Q&A: EnOcean Alliance’s Marian Hönsch on new remote commissioning specification

Project aims to further optimise the control and configuration of building automation networks.

David Davies

The EnOcean Alliance has announced the completion of a unified specification for remote commissioning of energy harvesting wireless devices in building automation systems – the aim being to optimise and ease the control and configuration of building automation networks. Commercial Integrator Europe got the full story from Marian Hönsch, product marketing – software architect, EnOcean GmbH, and remote commissioning team leader, Technical Working Group, EnOcean Alliance.

How long has the new unified specification been in development, and what are its primary objectives?

The complete specification has been worked out within a year. For this, the Technical Working Group (TWG) of the EnOcean Alliance, which is composed of international technical experts from several member companies, collected and discussed the particular parts of the specification. The agreed draft version was reviewed by the whole group to ensure a result which is optimised for the purpose of all members.

The major objective of the remote commissioning specification is to further optimise the control and configuration of building automation networks, including energy harvesting wireless technology. This significantly eases the work of planners, installers and system integrators and ensures the next level of interoperability in the EnOcean eco-system.

From a technological point of view, the specification’s major objectives can be summarised as follows: remote (through air interface) set up of complete EnOcean networks; remote (through air interface) and centralised maintenance; remote (through air interface) configuration and parameterization of EnOcean-based devices; comprehensive documentation of setups and networks; and further development of interoperability of product eco-system.

In what ways will its existence be promoted going forward… and which advantages will be highlighted?

The specification was shared with all members of the EnOcean Alliance, giving them access to the detail via the Alliance member portal. The TWG and Marketing Working Group (MWG) will continue in educating the industry and the building automation market on the specification at events, training courses, presentations and trade shows. In addition, the TWG continuously further develops the specification wherever needed for additional demands from the EnOcean Alliance members or the market. EnOcean GmbH, the originator of the self-powered wireless technology, supports the members on the technical side in developing tools based on the specification.

The advantages which will be highlighted include the set-up of a complete network with a central tool, as well as the ability to centrally configure even complex network structures.

Can you offer a few hints about other forthcoming initiatives for the EnOcean Alliance?

One major initiative the EnOcean Alliance is working on is a standardised certification process, including all protocols in use and radio performance to further enhance interoperability of all products of the EnOcean eco-system. The certification process is currently under development at the TWG and is expected to be released in the course of next year.

A second initiative is a unified end-product labelling in combination with access to electronic data sheets. The EnOcean Alliance, as the keeper of interoperability, intends to move a step further to a transparent device maintenance process combining a unified device labelling with technical information (e.g. communication ID) and with standardised electronic datasheets, which can be automatically processed via tools or gateways.

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