Electrical Power & Protection


Energy analysis in buildings

July 2010 Electrical Power & Protection

Microsoft and Beckhoff show Green IT Solution at the Light+Building trade show.

Advanced technologies for optimising energy efficiency are not only good for the environment, they also offer economic benefits. In a joint project at Light+Building 2010, Microsoft and Beckhoff demonstrated options for improving energy efficiency based on PC-based control technology from Beckhoff and the Microsoft operating system Windows Embedded Standard 7 (Release Candidate).

Sustainability is becoming an increasingly important factor in buildings, which is why controlling and measuring parameters such as power consumption and temperature is becoming increasingly important. In the system, an electrical appliance is connected with an ‘IT Kiosk’ via a socket. Using an energy measurement terminal (a component of the Beckhoff Bus Terminal system) a Beckhoff Embedded PC CX9010 measures the power consumption of the appliance.

In a wide range of building types, including industrial buildings and computing centres, this solution enables a comprehensive energy analysis ranging from consumption data acquisition to data transmission to the ERP system. The energy consumption and other environmental parameters of the company can be managed, monitored and analysed in higher-level systems such as Microsoft Dynamics.

Microsoft: technologies for active climate protection

Using technology from Microsoft companies and households can actively engage in environmental protection. The use of advanced hardware and software is more economic and saves energy, which in turn benefits the environment. Windows 7, for example, offers a comprehensive energy management system with a wide range of energy saving functions including dimming of the screen, dynamic clocking of processor cores and switching off hard disks, network cards or USB devices, which can be used to individually configure and control the energy consumption of a Windows 7 device.

Beckhoff PC-based control: optimisation of the energy balance in machines and buildings

PC-based control technology from Beckhoff offers high potential for optimising energy efficiency in all areas of application, including machine and building automation. With XFC technology (eXtreme Fast Control) Beckhoff offers a high-speed machine control system that results in better control quality and faster processes at the machine, so that the material, energy and production efficiency is enhanced significantly. In building automation the Beckhoff control system enables the realisation of energy efficiency class A according to DIN EN 15232.

For more information contact Kenneth McPherson, Beckhoff Automation, +27 (0)11 795 2898, [email protected] , www.beckhoff.co.za



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