Hybrid IoT / BMS solution cut energy costs for retailer DFS by 30%
Global Associates Uses SmartServer™ IoT
to Integrate LoRaWAN® and BMS for Powerful
On-premises Data Access and Control
CASE STUDY
renesas.com
Exec Summary
DFS, a leading UK-based furniture retailer, engaged global associates, a master systems integrator and engineering rm, to reduce overall energy
consumption across its 170 sites. global devised a hybrid IoT / building management system (BMS) solution integrating DFS' legacy infrastructure with
the latest wireless, sensor, and cloud technologies. The largest challenge was how to quickly and cost-effectively integrate the numerous disparate
systems to deliver unied data access and comprehensive system control. The SmartServer™ IoT edge server from Dialog, a Renesas Company, with
its open, multi-protocol architecture, enabled a seamlessly integrated system that is delivering signicant quantiable benets to global associates
and DFS.
The Challenge
global associates, an award-winning master systems integrator and engineering rm, was engaged by DFS, a leading UK-based furniture retailer, to
help in its drive toward carbon neutrality. global's remit was to signicantly reduce overall energy usage by implementing energy efcient controls
across DFS' 170 sites including retail stores, ofces, factories and warehouses. The initial target was to reduce energy usage by 10% with fast ROI –
demonstrating tangible results within one year.
From previous projects, global associates knew that the right approach would be to use sensors to gather data from each site and feed that data into
the existing building management system (BMS) to enable intelligent, on-premises control. This would then feed into a secure cloud-based platform for
analytics and decision making. global chose LoRaWAN® sensors; there was no other solution that could provide the range of sensor types needed, as
well as a 10km line of sight signal and 10 years' battery life.
2022.02
