24 Apr 2023

Building control for energy-efficient smart buildings

Verl, April 2023. Buildings account for almost 40 % of all energy consumption in the EU. In the interest of increasing energy efficiency, building automation will gain in importance in the future. In line with its commitment to contributing to the sustainability of future building projects, heroal – Johann Henkenjohann GmbH & Co. KG supports the vision of an intelligent building shell. The establishment of a cooperation agreement with world market leader Beckhoff is a further step towards this goal.

heroal drives forward cooperation agreements for the intelligent networking of curtain walls

In line with its commitment to contributing to the sustainability of future building projects, heroal – Johann Henkenjohann GmbH & Co. KG supports the vision of an intelligent building shell. © heroal

Building control and automation play a key role in energy-efficient building operations – and will continue to gain in importance in the future: buildings account for almost 40 % of all energy consumption in the European Union. Moreover, roughly three quarters of these buildings are not considered energy-efficient. The EU Energy Performance of Buildings Directive (EPBD) therefore envisages, among other things, making building control and automation mandatory in non-residential buildings from the end of 2024. In addition to the increasing energy efficiency requirements, this also serves to increase both comfort and economy in building operation.

As a future-oriented family business, heroal has long made sustainability a cornerstone of its business strategy. The development of new solutions for an intelligent, functional and energy-efficient curtain wall plays an important role in this strategy: “We assume that the trend towards more sustainability will not only continue, but also gain momentum”, explains Managing Director Dr Max Schöne. “Against this background, we are working to offer customers and partner companies solutions with our range of products and services in order to expand our combined market position in this field, as well. To this end, our system solutions offer direct interfaces to building automation. These interfaces support our vision of an intelligent building shell and can be optimally networked with other building technology components.”

Roller shutters, sun protection and intelligent ventilation as key features of a smart building

The intelligent use of roller shutter and sun protection systems makes a significant contribution to increasing the energy efficiency of a building. True energy savers, heroal roller shutters provide added heat insulation in the winter. When used combination with heroal windows, they can reduce night-time heat loss by up to 44 %. When they are open during the day, however, they allow the use of solar energy and relieve the building heating system. In summer, they provide effective heat protection and reduce the energy demand for air conditioning. heroal window and ventilation systems like the heroal W 72 VF ventilation flap, which can be automatically opened and closed as well as unlocked and locked with the heroal WF Drive electric window drive, make a further contribution to greater energy efficiency and room comfort. This enables the energy-efficient implementation of controlled, natural building ventilation and night cooling in warm summer months. It also allows the daily exchange of fresh air, maximising the indoor air quality. However, realising such efficiency potentials often entails the networking and intelligent control of windows, ventilation systems, sun protection, and other building technology.

Building automation from a single source: New cooperation agreement with Beckhoff

In order ensure that the increasing requirements of investors, architects, planners and specialist partners for the networking and intelligent control of buildings and heroal systems can be met in the best possible way in the future, heroal has entered into a cooperation agreement with the companies Beckhoff Automation and Elektro Beckhoff. These companies offer a wide range of services and many years of experience as specialists in the field of automation and control technology as well as the planning and commissioning of integrated concepts for building control and automation. This cooperation expands the heroal system portfolio to include control solutions that can be further developed by Beckhoff in line with different requirements to form a complete solution for building control. This also includes the option of modular expansion and integration in third-party building automation systems, such as BACnet and KNX. In future, therefore, Beckhoff and heroal will offer a comprehensive, powerful and highly integrative range of complete solutions for an intelligent building shell and greater sustainability, security, comfort and economy in building operations.

Architects and planners will receive everything from a single source, from consultation to quotation and implementation planning to delivery, installation and service. “This also creates added value for our partner companies”, explains Alexander Rill, Head of Smart Connected Products at heroal. “Our cooperation with Beckhoff offers specialist partners access to the expertise of two industry-leading companies. This will allow them to meet requirements in the area of building control and automation more easily in the future and to set themselves apart from the competition with powerful overall offers.”

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