The Collaboration with EC Gives Sensors Increased Value

– Our sensors are originally intended for traditional environments, but Energy Control puts them into ventilation ducts and heat centres. That challenges us, says Product Manager at Disruptive Technologies, Julian Veisdal. 

Disruptive Technologies is a Norwegian technology company best known for developing the world’s smallest wireless sensors. The sensors’ unique qualities — with a lifespan of up to 15 years and compact size — make them well suited to a wide range of different tasks. In a real estate context, data capture for energy optimisation, indoor climate, occupancy and temperature are the most common applications. 

– Our role as technology developers is to make it easy for users of our products to collect data. We always want to continue developing, and the collaboration with Energy Control has given us access to technical expertise in building operations. That is why the collaboration with Energy Control is important for us, says Veisdal.
‍

Bridge-builder between buildings and technology

For Energy Control, sensors from Disruptive Technologies are one of the company’s most important tools. 

– By combining the sensor’s fantastic ability to capture temperature data with our own algorithms and expertise, we can measure almost anything in a building, says Tommy Hagenes. 

While Disruptive Technologies’ developers are in the lab researching, coding and testing, the people from Energy Control are constantly on the move — out in the field, inside ventilation systems and operations centres.

– They are our eyes and ears in the field. When they are out working in a building, they come across new challenges that we need to solve. How, for example, should our sensors function and maintain battery life in an environment at 70 degrees? These are challenges we enjoy — they push us to adapt and further develop our sensors. The collaboration with Energy Control makes our sensors better, says Veisdal. 

‍

Can measure almost anything

Hagenes explains that they have put the small sensors from Disruptive Technologies into everything from ventilation ducts to ventilation units, hydronic heating systems, heat exchangers and heat centres, to name just a few. 

– The temperature from the sensor can indicate when a system is running and when it is at rest. When we combine this with the differential between flow and return on an energy centre, we get a picture of how the building’s technical systems are functioning, says Hagenes. 

The size of the sensors plays an important role and means they can capture temperature data on both individual components and larger systems. This makes it possible to identify faults right down to the component level. 

– Even an old ventilation system can have a number of parts that still have a great deal of life left in them. This is something the sensors can reveal. Instead of replacing everything, we can take a much more targeted approach and say that you should replace this and that part, but the rest you can continue to use, says Hagenes. 

‍

Impossible without Disruptive Technologies

He explains that several customers have been advised to replace their entire ventilation system, but that by using the sensors and collecting data, they have found that only parts of the system need replacing. 

– This is sustainability in practice, and it would not have been possible without the sensors from Disruptive Technologies, says Hagenes. 

‍