Occupancy-based Lighting and Hotel Retro-fit Kits Win BUILDINGS Magazine Acclaim
Boston, Ma, USA, June 25, 2009
EnOcean, the inventor of self-powered radio modems and building energy harvesting, helped Leviton and Echoflex Solutions win BUILDINGS magazine Top 100 Products honors. Leviton’s “Wireless Occupancy Sensor System” and Echoflex’s “Hotel Room Retro-fit Kit” were celebrated for their roles in simplifying the integration of building energy management controls. Anchored by the self-powered and wireless attributes of the EnOcean technology; both kits eliminate the need for wires and batteries. Both kits provide occupancy-based building energy conservation while minimizing installation costs – particularly in retro-fit applications.
BAS (Building Automation Systems) have proven reliable means of reducing energy consumption in buildings. The EnOcean spin on building automation empowers integrators to enjoy the benefits of BAS without subjecting themselves to messy and complicated installations. For example, Leviton’s occupancy-based lighting system provides building owners an immediate return-on-investment via energy conservation. Simply put – the system automatically shuts off lights in unoccupied rooms. The Leviton solution delivers the benefits of occupancy-based lighting; while bypassing the obstacles and snags inherent to wired installations.
The Echoflex “Hotel Room Retro-fit Kit” tackles energy management via HVAC and lighting control. The kit specifically targets the energy wasted in unoccupied hotel rooms. It features a self-powered wireless hotel key card switch that communicates to a thermostat or directly to any of the room’s powered devices (lights, TV, HVAC unit, etc.). The switch generates its own power each time a hotel key card is inserted into or removed from its dock. After a key card is inserted, a radio signal is transmitted to a controller that subsequently “energizes” the hotel room. When the key card is removed from its dock, another radio signal “de-energizes” the room.
By reducing the amount of energy exhausted lighting, heating and cooling unoccupied rooms; building professionals can quickly reduce building energy consumption up to 40 percent. When factoring lower power bills, installation costs can be recouped in less than two years (dependent upon variables such as energy costs, building location, etc.). Architects and contractors can now modernize buildings without running wires to the controls.
The editorial staff of BUILDINGS magazine (www.buildings.com) reviewed thousands of products before narrowing the field to 100. Judging was based on the following criteria: sustainable/green elements, ease-of-use, durability / life-cycle, efficiency or applicability, universal appeal and more.
About EnOcean
No batteries. No Wires. EnOcean (www.enocean.com), the inventor of wireless building energy harvesting, manufactures self-powered radio modems and energy harvesters that enable BAS (building automation systems). The batteryless RF modules (powered using ambient sources of solar, thermal and motion energy) simplify sustainable green building development by replacing system wires with self-powered wireless links. The company is a spin-off of Siemens AG, one of the premier German technology centers. U.S. operations are based in Boston, MA. EnOcean Alliance members, such as Leviton (www.Leviton.com/wirelessOS) and Echoflex Solutions (www.EchoflexSolutions.com) manufacture solutions enabled by EnOcean radio modems and energy harvesters.
