Germany, like most European countries, is witnessing an increase in digitalisation across different industries and sectors of society. This accelerated digital transformation is leading to greater interconnectivity with everyday life under the “Internet of Things” umbrella. The energy industry has embraced this transformation with its initial focus being on intelligent smart metering.
On 1st November 2020, Germany’s new Buildings Energy Act came into effect. The scope of this new legislation, like its predecessor legislation on energy conservation for buildings, outlines requirements for the energy performance of buildings, the issuing and use of energy performance certificates, and the use of renewable energy in buildings.
Simplified real time energy consumption monitoring from smart buildings for property managers and homeowners
One of Germany’s leading start-ups in the smart energy and billing sector, Ifena, was quick to harness the opportunities brought by the Building Energy Act coming into force. The company saw an opportunity to tap into data from smart buildings to deliver real time readings of overall building performance and energy consumption by households. The management team saw this as an attractive proposition to property developers, property management organisations and homeowners alike.
Ifena developed its own software which was integrated on different gateway devices. Those could be installed in buildings to allow automatic reading and transmission of meter data for processing onto a backend server for subsequent use by their customers. Multiple devices are used to measure and collect consumption data. Linking hardware devices properly with highly secure and reliable software solutions is critical for success. However, Ifena faced significant cost challenges due to device breakdowns as a result of several software issues.
Bridging the expertise gap through proactive partnership
Ifena reached out to Sigoor to evaluate its product with a view not only to address device breakdowns but also as a strategic software co-development partner for the future.
Through engaging Sigoor experts, Ifena was able to improve the communication between software and hardware devices. Sigoor managed to bridge the gap by:
• Developing a custom application that allowed for seamless transmission of data
• Implementing different IoT protocols in the same space to optimise communication between the hardware devices
• Building an additional layer on top of the application to ease future mobile cross-platform development frameworks
