The series of posts on domotics, prepared by The Centre for Architecture Belgrade in cooperation with Cubo Control company from Belgrade, continues with the story of thermoregulation and air conditioning systems. Check out previous posts on this topic here.

Numerous types of devices and systems control the temperature, air flow and humidity in closed space. The heat transfer fluid can be air, water or gas, while the terminals themselves can come in form of radiators or panels, thermo convectors or fan coil systems.

No major alterations to the building infrastructure are required when during the installation of a domotic system of thermoregulation into your space – it is enough to install thermo programmers, sensors and actuators. As we have mentioned before in this series, the main advantage of domotic systems comes from the intelligent communication between different devices.

However, the most fun and certainly the major benefits of including the air conditioning system into the home automation system are achieved by the communication with the other subsystems – sensors that detect presence or absence of persons in a room, the closing or opening of windows and such, setting the basis for a physical type of event driven programming. An increased number of persons in a space will trigger a system that cools and ventilates the air during summer, while the opening of windows will automatically turn off the air conditioning to save energy and so on.

The system’s ability to intelligently handle the weather data, comparing it to the inside conditions is the spine of the entire communication. The updating of the weather conditions and adapting the air conditioning system accordingly is simply not possible in a conventional system.

The remote control of the HVAC systems and the real-time updates of all the parameters are possible through the standard internet protocols, a phone, a tablet, a computer or the wall touch panel.

We will also mention that the quality of air, which is defined by levels of ventilation and carbon-dioxide, is often included in the control systems and is regulated by ventilators and air filters.

It goes without saying that well-designed systems are completely adapted into space and in no way compromise the aesthetics of the space: they are purposely positioned to best suit your dynamics, rhythm, the function of the room, but also the changing weather conditions.

HVAC is a separate engineering discipline, with a rich past and an exciting future. If we wanted to explore it into detail, we would need to exceed the needs of this text. It is good to know that, like in many other areas where domotic solutions can apply, the number of possible HVAC solutions is very high and varied – whether they are applied in the existing infrastructure and solutions, or if the building is still in the design phase, the home automation systems can be successfully implemented, taking into consideration the limitations, the budget, the type of HVAC system, the design requirements and the space purpose.

The authors of the text are Radiša Jovanović, PhD. and Marko Aleksendrić, PhD. They are experienced mechanical engineers, whose field of expertise covers programming and design work, through intertwining of various technologijes.

Cubo Control is an engineering and programming studio that loves technology, automatics, Italian design, but also programming of computers and other devices: from window shades to mobile phones, from basement temperature to ship engines. It is founded with the idea to provide a unified offer of high-quality solutions at affordable prices in the field of contemporary automatics, especially domotics and industrial automatization, through careful selection of high-class equipment and affirmation of state-of-the-art concepts of comfort and energy efficiency.

The third text in the series of posts on domotics, prepared by The Centre for Architecture Belgrade in cooperation with Cubo Control company from Belgrade, deals with air conditioning, heating and cooling with application of contemporary domotics systems. If you missed some of the previous posts, you may find them here. 

Air temperature, humidity and the velocity of air flow are the key parameters that define the level of comfort and the degree of pleasantness. The automatic systems that generate artificial climate conditions in our homes and offices have evolved immensely during the past decades forming two distinct groups. Building automation is a term that refers to a distributed system applied to the building as a whole. It is a well established field deeply rooted in the tradition of large building and hotel automation with robust solutions. On the other hand, home automation or domotic solution usually applies to a single appartment or house, but their flexible structure enables them to be applied to entire buildings.

The field of HVAC (heating, ventilation, air conditioning) is responsible for generating the first impression that an individual makes when entering a condo, house or business space. The first thing that we are going to feel – whether it is hot or cold, if the air is stuffy or fresh, the level of humidity – that is exactly the output of the system that we are about to discuss.

Waking up in a pleasantly heated apartment, with the bathroom temperature slightly higher than in the rest of the flat or coming home on a snowy day to find your driveway cleared and dry. Returning home after a hot summer day and the feeling of the cool, fresh air inside. Having the heating or air conditioning turned off automatically and letting the fresh air fill the space if the weather is nice. Instant malfunction warning if something is wrong with a radiator or the air conditioner, by email or a text message: These are just some of the possibilities of a well-designed HVAC system.

Let us discuss the principal characteristics of the systems:

HVAC systems can be divided into groups of parameters that can be controlled:

Heating/Cooling – controls only the temperature;

Thermal ventilation – controls the temperature and the flow (speed) of air;

Air conditioning – controls and maintains certain values of three variables – temperature, air flow and humidity.

It is clear that the efficiency of controlling each of the parameters depends mainly on the design of the system, but also on the quality and the type of the controller itself. Additionally, each HVAC solution entails certain issues that have to be addressed – how to visually fit the system into the interior and not disrupt the architect’s vision, how to make the investment pay off (which is much easier if it is part of a bigger automation system), with the maximum reduction of costs and respect of the designed solutions.

Temperature monitoring has to be followed by the thermodynamic space modeling and has to take into account thermal inertia, to provide relatively simple algorithms of timed control in cases of longer absences from the space, as well as the possibility of remote control.

Still, the main advantages of including the HVAC system into the home automation solutions, like the comfort, and can be fully appreciated only when the monitoring of the energy consumption is taken into account. Such systems provide constant cost control, enable significant savings and are the best and the most efficient way to prevent failures of the system.

BUS technology systems (especially KNX systems) enable a very simple activation and monitoring of all the parameters and the application of different regulation algorithms – it is enough to install smart meters that are able to communicate with the KNX protocol and actuators that will perform the given commands sent to the HVAC system. Such intelligent systems can control the floor and wall heating, heat pumps, floor and ceiling fan coil systems and boilers, with optimal performances that meet different criteria – comfort, energy savings and reduced pollution.

The authors of the text are Radiša Jovanović, PhD. and Marko Aleksendrić, PhD.  They are experienced mechanical engineers, whose field of expertise covers programming and design work, through intertwining of various technologijes.  

Cubo Control is an engineering and programming studio that loves technology, automatics, Italian design, but also programming of computers and other devices: from window shades to mobile phones, from basement temperature to ship engines. It is founded with the idea to provide a unified offer of high-quality solutions at affordable prices in the field of contemporary automatics, especially domotics and industrial automatization, through careful selection of high-class equipment and affirmation of state-of-the-art concepts of comfort and energy efficiency.