Ettelbruck based company RMS.lu runs Internet

of Things application for energy monitoring

RMS.lu has launched emon, an application for the mon-

itoring of energy and other parameters associated with

buildings. emon operates as one of the first Internet of

Things cloud applications in Luxembourg. The whole

monitoring system can be installed without demolition

work nor rebuilding. It is non-invasive thanks to sensors

that transmit their data wirelessly.

Everyone with a browser can consult the aggregated

data in emon. It gathers data from Internet of Things

devices such as energy consumption tongs, energy

monitoring plugs, temperature, humidity, light and air

quality sensors, smoke and flood detectors.

A typical customer for emon would be energy consult-

ants who have to hand out energy certificates as re-

quired by Luxembourg's regulations. They can now

base their findings on real measurements instead of

extrapolations and estimations from a standard check-

list. Other customers would be municipal administra-

tions, energy companies and facility management com-

panies.

Country: Luxembourg

Sector: Wholesale

Profile

RMS.lu, founded in 1992, is a company specialized

in the development, installation and support of

automatic identification and mobility solutions for

utilities, industry and commerce. They are experts

in the development of "tailored" end products

defined by the client's needs. They specialize in

integrating applications interfacing with for exam-

ple mobile devices, tablets, to barcode readers.

Challenge

RMS.lu wanted to develop a real-time energy mon-

itoring application that could also measure plenty

of other parameters associated with buildings. The

system needed to be ready for installation without

Microsoft Azure

any demolition work nor rebuilding. Anyone with a

browser should also be able to access the applica-

tion to read and analyse the data from anywhere in

the world.

Solution

Thanks to Internet of Things sensors all monitoring

data are transmitted wirelessly to the monitoring

application emon that runs on the Microsoft Azure

cloud. Everyone with a browser and the appropri-

ate password can consult the aggregated data.

Advantages

Û Cost savings

Û Energy saving

Û Real-time reliable data

Û Historical analysis

Û Augmented quality of life

Û Secure application

Software&Services

Microsoft Azure

.NET Framework

Microsoft Visual Studio

Internet of Things applications are a future promise for

trendy start-ups from California, could be what people

think about this somewhat hyped subject. However, it's

not correct, because RMS.lu from the small Luxembourg

city of Ettelbruck, has just launched emon, an Internet of

Things application for the monitoring of energy and plen-

ty of other parameters associated with buildings.

Software engineers Olivier Wagener and Pierre Lotin from

RMS.lu have developed emon in just three months. With

the practical assistance of a local Microsoft software engi-

neer, they have then ported the application to the

Microsoft Azure cloud. emon now operates as one of the

first Internet of Things cloud applications in Luxembourg.

Be your own guinea pig

Olivier Wagener: "We have used our own offices as the

test site for our application. We monitor our overall ener-

gy consumption, plus the energy consumption of every

piece of IT equipment. Our system is also connected to

the valves of our central heating, it measures the internal

carbon dioxide levels and the illumination of the desk en-

vironment. We can let in fresh air when necessary, turn

down the heating automatically, switch the lights on be-

fore working becomes uncomfortable and save on energy

costs."

Energy savings come in small portions at RMS.lu. Pierre

Lotin: "Some people switch off their PC’s every night, oth-

ers do not or only during weekends. For a small company

such as ours, this translates into a couple of hundred eu-

ros of unnecessary energy consumption. Big organizations

can save thousands of euros just by asking everybody to

switch off their computers every day. With our monitoring

system, they can also check whether that is really happen-

ing."

The RMS.lu team is especially proud that their whole mon-

itoring system can be installed without demolition work

nor rebuilding. Pierre Lotin: "It is totally non-invasive

thanks to a new generation of Internet of Things sensors

using technologies such as EnOcean and SIGFOX." All sen-

sors transmit their data wirelessly. Those data are collect-

ed and then transmitted by a 3G-dongle straight to the

emon cloud application. There, everyone with a

browser and the appropriate password can consult the

aggregated data.

Efficient energy saving

A typical customer for emon would be energy con-

sultants who have to hand out “Passeports éner-

gétiques”, which are energy certificates for newly

constructed buildings, as required by Luxembourg's

environmental regulations. The energy consultants

can now base their findings on real measurements

instead of extrapolations and estimations from a

standard checklist. Carlo Posing, general manager

of RMS.lu: "We've struck a deal with 1nergie, the

best known energy consultant in the country. In a

couple of weeks they will start using our application

after several tests have proven to be successful and

very promising."

Other future customers would be municipal admin-

istrations, energy companies and facility manage-

ment companies. A typical installation would moni-

tor a building for a week, after which all data in

emon can be processed and assessed. emon

gathers data from Internet of Things devices such as

energy consumption tongs, energy monitoring

plugs, temperature, humidity, light and air quality

sensors, smoke and flood detectors. Olivier

Wagener: "If there's a wireless sensor for it, we can

integrate it and do something with the data. Auto-

matically calling the fire brigade in case of an emer-

gency is definitely a possibility."

Real time data and historical analysis

Carlo Posing also aims for facility management

companies: "They have to monitor hundreds of

buildings and have no choice but to intervene after

the facts. Our emon cloud software allows for re-

mote monitoring, a better life quality for the people

inside the building and a very targeted lowering of

energy consumption without any loss of comfort."

emon shows all sensors, even with their status in

real-time, plus all historical data that can be filtered

and arranged in any way you want. An export func-

tion to Microsoft Excel is provided for further analy-

sis. Customers can use emon for a monthly fee

based on the number of sensors connected to the

application.

Security first with Azure

Olivier Wagener and Pierre Lotin have written the

software using the .NET Framework 4.5 and

Microsoft Visual Studio 2013. Olivier Wagener: "I

master several programming languages with their

regarding environments and I love all of them. Re-

gardless, working with .NET is very efficient because

a lot of elements are preconfigured and supportive

for an optimal workflow."

Olivier Wagener: “With Azure, we can concentrate on development and do not have to worry about infra-structure, replications or availability.”

"We have been surprised how easy it was to bring the ap-

plication to the Azure cloud", concludes Pierre Lotin.

"Adding additional security, such as geo-replication, is just

a matter of checking boxes. Azure feels and behaves like a

native part of the .NET universe. This means that under-

standing and using Azure hasn’t been a problem for us

and became one of our standard tools."

For more information

For more information about the Microsoft products

and services described, please call +352 204 100 10

or visit to www.microsoft.lu/cases. There you will

find other companies that use similar applications.

For more information about RMS.lu, visit

www.rms.lu

"If there's a wireless sensor for it, we can integrate it and do something with the da-ta. Automatically calling the fire brigade is definitely a possibility."

Pierre Lotin