City Hall in Forli, Italy, 2020

Retrofitting traditional buildings like the historic City Hall in Forli is a challenge with a wide range of specific requirements. The optimization of the systems of the City Hall in Forli introduces automated air conditioning and lighting control to improve indoor air quality, create a better working environment and also reduce energy consumption.

A retrofit solution preserving historic and aesthetic values

Traditional buildings are often trademarks of a whole region and need renovation approaches that are compatible with protecting historic and aesthetic values. The solution Casadei & Pellizaro, LOYTEC Competence Partner in Italy, created follows this guiding principle and relies on wireless communication with LOYTEC devices, reducing cabeling efforts considerably. 

Communication via wirless MESH network and EnOcean

In detail, the designed system consists of a network of LIOB-585 I/O Controllers that communicate with each other via a MESH wireless network. Each LIOB-585 I/O Controller has an EnOcean interface (LENO-800) to manage room panels (Thermokon SR06) and radiator actuators (Thermokon SAB+). Each LIOB-585 I/O Controller with L-IOT1 software license also manages light control via WIFI (Sonoff mini). All data retrieved from the controllers is managed by a LINX-215 Automation Server which displays the data via LWEB-802 / LWEB-803 interface, through BACnet IP.

IoT integration on the controller level

Mr. Gianni Toni from Casadei & Pellizzaro, LOYTEC Competence Partner, puts the decision to use LOYTEC controllers in a nutshell and praises the remarkable IoT integration capabilities via Node.Js and also wireless MESH network management for connecting controllers. LOYTEC controllers support Node.js on the controller level saving time in installing and preconfiguringsoftware and makes it very easy and efficient to manage IoT devices through HTTP command, API or MQTT. The solution implemented in the City Hall in Forli used HTTP because is the easiest way to command IoT devices.

Conclusion

By using LOYTEC products, it was possible to create an integrated system with a lean and easily expandable hardware infrastructure.
The use of standard communication protocols allowed a multi-brand solution suitable for specific purposes. The result is a modernised building that preserves historic and aesthetic values while increasing comfort and lowering energy bills.