Page 16 - 260909_BACnet_Europe-Journal_45

Solutions Anwendungen

Wireless Sensors in Large BACnet

Infrastructures: Lessons from Airport

Deployments

Drahtlose Sensoren in großen

BACnet-Infrastrukturen: Erfahrungen

aus Flughafenprojekten

As BACnet systems grow in size and
complexity, the assumptions behind
conventional sensor network design
start to break down. Airports make this
concrete.
Mit zunehmender Größe und Komplexität
von BACnet-Systemen stoßen die
bisherigen Auslegungsprinzipien
konventioneller Sensornetzwerke an ihre
Grenzen. Flughäfen verdeutlichen dieses
Problem besonders anschaulich.

The Scale Problem in Airport BACnet
Networks

Airports operate around the clock, span
constantly evolving floor plans, and impose The Squaire, Frankfurt Airport uses 16,000 battery-less, wireless sensors (Source Hermos AG) / Das „The Squaire“ am
strict limits on infrastructure modifications Frankfurter Flughafen nutzt 16.000 batterielose, drahtlose Sensoren (Quelle: Hermos AG) © iStock
during live operation. A sensor network that
needs periodic battery replacement or cabling and HVAC control. The wireless approach saved BACnet infrastructure. The application has been
changes is a maintenance liability at scale, with more than 90 kilometres of cable, significantly deployed across major airports in China, Japan,
costs that compound as point counts rise into reducing the instrumentation and control budget and Europe, with measurable effects on both
the thousands. compared with a fully wired equivalent. service quality and operating cost.

Evidence from deployments across Europe and The wireless sensors connect into the BACnet Smart restroom systems have been deployed
Asia shows that battery-free wireless sensors, system via gateway interfaces. This integration across several major airports in China, including
integrated into BACnet architectures via open- model preserves full BACnet interoperability Shanghai Pudong, Shanghai Hongqiao, Tianjin
standard gateways, offer a practical answer to while eliminating the cable routing, installation Binhai, and Beijing Daxing. At Daxing, sensors
this problem. effort, and ongoing maintenance that a wired display real-time stall occupancy on entry
sensor layer at this scale demands. Where screens, trigger automated supply alerts, and
The Squaire, Frankfurt Airport: BACnet and tenants reconfigure office layouts, sensors monitor environmental conditions to guide
Wireless at Scale can be relocated and recommissioned without cleaning schedules. Eighty per cent of the
touching the underlying BACnet infrastructure. sensors are entirely battery-free, harvesting
The Squaire is a 660-metre mixed-use building energy from mechanical motion. The operational
constructed directly above Frankfurt Airport’s Extending the BACnet System: Operational impact extends beyond convenience. Occupancy
long-distance railway station. It spans 140,000 Services at Scale data, correlated with flight schedules and
square metres across nine floors, comprising two passenger flow, allows cleaning staff to be
hotels, offices, retail, and a travel centre, with a Airport building automation deployments deployed where conditions actually require it
total project value of approximately €1.4 billion. are extending beyond HVAC and lighting. rather than according to fixed schedules. This
The building combines BACnet-based wired Restroom management at scale, covering stall shifts facility management from reactive to
automation with more than 16,000 battery-less occupancy, consumable levels, and cleaning predictive, with measurable improvements in
wireless switches and sensors, supported by demand in real time, illustrates the breadth of both service consistency and cost efficiency.
over 4,000 receivers and gateways, for lighting what wireless sensing can add to an existing

16 BACnet Europe Journal 45 09/26