AUTOMATION OF MULTI-STORIED RESIDENTIAL BUILDING

Abstract

Building Automation (BA) is a network of intelligent devices that monitor and control the electric appliances and mechanical systems of the building, with the triple aim of conserving electricity by efficient use of available resources, giving comfort to the residents and providing safety and security to the residents by incorporating suitable sensors and controls. The integrated BA system can be connected to the Internet or a mobile phone network for remote access. In some cases, with high security requirements, monitoring can be passed on to a private agency for 24x7 hours monitoring of the building. With a wide range of household devices, BA subsystems put different networking requirements in terms of speed and reliability etc. BA networking technologies can be classified as Powerline, Wired and Wireless technologies. "Powerline" uses the electrical wiring for networking and thus requires no new wires. "Wired technology" is most reliable and secure but requires new cables for networking. "Wireless technologies" although having some disadvantages like interference and security issues, are the most emerging market because they require no wires for networking. This report analyzes the technologies suitable for Building Automation and describes the Building Automation design based on each of Powerline, Wired and Wireless networking technologies. The report puts forth an integrated Wired Building Automation design for "Hill-View", the residential multi-storied (RMS) building at IIT, Roorkee. Apart of this Building Automation system has been implemented in Instrumentation & Signal Processing (I&SP) Laboratory and is described here. One of main features of the implemented system is remote access by mobile phone, i.e. events are notified by sending SMS (Short Message Service) on predefined phone numbers and remote control of the devices is possible from the same mobile phone. V An alternative design based on wireless Building Automation and its implemented in I&SP Laboratory using Crossbow's Zigbee wireless modules is described. A stand-alone safety and security system using microcontroller based controller along with suitable sensors and actuators has been implemented and reported here. The report concludes that Building Automation System requires a mix of networking technologies, no single technology serves all the requirements of BA. vi