Enhancing Monitoring and Control of an HVAC System through IoT

Throughout time, European policies on climate and energy change have generated several transformations in the building sector. In this endeavour, digital technologies have played an essential role in energy efficiency through process optimisation. However, data integration and exchange between different solutions is still challenging to achieve. With the advancement of Internet of Things (IoT) based solutions, one of the latest innovations, new opportunities are envisioned. IoT solutions have been implemented in smart grids, intelligent buildings, smart cities, and other sectors in recent years. Following the guidelines of ISA/ANSI 95-Enterprise-Control System Integration, the edge computing apps and cloud platform are needed to solve data bottlenecks, data ingestion, data integration aspects, bringing at the same time new knowledge related to user comfort, energy management and accessibility. This research focuses on a case study that shows how the thermal comfort of a building can be controlled and improved through an IoT vertically integrated solution. The deployed solution opens new possibilities for cross-functional integration and data aggregation, an essential step towards energy efficiency.