Directive 2018/844 takes an important step in the direction of intelligent buildings, in continuity with many actions that the European Union adopted in recent years. 

The directive amended the previous directives on the energy performance of buildings (2010/31/EU) and on energy efficiency (2012/27/EU), requiring that large non-residential buildings will be equipped with automation and control systems by 2025. The boundary to be considered as ”large buildings” is, in this case, the effective rated power of air conditioning systems (or combined air conditioning and ventilation systems) which must exceed 290 kW.

In the directive, the attention of the European Parliament and the Council has been focused on the energy benefits that the use of building automation and control brings. In fact, the European Union is aiming for a sustainable energy system by 2050 with the aim of decarbonising the building stock, which accounts for about 36% of all CO2 emissions. 

For this reason, automation and control systems must monitor, record and analyse the use of energy in buildings, allowing it to be adapted at all times. In order to reduce energy consumption, it is also recommended that efficiency losses be detected and that the person responsible for the building's facilities or management be timely informed. 

Finally, the use of ”open” systems is a key point. The systems are required to allow communication with installations and other equipment inside the building and to be interoperable with technologies, systems and devices of different manufacturers.

In a functional building, lighting plays a very important role; first and foremost, it must meet the basic visual requirements inside the building, ensure correct illumination of the workstations and avoid glare. Increasingly, however, lighting is also used to enhance the internal and external architectural features of the building. 

Light also has emotional and biological effects and is a determining factor for the well-being, mood and health of people. This is simply because light regulates the internal clock of human beings. HCL, Human Centric Lighting, starts from this point and puts people at the centre of the building's lighting project. The aim is to get as close as possible to the effects of natural light also in indoor environments, integrating it as needed with artificial light of appropriate intensity and colour. 

Translating the HCL principle into a real lighting system for a functional building is now possible and convenient, thanks to the availability of light sources adjustable in intensity and colour, such as the latest generation of LEDs, and control devices for building automation. In this way, artificial light supports the biological rhythm of those who spend the whole day inside buildings, improves their well-being and health and promotes concentration on the job.

Buildings constructed or renovated in accordance with the latest legal requirements offer considerable potential for increasing energy efficiency, but to fully exploit this potential it is necessary to optimise the operation of the various technical systems. Building automation systems provide for this.

According to the EN 15232 standard, during the design phase it is possible to evaluate the energy savings obtained by adopting increasing levels of automation and to place the building in one of the four energy efficiency classes defined: from A (more efficient) to D (less efficient). 

Class A: includes buildings with high energy performance, equipped with control and automation systems (BACS) and technical plant management (TBM) characterized by high levels of accuracy and completeness of automatic control.

The Italian Interministerial Decree of 26 June 2015 (known as the “Minimum Requirements” decree) brought about an important innovation, prescribing for non-residential buildings a minimum level of automation corresponding to Class B for the control, regulation and management of building and heating system technologies (BACS).

BIM stands for Building Information Modeling and indicates a methodology to optimize and better manage the phases of design and construction of a building. BIM is used to follow a working method that involves the generation of a building model that can also manage the data of the entire life cycle through multi-dimensional virtual models generated digitally by means of specific software.

Ekinex is ready for the BIM era. The BIM product library is available in Autodesk Revit® 2016/2019 format for download at www.ekinex.com. The ekinex BIM Content Creator software is a true advanced configurator of the product range that will be enriched in the future. 

The main benefit of adopting the BIM methodology is the 3D representation at the design stage, which speeds up processes, reduces delivery times and allows errors and inaccuracies to be detected earlier. The greater efficiency in the sharing of information and a more precise control on all the processes involved, also make it possible to contain costs and schedule in advance maintenance operations.

The BIM is a standard process for all buildings and is being integrated into European legislation following the transposition of Directive 2014/24/EU on public procurement, which requires its inclusion in the procurement procedures of the Member States. 

In Italy, the directive was transposed by Decree no. 560 of 1st December 2017, which established the procedures and time schedule for the gradual introduction of electronic modelling methods and tools for construction and infrastructure. The decree provides for the obligation to operate with the BIM methodology from January 1st, 2019 for works worth more than 100 million euros and then from 2019 to 2025 will be introduced in Italy the obligation for all contracts for new public works.

More information

• Directive 2014/24/EU of the European Parliament and of the Council of 26 February 2014 on public procurement

• Ministerial Decree number 560 of 01/12/2017 (Italy)

The high level of insulation and high-performance windows and doors used in new buildings or in buildings that have undergone major renovation to meet the energy efficiency requirements of Directive 91/2002/EC (and subsequent legislation) have greatly reduced heat losses to the outside, with very positive effects on energy efficiency.

At the same time, these actions have in fact made buildings airtight, bringing the topics of ventilation and air renewal in confined spaces back to the centre of attention. However, these are functions that may require a lot of energy for the operation of the fan groups and therefore require an advanced control: a simple time control is not fully satisfactory and can only be considered as a general consensus for the definition of the time scheduling of operation. To ensure high air quality and, at the same time, low energy consumption, it is advisable to measure one or more environmental parameters to automatically adjust the fresh air flow rate to be introduced into the rooms. This is the concept known as Demand Controlled Ventilation or DCV. 

Many environmental parameters are available in a building equipped with an ekinex automation system: e.g. temperature, relative humidity, CO2 or TVOC concentration, presence/absence of people from the room, date and time, operation of other bus functions, etc. Depending on the requirements, these parameters can be used individually or linked with logical functions. With this type of advanced control, the energy saving is twofold: the activation time of the fan groups is reduced and the fresh air flow rate to be treated, before introduction into the room, through heating, cooling, humidification and dehumidification.

Control based on CO2 or TVOC value?
The choice of the air renewal control parameter depends mainly on the intended use of the rooms. Where the variability in the occupancy rate is very high or unpredictable (such as in meeting rooms, classrooms or small commercial rooms) CO2 is the most used indicator because its concentration (measured in p.p.m. or parts per million) is directly related to human activity and, in particular, to breathing. Although CO2 is not harmful to human health (except in very high concentrations, but difficult to achieve), it has a direct impact on the ability to concentrate and productivity of the occupants. 

When, on the other hand, the number of people in the rooms is predictable and limited, the detection of volatile organic compounds (or VOCs), a set of organic chemicals continuously emitted by furniture, paints, cleaning solvents, adhesives or other synthetic materials due to their high volatility, may be more significant. The reference parameter then becomes the concentration of TVOC (Total Volatile Organic compound), generally measured in p.p.b. (parts per billion).

A few years ago, the Directive 2010/31/EU on the energy performance of buildings introduced the concept of nearly-zero energy building (nZEB). It also prescribed a road map: from 31 December 2018, new public buildings would be nZEB, while from 31 December 2020 the obligation would be extended to all new buildings.

What is meant by a nearly-zero energy building
The Directive defines it as ”...a building that has a very high energy performance, and should be covered to a very significant extent by energy from renewable sources, including
energy from renewable sources produced on-site or nearby”. On the one hand, therefore, the amount of energy used for the main functions of the building (heating, cooling, ventilation, hot water production and room lighting) must be reduced. On the other hand, larger use of renewable sources must be made and, in particular, those available near the building.

Which technologies for a nZEB building
For the construction of an nZEB building, a combination of technologies is used on a case-by-case basis, resulting not only from the availability of economic resources, but also from climatic and behavioural factors. Of course, passive technologies that affect the building envelope, such as insulation, high-performance windows and doors or the thermal inertia of the mass, are the basis. But active technologies are becoming increasingly important today, such as the use of sunlight for lighting and free gains for heating, free-cooling, renewable sources (photovoltaic, thermal solar, micro wind, biomass) or the recovery of efficiency of HVAC systems. All these technologies must work in an integrated and coordinated way and end-users must be informed about their efficiency and convenience: for this reason, in an nZEB building the role played by building automation is increasingly important.

In commercial buildings, technical systems must now manage a complex combination of functions: heating, cooling, ventilation, humidification, dehumidification and air renewal. To ensure optimal comfort and well-being for occupants, these systems must continually adapt to the season, outdoor weather conditions, indoor environmental parameters and the specific needs of users, whilst operating in line with stringent energy efficiency targets.

In this context, precise control of environmental parameters is essential. The EK-ES3-TP multi-sensor air quality monitor represents an advanced solution for the intelligent monitoring and management of indoor environments: a single compact device integrates the measurement of temperature, relative humidity, CO₂ concentration and air quality, making this information available to the building automation system via the open and interoperable KNX standard.

Thanks to its ability to communicate natively with all devices in the KNX ecosystem, the EK-ES3-TP enables the implementation of integrated control strategies, eliminating the need for multiple separate sensors and reducing system complexity. Environmental monitoring functions can be combined with control functions to automatically adjust ventilation, air conditioning and air treatment systems according to actual environmental conditions.

Numerous functions, normally handled by separate devices, are thus concentrated within a single, extremely compact unit, connected simply via a two-wire bus cable. The inclusion of configurable thresholds, controllers and logic gates also allows information from the various components of the ekinex system to be processed, creating advanced ventilation control logic based on actual demand (DCV – Demand Controlled Ventilation).

The result is a healthier and more comfortable environment, with air quality constantly monitored and more efficient energy use, thanks to the ability to activate air renewal only when it is actually necessary.

How often do you see lights left on or air-conditioning systems running when no one is present in buildings? In many situations, manual control of these systems alone is not sufficient to ensure efficient energy use. To reduce waste, optimise the operation of systems and extend the service life of equipment, it is essential to integrate automatic systems capable of accurately detecting the presence and movement of people within rooms.

The new ekinex KNX presence and motion sensors represent an advanced solution for intelligent space control. Available for ceiling or wall mounting, they incorporate advanced detection technologies and enable the automatic management of various building functions, from lighting to air conditioning, right through to the most advanced room automation systems.

In the event of a prolonged absence, the sensors can command the switching off or dimming of services with delay times that can be configured according to the function being controlled. Lighting, for example, can be switched off shortly after people leave the room, whilst for HVAC systems it is possible to set longer delay times, maintaining comfort conditions during short periods of absence and gradually reducing energy consumption in the event of intermittent occupancy.

Thanks to full integration with the open and interoperable KNX standard, ekinex sensors can communicate with all devices in the system, creating customised scenarios and automatic logic based on the actual conditions of use of the spaces. In this way, every room becomes more efficient, comfortable and sustainable, adapting the operation of the systems to the actual presence of occupants.