience, comfort,
energy efficiency, and/or security. For this, a series
of networked services are linked to different
elements within the home, such as lighting,
HVAC (heating, ventilation, and air conditioning),
domestic appliances, entertainment devices,
and other systems. A home automation system
closely monitors and controls these systems,
supervised by an end user using several input
mechanisms (control panels, computer software,
mobile applications, etc.).
The Technological Basics of Domotics
As the following figure shows a typical domotic installation looks like a generic sensor/actuator
network in that it is composed of different devices and networks (data, multimedia, and device
control networks).
Internet
Data Network
``
Comfort: Temperature and humidity by
controlling the HVAC systems.
Phone
``
Illumination: Control of lighting devices.
Gateway
Typical functionalities of domotics systems
include:
Multimedia Network
``
Audio and video distribution around the
house.
``
Security: Perimeter, motion sensors, fire and
gas detectors, personal security, webcams,
connection to third-party security company,
etc.
``
Inter-communication services.
Control Network
Other
``
Control of domestic appliances (white and
brown goods) via remote control of intelligent
devices, like washing machines, fridges,
kitchen, etc.
``
Energy efficiency: Optimization of energy
consumption by switching off devices when
not needed or even more complex strategies.
The end points are different kinds of devices:
``
Sensors for light, temperature, presence, electric meters, etc.
``
Actuators: Light switches and dimmers, drape controls, alarms, engines, etc.
``
“Intelligent” domestic appliances.
``
Multimedia entertainment devices.
``
Other computer devices: PCs, tablets, smartphones, etc.
These devices can be interconnected using different transports and protocols, either wired or wireless.
They can be summarized in three essential networks: a data network, a multimedia network and a
control network. Due to the increase in digitalization in media, these networks tend to converge to an
IP-based data network.
Smart Homes and Buildings
3
The following table shows the most significant standards used for domotics communication:
``USB
``Firewire
Device connection technologies
``Bluetooth
``IrDA
``ZigBee
``PLC (power line communications)
``Konnex (KNX)
--Batibus
--EIB
--EHS
Control and automation
networks
The field of domotics
is complex, with
lots of different
technologies and
standards.
``LonWorks
``X10 (first on the market )
``CEBus
``INSTEON
``Z-Wave
``ModBus
``Ethernet
``WiFi (including low power)
``Zigbee
Data networks
``Low speed powerline
``HomePlug (high speed powerline)
``HomePNA (wires, coax)
``HomeRF (obsolete, replaced by Bluetooth)
``UPnP
Interconnection architectures
``HAVi
``Jini
``OSGi
In addition to end-point devices and the
communication networks, there is one more
essential element: the residential gateway (or
home gateway), which connects the home
with the outside world through a GSM (global
system for mobile communication), PSTN
(public switched telephone network), or ADSL
(asymmetric digital subscriber line) connection.
The residential gateway runs different services;
mainly collecting data from the home or
controlling actuators and embedding a web
server that can be remotely controlled either
by itself (e.g. remotely switch off the light) or
by someone else (e.g. when the support for a
washing machine makes a remote diagnostic
before a maintenance specialist comes to
repair it). OSGi (open service gateway initiative)
technology is most commonly used since
services can be ‘hot plugged’ into the residential
gateway, meaning that no human intervention is
required in the home for maintenance.
4
For user interaction, there are usually two main
methods deployed around the premises:
``
Custom-made “panels” that are specialized
and control specific devices in the domotic
network. These can be simple (embedded
switches) or more complex (LCD (liquid crystal
display) panels with an advanced GUI (graphic
user interface), running over embedded
software).
``
Software running on a computer that interacts
with the home gateway or domotic controller.
This has recently been complemented by the
use of portable devices, like smartphones or
tablets.
Smart Homes and Buildings
Domotics (home
automation) and Inmotics
(Smart Buildings): Related
Concepts, Different
Objectives
The domotics term, as it is commonly
understood, is mainly used to describe residential
homes. For tertiary buildings (office buildings,
industrial premises, hospitals, schools, etc.), some
authors use the term “inmotics”, but the term
“smart buildings” is now becoming much more
popular to describe this field. “Smart homes”
and “smart buildings” share some functional and
technical commonalities, but they have quite
different intents. As an analogy, it could be said
that the difference is similar to that between cars
and trucks. Both are vehicles and share some
basic technological guidelines, but with different
implementations in their final forms in order to
provide the required capabilities for each.
The main difference between smart homes and
smart buildings is one of purpose: Domotics
are generally oriented towards comfort and
well-being, while smart buildings are centered,
above all, on efficiency, both in terms of resource
usage and economic costs. Due to the focus on
the bottom line, smart buildings is a promising
field currently seeing a lot of activity, as the
potential financial returns are much more clear
in the short term. The concept of building
management systems (BMS) is maturing rapidly
and many industrial players are getting into this
field. In addition, as explained below, the social
and economic focus on energy efficiency is one
of the main drivers of smart buildings.
This is not the case with the residential field of
domotics; there has been no real success of any
of the investments made up to the 2000s in this
domain. The classic attitude of many firms was
to offer a full home automation solution centered
on its own original business (e.g. security, energy,
or white goods). No firm offered a complete
solution that answered market demand, and
was a lack of standards for interoperability.
Most projects failed due to the lack of freedom
potential customers felt as they were forced to
acquire all products from the same supplier, they
suffered a bad user experience with low added
value, and all at a great expense.
Technical Drivers of Smart
Homes and Buildings
In technological terms, the field has developed
along three axes since 1985:
``
The evolution of PLCs (programmable logic
controllers) with a continuous increase in
capacity, offering advanced security and
comfort functionalities. PLCs are only really
affordable for high-end consumers, but can be
useful in increasing the safety of people with
reduced mobility, the aged, or the physically
disabled.
``
Assistance interfaces for energy management
that offer the ability to directly manage
consumption and load, and monitor the
network. These are mainly used by settlement
managers and technical services operators
for water, gas, electricity, etc.
``
Advances in communication, introducing teleservices (presence detection, anti-intrusion,
eCare, telemedicine, etc.) and more recently
Intertainment.
The lessons learnt by the failure to really
commercialize domotic technologies led to a
new generation of solutions, which:
Social and Economic
Drivers behind Smart
Homes and Buildings
Several social and economic drivers are helping
move the field of domotics forward. In the case
of the home environment, some of the most
important are:
``
Higher demand for comfort and improved
quality of life in the home environment.
``
A new more ‘tech-savvy’ consumer who
demands new ‘techy’ features in the home.
``
As families spend more time out of home,
there is more demand for the automation of
basic functions.
``
An aging population; more elderly people live
alone and need assistance services, some of
which can be automated or at least remotebased.
``
Demands for increased security in the home.
Security is a growing concern and people are
looking for additional services to secure their
possessions.
``
Automation enhances the perceived value of
a property, so it is possible to sell it at a higher
price.
``
Are interoperable through communication
media (mainly wireless and powerline in
Europe, and two-wire in the US), allowing all
kinds of devices to be addressed via a real
home area network (HAN).
``
The renewed focus on energy efficiency
requires a higher level of monitoring and
control of the energy infrastructure (electricity,
gas, heat, water, etc.) within the home.
``
Use standardized protocols (mainly KNX
and Echelon’s LonWorks), independent of
the underlying transport media, to allow
complex scenarios where a tablet can control
all devices from different manufacturers, and
a smart meter can request that a washing
machine delay its start due to an energy peak
and a priority setting by the user for the oven,
for example.
In addition to these global trends, needs vary in
different countries. For example, in Greece and
Italy, people concentrate on energy saving due
to energy meter limitation, whereas Americans
want to spend less time in the kitchen, which
they can achieve thanks to intelligent ovens
and microwaves. The French look for increased
comfort and the German market is more focused
on health services.
``
Use decentralized intelligence related to the
advances in the “Internet of Things”.
``
Are «Future proof’, simple to install (Plug &
Play) and use.
``
Feature low-cost hardware.
Combined, these trends can explain the
expected growth for the global market of smart
homes, which is expected to double by 2015,
reaching US$11,000 million, according to the
analyst Markets & Markets.
``
Have a nice “look & feel” with well-designed,
even “arty” interfaces.
In Europe, most firms concerned with home
automation failed to make their mark and
became convinced that they could not succeed
alone with a proprietary solution.
Smart Homes and Buildings
5
Some of the drivers mentioned above also
apply to the field of smart buildings, but the
focus is more cost-oriented. Buildings have long
lifecycles, at least several decades, and analysis
of the complete cost of a building, from cradle
to grave, shows that up to 75 percent of the cost
is related to the building’s operational life. The
focus is therefore on reducing operational costs,
for which an integrated view of the building’s
total infrastructure is needed, including energy,
lighting, HVAC, lifts, communications, etc.
Another reason automation in buildings is being
pushed is related to the increased need for
security, due to the potential risk of terrorism, for
example.
In the cases of both smart homes and smart
buildings, one common driver is the demand for
energy efficiency in today’s more urban world.
Nowadays, more than 50 percent of people live
in cities, and this percentage is growing rapidly.
Cities cover less than one percent of the Earth’s
surface, but they account more than 75 percent
of total global energy consumption, generate
75 percent of greenhouse gases, and account
for 60 percent of water usage. Residential
homes and buildings, as the basic building
blocks of cities, need to be integrated into the
technological models of efficient energy usage,
like smart grids. For this, they need to have some
essential automation capabilities to enable this
integration.
Domotics as an Unfulfilled
Dream
The evolution and current status of the field of
domotics feels like an unfulfilled dream: Domotic
technology is a reality, but it seems the benefits
are far less significant than the effort required
and the cost of the specific devices for the
end consumer. Utopian scenarios of intelligent
premises that react to a user’s every wish
(conscious or unconscious) appear periodically
in the media. One typical and recurrent example
is the “intelligent fridge» that knows its entire
contents, can inform its owner about the
status of perishable foods, and can even “shop”
according to its owner’s habits when certain
foods or beverages have been finished.
The problem is reality is much more prosaic.
The field of domotics is a complex one, with
lots of different technologies and standards,
many of which are proprietary by nature, and
there is no easy integration pathway between
them. Installation is not easy for the typical enduser consumer, and even in new homes and
buildings, the presence of basic automation
6
capabilities can be rare, as they increase building
construction costs. In addition, the concept of
an integrated “home gateway” that covers all
different networks (data, media, and automation)
is not yet a reality. These issues have tarnished
the image of domotics as “expensive toys for
geeky/rich users”, and as a result many people
think automation is not essential.
However, Atos does not believe that these will
be the main issues in the long term. The basic
capabilities of control and automation are now
a reality, even in this complex scenario, but they
only offer a low level of control and automation,
which is not really transparent for the user. While
automaton provides more capabilities in the
home, it also adds a layer of complexity over it.
Interactivity is quite limited and inflexible in the
sense that the user must consciously interact
with devices in the home, using very basic
interaction patterns. This imposes an important
«cognitive effort» on the user that goes against
one of the main aspects of what a home should
be; a protective, comfortable environment.
The evolution of
domotics has not
been as spectacular
as it could have been
to date.
Another problem with domotics, as they
currently stand, is that solutions are too “local”
in the sense that a device (or several) installed
on-premises controls the sensors and actuators
in the home. It is not that these local devices
are not technically needed (they usually are),
but that capabilities of the system could be
enhanced if a more distributed, “cloud-oriented”
architecture were used. Remote control
(typically available in all these systems) is not
enough. In addition to technical limitations,
there are business shortcomings too, as the
existence of a “service ecosystem” that could
provide enhanced domotic services is impaired.
Obviously, distributed security and reliability are
important, but difficult to address in the “domotic
cloud services” concept, as homes are sensitive,
personal environments where failure can, in
worst cases, be life-threatening.
It seems clear that control and automation
are not enough. The final objective is “smart
simplicity”, where complexity is hidden from the
user, but all control capabilities are intact. Some
authors call this concept ambient intelligence
(AmI), encompassing technologies like contextaware computing, advanced user interfaces,
or artificial intelligence (AI). All these, over a
more distributed architecture, would enable
“cloud-oriented” services to integrate different
capabilities and business models on top of
the basics of distributed, accessible domotics
infrastructures.
Smart Homes and Buildings
Ambient Intelligence (AmI):
Context-Aware Computing
applied to Homes and
Buildings
The Concept of Ambient
Intelligence
The concept of ambient intelligence (AmI) is quite
recent. According to the vision of AmI provided
by the Information Society Technologies
Advisory Group (ISTAG) to the European
Commission, the entire environment - homes
and offices, cars and cities - will collectively
develop a pervasive network of intelligent
devices that will cooperatively gather, process,
and transport information. AmI therefore refers
to a new paradigm in information technology, in
which people are empowered through a digital
environment that is aware of their presence and
context, and is sensitive, adaptive, and responsive
to their needs, habits, gestures, and emotions.
Ultimately, it will lead to a new way of interacting
with physical world environments that are aware
of people’s needs and preferences, and are able
to forecast behaviors in an unobtrusive way.
In order to enhance quality of life in the home,
integration between people, devices, and
computation will soon become part of daily life.
Different devices, such as sensors and actuators,
as well as wireless networks, will blend into the
future home environment.
Some potential fields of application for AmI are:
``
To help inhabitants live healthy, happy, and
safe lives.
``
To perform many tasks automatically.
``
To integrate home, work, learning, and leisure
activities.
``
To remain hidden.
Three concepts acquire paramount importance
when talking about interaction in the home
environment: ubiquity, transparency, and
intelligence.
In 1991, Mark Weiser, one of the fathers of
ubiquitous computing, stated that, “such
machines cannot truly make computing an
integral, invisible part of the way people live their
lives” (Weiser 1991). Weiser’s main aim was to
seamlessly integrate computers into the world
in such a way that computer systems could
communicate in a more intuitive manner, directly
with a context-aware environment.
Smart Homes and Buildings
The desired scenario is for technology to interact
closely with people in a natural way to the point
where such interaction becomes implicit. The
technology should be aware not only of its
own state but also the user’s intentions, tasks,
and feelings, thereby extending the common
understanding of context.
A traditional definition for context could be, “the
circumstances or situation in which a computing
task takes place.” The main difference found
when dealing with context-aware homes is that
social interactions are far more unstructured than
those that take place in an office or in any other
formal environment. People take unstructured
decisions at home that affect space, time, and
activities in such a way that no process or
pattern can be predefined. The ability to capture
and understand this enriched context will help
the home adapt to or customize the interaction
with its occupants. AmI technologies will be
able to devise patterns based on cumulated
user data and take actions based on it. This is
especially promising for remote care. Early
diagnosis is a key element in the prevention and
slowing down of the impact of illnesses related
to an ageing population, but early symptoms
may not be detected in a routine exam. By
monitoring user behavior, even slight deviations
from normal conduct that may otherwise pass
unnoticed could be identified. A little longer than
usual time taken to recognize the caller on the
phone, just a few milliseconds, or changes in
the pressure of steps and walking speed may
raise a potential Alzheimer alert, for example.
Applications like this, and the impact they could
have for insurance companies and public health
budgets are just a hint of the potential of AmIrelated technologies.
``
Easy to learn
``
Enjoyable
``
Zero administration
AmI realization relies on the application of
several technologies that include artificial
intelligence, ubiquitous computing, pervasive
computing, embedded systems, and contextaware-computing technologies. It is necessary
to collect information from both the user and
the environment. AmI comprises more than
just typical sensor interaction; it adapts to the
user’s needs and behavior, merging two major
trends: «ubiquitous computing» and «social-user
interfaces». Although AmI can be applied to
several fields, homes and buildings are obvious
targets for first implementation.
One fundamental shift of AmI, compared to
earlier implementations of domotics based
on the automation of routine tasks, is the
importance of the user and how systems and
interfaces adapt to the user. It is no longer simply
about the operational layer, namely sensors,
actuators and communications; the intelligence
layer is just as important in the management of
user interaction with the system and to enable
decision making in complex environments. The
number of desired services, including security,
entertainment, energy-efficient appliances,
temperature control and lighting, e-health, and
remote controls, and variety of potential clients
make adapting commercial solutions a challenge.
Such adaptation must also take into account the
system’s usefulness in the target environment.
The line between a system that helps users with
daily tasks and one that performs undesired
automatic actions can be narrow.
The extended context concept is not the only
challenge to be faced for private environments;
special care must be taken to make the
environment desirable for the occupants. Home
users have special requirements that have to be
fully covered:
``
Usability
``
Social acceptance
``
Privacy protection
``
Low cost
``
Human-centered
7
Challenges of Ambient
Intelligence applied to
Domotics
The main fields of research are summarized in the picture below
Components
There is currently a lack of analysis of ambient
intelligence in housing from the point of view
of sense of community. The focus could be put
on studying the possibilities of smart-house
applications and technologies to support families
and friends when they are together, and helping
them interact with each other.
System
Intelligence
Smart materials
MEMS tech. & sensor tech.
Embedded Systems
Ubiquitous Communications
I/O devive technology
Adaptive software
Media management & handling
Natural interaction
Computational intelligence
Contextual awareness
Emotional computing
``
A major challenge for ambient-intelligence
applications is to decide on whose preferences
functions are based in a shared space when
more than one person is present.
Platform design
``
Even when only one person is present, there
has to be enough intelligence to capture
intangible information e.g. to tell the resident’s
mood based on facial expressions.
Experience prototyping
``
Traditional approaches to security do not
seem to pose a major challenge; controlling
physical access is something already covered
by current alarm systems (surveillance,
biometrical recognition, etc.). The health and
wellbeing of residents, as well as the health of
the building itself, are powerful and promising
topics that are now subject to research.
``
In the field of communication, different
functions should be covered; intra-person
communication between people in the
home, communication to and from the
home, access to the Internet and to other
information systems. The road ahead here is
mainly related to developing new interfaces at
a reasonable cost (for example, approaching
gaming technologies). Communication with
the wider community and management of
the virtual persona must also be covered,
along with a link with social media, these are
now the harder challenges.
8
User/Person
As seen above, the creation of smart buildings
using ambient intelligence is far from easy, in
fact there are several technical challenges that
are still under research:
Ambient
Software & Service Architectures,
Design, Engineering an Integration
Integration
It is important to take into account that even with the beneficial impact that this approach brings, most
of the main roadblocks are not related to technology, but to other concerns, such as confidentiality
and trust. Ambient Intelligence technologies enable monitoring, surveillance, data searches and
mining, and their deployment is likely to be of great concern to citizens. Addressing the balance
between privacy and visibility, as well as providing robust security standards, will be a core challenge.
Smart Homes and Buildings
Going Beyond Pure Automation: Building Blocks for the
New Domotics
To evolve from the current “simple automation” status of domotics towards the idealistic scenario of
ambient intelligence, what could be the required building blocks? The figure below shows a possible
architecture.
User
Intelligence
Context
Cloud Enablement
Advanced HCI
External
Cloud
Services
Monitor and automation
Domotic
Devices
The architecture comprises the following blocks
or layers:
``
The lowest layer is the “monitoring and
automation layer”, based on current
technologies used in the home environment,
but also adding some new integration
capabilities
between
non-compatible
protocols and standards, and external
resources. End-user interaction with this layer
should be minimal, limited to basic operations,
as its main purpose is to feed upper-layer
«intelligent filters» with a stream of data.
``
Over this basic operational layer, there is
another layer, a “context layer”, to analyze
the meaning of data. This layer integrates
information from the monitor and automation
layer and the user(s), as well as nearby external
context sensors, like local temperature or local
traffic, so the system has a complete picture of
the “context” for actions. Basic interaction can
be automated even at this level, but with more
“intelligent” reactions than pure “command
and control”. The use of architectonical
elements like a «Context Broker Platform» (as
defined in one of the Building Blocks of Atos’
Scientific Community) gives an important
boost to interaction transparency with the
end user.
Smart Homes and Buildings
``
The next layer, the “intelligence layer”, is built
over the context layer, and provides more
“intelligent” abstractions of the environment,
using artificial intelligence (AI) capabilities.
Some examples of techniques that could
be used are: Data mining, machine learning,
different forms of knowledge representation,
semantic data, ontologies, expert systems,
multi-agent systems, etc. This layer adds the
more advanced and “futuristic” capabilities to
the interaction, but is also the more difficult
to implement. In its extreme form, it can
provide some form of «emotional computing»
interaction with the user.
``
For interaction with end users, a layer of
“advanced human-computers interface” (HCI)
is needed. Basic interactions using traditional
means (interactive panels, computer screen,
or mobile devices, like smartphones and
tablets) will be around for a long time, but
new, more “immersive” interfaces will help
to lower the barrier of usage. These include
voice recognition, real-time gesture-based
video interfaces (like the one implemented
in Microsoft Kinect), and direct-device
interaction, using, for example, some form of
wireless or NFC interface.
``
These layers cannot be purely local, but need
access to external “cloud-enabled” interfaces
to allow interaction from “home to external
systems”. Not just for external remote control,
as is usually the case now, but to make mixed
(cloud-local) solutions possible. In this way,
even some parts of the rest of the layers could
be implemented by external providers and
interact securely with internal devices.
Some experimental AmI projects have begun to
address these higher layers of interaction, but
in very constrained environments. A few have
focused on AI capabilities, and, although the
field of AI has seen some important advances
recently, it is probably still too early for massive
application in the domotic field. Perhaps a less
ambitious view, implementing the concept of
context-aware computing first, is a necessary
intermediate step before a fully AI-based home
is created.
9
The Energy Perspective:
Smart Buildings as
Essential Blocks for the
SmartGrid
As already mentioned, at its inception, home/
building automation was mainly that; a pure
«automation» problem, mostly driven by
«comfort» and «well-being» concerns. Lately,
another important driver is pushing automation
forward; the energy efficiency «mandate»
that the GreenIT movement is based on. The
growth of urban populations, the increasing
demands of energy for homes and buildings
both in developed and emerging economies,
and the realities of environmental and economic
sustainability demand an important change
in the design and operation of homes and
buildings. Beyond architectural advances
(like those of LEED - leadership in energy and
environmental design - certified buildings in the
USA), monitoring, automation, and optimization
of energy consumption in homes and buildings
is one of the most important steps in reducing
the energy footprint of an urban environment.
In order to get there, two lines of work must be
tightly aligned: smart homes/buildings and the
smart-grid technologies that utility companies
are beginning to deploy globally. Utility networks
(mainly electricity, but also others like water,
gas and heat) will, in the long term, provide fine
control of their energy networks. But this control
is not useful if the points of consumption, homes
and buildings, do not «collaborate» in order
to reduce consumption. Integration between
network utilities and consumption endpoints is
necessary to get maximum efficiency in terms of
energy production and consumption.
Today, buildings account for around 40 percent
of total energy consumption worldwide. The idea
of a zero-waste or zero-energy building has been
around for many years, describing a building that
experiences zero net energy consumption and
zero carbon emissions annually. That is finally
becoming a reality based on the development of
the smart grid, the rise of low-carbon generation
technologies that use renewable sources, and
the possibility of achieving energy-efficiency,
quality, and demand control.
10
Smart Meters as an
Additional Domotic
Gateway
The first step in the integration of smart homes/
buildings with the smart grid is the deployment
of smart meter networks. Their role is critical;
if something cannot be measured, it will prove
difficult to manage, and ultimately improve.
During the next decade, in a process that has
already started in many developed countries,
there will be a deployment of smart digital
meters for electricity, water, and gas, not just
in the construction of new buildings, but also
replacing current analog meters.
Smart meters constitute a critical building block
in the development of the concept of smart
buildings due to a number of features that will
boost the amount, accuracy, and quality of
information provided:
``
Measurement of real-time energy.
``
Measurement of a greater number of
parameters that will allow energy quality to be
controlled and monitored.
``
Remote control of the meter’s tasks and
functionalities, such as tariff changes, cutoff and reconnection, and several forms of
demand-response.
``
The possibility for the smart meter to
communicate via different channels and
technologies (GRPS (general packet radio
service), PLC (power line communication),
Wireless, RFID (radio frequency identification),
etc.) to allow information to be sent and
received automatically.
Smart meters
constitute a critical
building block in the
development of the
concept of smart
buildings.
In addition, smart meters are incorporating
technologies like PLC or ZigBee radio
communication that enable the integration of
the meter with «intelligent» home appliances, in
order to facilitate, for example, demand-response
capabilities in end-user devices, or switching-off
(or limiting consumption) if an external signal is
sent from the utility provider. In this way, some
advanced smart meters already act like an
additional domotic «home gateway» (referred
to as «energy boxes» by some companies),
centered on energy efficiency. For bigger
buildings, a hierarchical network of meters
(“sub-metering”) gives a finer view of energy
consumption at different levels. Longer term,
sub-metering could take place at device level, as
some chip makers are beginning to incorporate
«energy metering» capabilities at chip level. This
would mean that every device could provide
information and optimize its consumption
according to external demand-response signals.
``
Bi-directional measurement of energy
supplied to and consumed from the network
Timely and accurate energy consumption
information will bring new possibilities in
management of the demand side, balance of
load, billing frameworks, and energy efficiency.
Smart Homes and Buildings
C
PL
Smartgrid
Infraestructure
ADR
Demand-Response
Signals
ADR-enabled devices
Smart Meter
ConsumptionGeneration
Info
Sub-Meter
The following figure shows a schematic of the demand-response management model in a domotic context
ZigBee
Distributed
Generation
& Storage
Energy Consumption in
Smart Buildings
Energy efficiency is not just about reducing
energy consumption and getting the same
results, but about also avoiding wasting energy,
when and where it can be avoided, as well as
decreasing the cost of energy by consuming it
when it is cheaper (at night, for example).
Building automation systems allow for the
monitoring and regulation of mechanical and
electrical equipment, such as HVAC, as well as
lighting and other environmental variables.
Additionally, many automation systems have
capabilities which allow many building functions,
such as security and surveillance, firefighting
and elevator operations, to be overseen.
Thousands of sensors can monitor everything
from motion and temperature to air quality,
occupancy, humidity, and light intensity. Smartbuilding technologies provide more accurate
monitoring and awareness in order to provide
more control over the conditions inside a
building, in a cost-effective and energy-efficient
Smart Homes and Buildings
manner, so that just enough heat, air, or light is
delivered when and where it is needed.
Traditionally, heating, ventilation, and air
conditioning systems operate independently
of each other, in such a way that each system
relies on a single control or group of sensors that
measures only one variable or has one specific
purpose. The introduction of interoperability
and the integration of all systems may further
increase energy performance efficiency.
Under a wider tariff framework, not only will
consumers change their consumption habits,
but also appliances and devices may develop
technologies to charge and store energy at low
price periods to be used when energy becomes
more expensive.
But putting aside the impact that automation
connected to sensors and actuators may have
on the energy efficiency of buildings, the new
level of information provided by smart meters
will allow energy to be priced in a much more
accurate way, allowing energy suppliers an
almost infinite granularity of tariffs in any
consumption day.
The possibility to price energy higher or lower
during any given period of the day will allow
for the reduction of expensive periods of
peak consumption by responding directly to
demand, known as demand-side management.
11
The Integration of
Generation Sources in
Buildings
Going beyond the traditional model of energy
consumption, the smart grid also implies the
integration of a number of technologies that
will completely change the way energy is
managed in buildings. For instance, the concept
of “distributed generation” will allow generation
sources to be brought close to the point of
consumption, ideally in the same building,
thus reducing the amount of energy lost in
transmitting electricity long distances through a
complex system of transmission and distribution
power lines.
Intelligent grids will be able to provide a better
response to the generalization of intermittent
generation connected at medium- and
low-voltage networks. This, together with
the development of renewable generation
technologies, will facilitate the installation of
sources of supply in buildings to cater to their
own energy requirements. Among the usual
micro-generation technologies that may be
installed today to supply a particular venue or
group of buildings, small-scale wind turbines,
micro-hydro or photovoltaic solar systems,
plant microbial fuel cells, ground-source heat
pumps, and micro combined heat and power
(MicroCHP) installations may also be found. Even
future electric vehicles could be considered
as micro-generators, in vehicle-to-grid (V2G)
scenarios.
In this way, smart buildings can become a
microgrid; a grouping of electricity generation,
energy storage, and loads that normally operate
via a connection to a traditional centralized grid
(macrogrid). The building, as a microgrid, can be
disconnected from the national distribution grid
and function autonomously and self-sufficiently.
Buildings may be connected to the network
system, but it is now a two-way connection; they
are as likely to be uploading power to the grid as
downloading from it.
Multiple dispersed generation sources and the
ability to isolate the microgrid from a larger
network would provide highly-reliable electric
power. Microgrid buildings could provide
resources to the distribution network, but remain
safe from macrogrid management problems as
they are easier to monitor and control.
Smart grids will allow
buildings to change
their traditional role
from just consumers
of energy to also
become producers.
Smart grids will allow buildings to change their
traditional role from just consumers of energy to
also become producers. Electrical vehicles are
a good example of another source of available
energy, acting as storage facilities and when
the car is not being used, spare energy can be
given back to the network to cater to building
consumption needs.
12
Smart Homes and Buildings
Smart Buildings: A Decisive
Enabler for Demand-Side
Management Automation
The total peak demand requirements of all
consumers on a given network sets the future
level of investment for utilities companies in peak
production plants, which are used only a few
hundred hours per year, because the complete
network’s needs must be met at all times. The
emergence of energy storage solutions will ease
real-time network balancing, but they are not
expected to be available on a large scale until the
second half of the Century. Currently available
renewable energies, with the notable exception
of hydro, are not suitable for peak demand
because of their structural uncertainty.
This is why peak production units typically use
fossil fuels (gas, coal, etc.), but they are more
and more difficult to build due to environmental
constraints and citizen concern, and increasingly
costly to operate due to the price increase of
fossil fuels and carbon taxes. This peak demand
requirement also sets the level of investment
needed for network reinforcement and/or
renewal which again are increasingly difficult to
achieve for the same environmental and citizen
concern reasons. Over the last years, peak
demand in most countries has increased faster
than GDP (gross domestic product) although
energy volume growth (consumption) stays in
step with economic growth.
In order to manage these issues, utilities
companies and network managers have put
demand-side management in place. Demandside management allows utilities companies to
better master and forecast the load profile of all
the consumers they serve in order to optimize
centralized production-mix costs and avoid
network congestion and breakdown. Demandside management is therefore an essential tool to
help limit the amount of investment required in
network and production plants to the economic
optimum.
on price signals was put in place 40 years ago
(in France, with EJP (Effacement Jours de Pointe)
tariffs) because it was the only option based
on the available technologies, however the
capabilities of smart buildings and smart homes
open up new opportunities.
Smart grid is about the improved management
of the macrogrid (distribution and transportation
networks). However, the real issue for utilities
companies in today’s high-fossil-fuel cost
environment is to re-master the demand side
in a more proactive and efficient way than with
traditional tariff and price signals.
Building automation systems, when they
are connected and responsive to the smartgrid infrastructure allow for much safer and
predictable demand-side management, close to
an automation loop. Smart buildings in this sense
mean smart-grid-ready building management
systems. These systems will allow external
demand-response signals to transparently
use the demand flexibilities of the building by
simply changing in real time the setting points of
devices that consume power and adapting the
building’s local energy production capability.
This is only possible and acceptable to building
occupants if the smart building ‘knows’ when
and how much it is able to modify its load profile
without compromising occupant comfort,
safety, and business life, while at the same time
optimizing energy costs. These capabilities
assume a high level of AmI to be built into
building management systems.
Energy efficiency in smart buildings is
therefore not only the reduction of raw energy
consumption or the optimization of energy
consumption according to price signals, but
also truly smart load management inside the
building, making demand-side management
automation a reality with the help of AmI.
The traditional means of demand-side
management involves time-of-use tariffs, where
the price of energy changes with the hour of
the day, reflecting usage of costly peak power
plants or, more recently, real-time pricing tariffs,
reflecting the energy spot pricing of the markets.
The demand-side management method based
Smart Homes and Buildings
13
Atos’ Experience in
Domotics & Smart
Buildings
Several business units in Atos are actively
participating in the field of smart homes and
buildings, both in in terms of AmI and the
energy efficiency.
Atos, France:
HomeCare: A research & development (R&D)
project using classical presence-detection
technology (infra-red) and Zigbee to detect
abnormal situations for elderly people at home.
Home Efficiency: Evolution of a home controller
towards an OSGi and message-brokering
architecture.
Desima: Innovation project for an energy box
and corresponding SaaS (software as a service)
platform that has micro-cuts on devices, such
as HVAC, boilers, etc. to help save energy
consumption in the home and re-sell energy to
the energy provider during peak periods.
Atos Research &
Innovation (ARI), Spain
OutSmart: OutSmart (www.fi-ppp-outsmart.eu/
en-uk/Pages/default.aspx) aims to create the
foundations for a future Internet (FI)-enabled
innovation eco-system in the usage of utilities
and the impact on the environment in the
context of smart cities and urban areas.
IREEN: The main aim of the IREEN Coordination
Action is to develop a roadmap for ICT to support
energy-efficient neighborhoods with a focus on
the complete innovation lifecycle of the domain,
i.e. at the crossing of research, technology, and
development (RTD), experimentation, and actual
deployment in the considered market.
ICT4E2B: The ICT4E2B forum (www.ict4e2b.eu)
builds on the roadmap and international
community created within the framework of the
REEB project (ict-reeb.eu/index.php) to generate
consensus on key priorities across multiple
stakeholders’ value and innovation chains with
the intention of introducing ICT technologies
and energy-efficient solutions in the built
environment.
14
SCOVIS:
SCOVIS
(www.scovis.eu)
will
significantly improve the versatility and
performance of current monitoring systems
for security purposes and workflow control in
critical infrastructures.
ENCOURAGE (Embedded iNtelligent COntrols
for bUildings with Renewable generAtion and
storaGE): The ENCOURAGE project aims to
develop embedded intelligence and integration
technologies that will directly optimize energy
usage in buildings, and enable active participation
in the future smart-grid environment.
eDIANA (www.artemis-ediana.eu): Addresses the
need to achieve energy efficiency in buildings
through innovative solutions based on
embedded systems
Atos Worldgrid, France and
Spain
Atos, through its subsidiary in the Energy
& Utilities domain, Atos Worldgrid, has vast
experience in providing smart solutions for
end consumers and utilities companies.
Atos Worldgrid, along with ERDF (Electricité
Réseau Distribution France), is the provider
and integrator of one of the leading projects in
Europe for the installation and management of
33 million smart meters across France. Apart
from solutions for smart grids, like AMI (advance
metering infrastructure) and smart meters,
Atos Worldgrid also offers solutions for the
management of electric vehicle charging points
and advanced demand-response solutions
which will be based on the energy-box concept,
just like those employed in the Desima and
Home Efficiency projects mentioned above.
Smart Homes and Buildings
Atos’ View
Domotics: A Troubled
Infancy, a Future of
Potential
As shown above, the evolution of domotics
has not been as spectacular as it could have
been to date, particularly if compared to other
technological trends, such as Internet services.
Lots of competing, proprietary standards,
combined with a high level of end-user
complexity, have constrained usage to highlyaffluent people or determined enthusiasts.
On the positive side, the technical, social, and
economic drivers mentioned already in this
document can encourage the wider deployment
of domotics. This is clearly visible in the smartbuilding business, for example, and could
propagate to the smart-home arena in the future.
Beyond Automation:
«Smart Simplicity» for
Homes and Buildings.
Although technical complexity in the field
of domotics is an important handicap to its
evolution, it will be the end-user experience that
will determine if it is fully accepted and deployed.
All the «nuts & bolts» in a domotic system must
be transparent to the user, so the interaction with
the environment follows a principle of «smart
simplicity». The ideals established in the field
of AmI show the way to go, but pragmatism
is required; it will take time and effort to
successfully apply AI in the smart-homes/smartbuilding industry. In the short term, a simpler
approach based along the lines of context-aware
computing could be a practical intermediate
step towards fully ambient-intelligent buildings.
Smart Homes and Buildings
The Sustainability
Imperative: Energy
Efficiency and Smart Grid
Integration
The Future Living
Environment: Smart
Homes, Smart Buildings,
Smart Cities.
Energy efficiency will be the other important
driver for future smart homes and buildings. The
evolution of smart meters toward the concept
of the «energy box», which will interact with
other domotic infrastructures, will allow utilities
companies to get additional levers to master
the demand side of energy consumption. This
is of paramount importance both for utilities
companies, network managers, businesses, and
citizens because it will help reduce the global
human energy intensity (energy quantity needed
to produce a given level of goods and services in
the world) faster than “business as usual”. Longer
term, models of distributed energy generation
and storage at building level can enable more
advanced smart-grid models, like microgrids,
that could further enhance energy saving.
In the long term, both the concepts of smart
homes and smart buildings seen in this
document need to apply a more open, extended
vision that goes “beyond the walls”. One example
of this vision is the integration of the concepts of
smart homes and smart buildings in the smart
cities vision that is beginning to take shape
globally. The concept of the smart city includes
different dimensions (social, economic, and
environmental); the intelligent usage of ICT is just
one. But it is an important one and it represents a
pervasive computing model not too dissimilar to
that which powers smart homes and buildings
on a smaller scale. In the future, we can expect
that the way physical homes and buildings
“integrate” into a city to be the same way they
interact at the ICT level. For this to happen, smart
homes and buildings cannot be “closed, local”
systems, but need to be more distributed and
cloud-oriented.
As a result, the combination of energy-efficiency
features (consumption reduction, energy bill
optimization, and demand-response capabilities)
made available by smart buildings and homes
will give energy consumers an unprecedented
potential power to shape their relationship with
utilities companies and network managers,
as well as companies operating in the energy
value chain. This opens up a large spectrum
of opportunities for companies and citizens to
reinvent the way users consume and pay for
energy, and all associated services.
15
About Atos
Atos is an international information technology
services company with annual 2010 pro forma
revenues of EUR 8.6 billion and 74,000 employees in 42 countries at the end of September
2011. Serving a global client base, it delivers
hi-tech transactional services, consulting and
technology services, systems integration and
managed services. With its deep technology
expertise and industry knowledge, it works
with clients across the following market sectors:
Manufacturing, Retail, Services; Public, Health &
Transport; Financial Services; Telecoms, Media &
Technology; Energy & Utilities.
Atos is focused on business technology that
powers progress and helps organizations to
create their firm of the future. It is the Worldwide
Information Technology Partner for the Olympic
Games and is quoted on the Paris Eurolist
Market. Atos operates under the brands Atos,
Atos Consulting and Technology Services, Atos
Worldline and Atos Worldgrid.
atos.net
Atos, the Atos logo, Atos Consulting, Atos Worldline, Atos Sphere, Atos Cloud and Atos Worldgrid are registered trademarks of Atos SA. December 2011
© 2011 Atos.