Recent Advances in Internet of Things (IoT) Infrastructures for Building Energy Systems: A Review

Abstract

This paper summarises a literature review on the applications of Internet of Things (IoT) with the aim of enhancing building energy use and reducing greenhouse gas emissions (GHGs). A detailed assessment of contemporary practical reviews and works was conducted to understand how different IoT systems and technologies are being developed to increase energy efficiencies in both residential and commercial buildings. Most of the reviewed works were invariably related to the dilemma of efficient heating systems in buildings. Several features of the central components of IoT, namely, the hardware and software needed for building controls, are analysed. Common design factors across the many IoT systems comprise the selection of sensors and actuators and their powering techniques, control strategies for collecting information and activating appliances, monitoring of actual data to forecast prospect energy consumption and communication methods amongst IoT components. Some building energy applications using IoT are provided. It was found that each application presented has the potential for significant energy reduction and user comfort improvement. This is confirmed in two case studies summarised, which report the energy savings resulting from implementing IoT systems. Results revealed that a few elements are user-specific that need to be considered in the decision processes. Last, based on the studies reviewed, a few aspects of prospective research were recommended.

Keywords: Internet of Things (IoT); building energy management; energy control; energy efficiency; smart energy systems.

Figure 1

The overall world population and the connected devices by 2020 [6].

Figure 2

Internet of Things (IoT)-based system architecture [8].

Figure 3

Research works by topics on IoT infrastructures for building energy systems.

Figure 4

Building energy management system using fuzzy logic approach [33].

Figure 5

System architecture based on The Things Network [30].

Figure 6

Network using constrained application protocol (CoAP) sensors [35].

Figure 7

Schematic block diagram of the IoT energy monitoring system.

Figure 8

EnerMon long-range (LoRa) IoT system design [41].

Figure 9

Schematic of the IoT-integrated tool [44].

Figure 10

Developed thermoelectric air management architecture: integrating IoT and cloud computing [51].

Figure 11

Power consumption with and without IoT-based thermoelectric air conditioning system for two input power operations [51].

Figure 12

Structure of the IoT system: (a) system configuration and (b) system flow and installation [54].

Figure 13

Sensor readings and actuator responses of IoT system [54].

Figure 14

Schematic of system arrangement of IoT architecture [55].

Figure 15

Building sensor layout of case study [56].

Figure 16

Schematic of smart home incorporating IoT and cloud computing [59].

Figure 17

Comparison between various computational architectures for building automation: (a) conventional method, (b) full cloud computing method and (c) edge computing method. Air Sp.: Air speed; DB: database; RH: relative humidity; UI: user interface; VOC: volatile organic compound [60].

Figure 18

Energy management framework for residential buildings [42].

Figure 19

Measurement and control hardware: (a) sensor board, (b) Raspberry Pi with LoRa Hat, (c) energy monitoring system and amperometric clamps, (d) smart wall switch, (e) smart power socket and (f) Wi-Fi/Infrared [30].

Figure 20

Kindergarten layout with sensors shown in yellow, air conditioning units shown in blue, and infrared emitters shown in red [30].

Figure 21

An example of the daily report delivered from IoT system analysis [71].

Figure 22

SHIELD IoT security system architecture [81].