The facade of the future

Jasper Spanjaart from MT/Sprout interviewed Erik Budding about BREL SMART BUILDING, the new connectivity concept that BREL is developing in collaboration with Vodafone Business. 'An office facade as the pinnacle of innovation and an example of how to smartly use IoT? Entrepreneur Erik Budding sees opportunities and cleverly taps into the stricter regulations for sustainable offices.'

'Brel Smart Building developed a wireless sunshade based on IoT: ‘We won't conquer the market tomorrow, but we think it can go fast.’

The pressure on office owners to become more sustainable is increasing. Because the deadline is approaching: by 2030, the Netherlands must emit 55 percent less CO2 than in 1990. The government is already stepping up with stricter rules, including the energy-saving obligation. Companies that consume more than 50,000 kWh of electricity or 25,000 m³ of gas per year, roughly twenty times more than the average household, must take action.

Saving with sunshades

It has been known for years that office buildings unnecessarily lose a lot of heat. As early as 2008 (!), a TNO study stated that an important part of the solution is automatically controlled external sunshades. ‘In the summer, it can even lead to an average energy saving of 19 percent in offices,’ the researchers concluded back then.

Recent American research (2023) from the University of Illinois goes even further. The use of motorized window coverings leads to a reduction in energy consumption by 25 percent in both summer and winter.

Glass killed the radio star

In the meantime, several years have passed and the Netherlands is making progress in energy-saving measures. Triple glass (HR+++), smart solar panels, and thermostats are the norm. Isn't sunshading the forgotten child of the class?

‘A little bit,’ says Erik Budding, co-founder of BREL SMART BUILDING, the first Dutch manufacturer of solar-powered sunshade motors. ‘Dutch companies are, partly due to the NTA 8800 rules, massively trying to make office buildings more energy-efficient, especially with better triple insulated glass. But the downside is that this greatly worsens the accessibility of a radio signal to a sunshade on the exterior facade.’

Because when the sunshade is there, it is not always installed smartly. ‘Cabling remains a problem for many buildings,’ says the innovative entrepreneur. ‘Cables themselves are expensive, you sometimes still have poor reception, and you have to drill all kinds of holes through the insulation of facades for cable routing. Subsequently, it requires considerable coordination between the producer, electrician, and user to achieve a good end result.’

Smart sunshades

Reason for Budding, together with partner Reinoud Arts, to design a wireless sunshade system that uses solar-powered motors with built-in lithium-ion batteries. ‘The unique operation of these sunshades lies in the connectivity via a Vodafone SIM card,’ says Budding. ‘The SIM card makes it possible to send and receive data remotely, without having to drill into walls or keep a remote control nearby.’

IoT and system integration

‘The software én hardware of the motor contain intelligence that is aligned with the latest regulations regarding energy-efficient buildings. By integrating all systems, even more energy can be saved in office buildings, while user comfort is simultaneously increased. Now we can offer a reliable, wireless, én intelligent way of project management.’

AI on the facade

The aforementioned intelligence is called Internet of Things (IoT). Data analysis is the core of IoT, with artificial intelligence (AI) becoming increasingly important to smartly analyze that data. The power of IoT lies in the seamless communication between devices, without human intervention. In other words: devices talk to each other, while AI learns from these interactions to optimize processes.

To arrive at the optimal solution, BREL needed a partner. The choice fell on Vodafone Business. ‘I don't want to kick around, but a lot of companies in this industry are a bit slow and cumbersome,’ says Budding. ‘We want to innovate, but remain a small company. Then you simply need a partner who can support you with technical knowledge én an extensive network. This way, the best of both worlds actually comes together on the facade.’

Ready-made certification

As a result: companies can fully automate their sunshades with the new BREL technology. ‘You can set it up per floor, level, or facade exactly as you want, so you need to use as few heating or cooling elements as possible. We have implemented ready-made schemes in the software that allow you to comply with the new ISO standard in one go. With the push of a button, you are certified.’

Additionally, the system is also developed ‘proactively,’ as Budding describes. ‘As soon as we measure that the motor is running heavier, which may indicate a defect or excessive wear, a signal is sent to the facility manager of the sunshade company. This makes it possible to plan maintenance proactively, even before actual problems occur.’

Budding looks hopefully to the future. ‘These kinds of IoT applications are becoming indispensable in the technology process,’ he says. ‘If you see how fast it is going, and how you can now make something like sunshading intelligent by using smart technology. Europe simply benefits from energy-efficient buildings. Then it is only nice that we can play an important role in that. We won't conquer the market just tomorrow, but we think it can go fast.’

Source:  MT/Sprout