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Technology Technik

Wired and Wireless Sensors in Smart

Buildings: Choosing the Right Architecture

Verkabelte und drahtlose Sensoren in Smart

Buildings: Die richtige Architektur wählen

Why Optimized Commercial Buildings thousands. This scale raises a fundamental In commercial environments, maintenance
Combine Wired and Wireless Technologies. question for building owners, planners, and considerations are critical. Battery replacement
Warum optimierte gewerbliche Gebäude system integrators: which technologies are best across large sensor networks can be
verkabelte und drahtlose Technologien suited to collect and transport this data reliably costly, time-consuming, and environmentally
kombinieren. and efficiently? undesirable. As a result, maintenance-free
wireless solutions, such as energy-harvesting
Building automation systems have become Wired or Wireless? In Practice, Both sensors, are increasingly considered where
a central component of modern commercial wireless communication is appropriate.
buildings, whether in new construction or Rather than a binary choice, most successful
retrofit projects. Key drivers include the need to projects use a combination of wired and wireless The Importance of Open Standards
reduce energy consumption and CO emissions, technologies. Each has strengths that make it
2
comply with increasingly strict building and well suited to specific applications. Beyond the physical connection method, the
energy regulations, support ESG reporting, and choice of communication standard plays a
create healthier, more attractive environments Wired technologies are often preferred where high decisive role in long-term system performance
for occupants. In parallel, owners and investors data throughput, deterministic communication, and flexibility. Open standards enable multi-
are seeking to protect and increase asset value and long-term stability are required. They are vendor interoperability, reduce the risk of
by ensuring buildings remain competitive, commonly used for controllers, plant-level vendor lock-in, and benefit from broad industry
compliant, and future-ready. systems, and backbone infrastructure where support and continuous development. They also
cabling can be planned and installed efficiently. provide a structured framework for addressing
Despite these drivers, market penetration cybersecurity and data protection requirements
remains relatively low. Only around 10–12% Wireless technologies offer flexibility, particularly as regulations evolve.
of commercial buildings in Europe and North in retrofit scenarios or where frequent layout
America have fully integrated smart automation changes are expected. In new build projects, BACnet: A Proven Wired Standard
systems, while a further 40% operate with wireless sensors can also reduce planning
only basic automation. More than 80% of the complexity and installation effort, while providing BACnet, which will celebrate its 30th
European building stock was constructed in additional flexibility in cases where tenant layouts anniversary in 2026, is the most widely
the last century, often without modern control or space usage are not fully defined at the time adopted open standard for commercial building
systems. Changing work patterns, including of design and construction. Wireless sensors automation. With a strong global ecosystem
hybrid working and a stronger focus on indoor can be deployed quickly with minimal disruption and widespread support among manufacturers,
air quality and wellbeing, further reinforce the to building occupants and fabric, making them integrators, and consultants, BACnet provides
need to upgrade existing buildings rather than suitable for upgrades, extensions, or temporary a robust foundation for interoperable building
rely solely on new developments. installations across a building’s lifecycle. automation systems. Its continued evolution
reflects the changing requirements of modern
Sensors as the Foundation of Smart buildings, including integration with higher-level
Buildings management platforms and IT systems.

At the heart of every building automation system EnOcean: Wireless Where It Makes Sense
are sensors. These devices provide the real-time
data required to monitor and optimize building The EnOcean standard was developed specifically
performance, including occupancy, temperature, for building automation applications and is widely
indoor air quality, lighting levels, and the status used for wireless sensors and switches. A
of windows and doors. Increasingly, sensor data defining characteristic of the EnOcean ecosystem
is also combined with additional information is the availability of maintenance-free, energy-
such as weather forecasts, historical trends, harvesting devices operating within a multi-vendor
and predicted occupancy to support advanced EnOcean SmartServerTM IoT – BACnet certified interoperable environment. These characteristics
analytics and AI-based optimization. product with multi-protocol interfaces including make EnOcean particularly suitable for both new
EnOcean wireless build and retrofit projects, distributed sensing,
EnOcean SmartServerTM IoT – BACnet-zertifiziertes
In large commercial buildings, the number of Produkt mit Multiprotokoll-Schnittstellen and applications where wiring effort or ongoing
sensors can range from thousands to tens of einschließlich EnOcean-Funk © EnOcean GmbH battery maintenance would be impractical.

66 BACnet Europe Journal 44 03/26