November 19, 2014
Together URBANA and QSC Develop an IoT-Platform for the Energy
Management of Buildings
As a first step an individual solution for more than 1,000 real estate properties of an
URBANA-customer is introduced
Cologne, November 19, 2014. URBANA, who has been supplying energy services for real
estate, trade and industry, realizes a platform for the intelligent energy management in
buildings together with the QSC subsidiary Q-loud. The basis is the IoT-platform “solucon”
developed by Q-loud. On it different devices like heat quantity meters, reading devices for
gas- and power meters or temperature sensors are connected to each other safely. Thus
completely new functions for increasing energy efficiency can be realized.
The solution by URBANA and QSC: the consumption data of all connected devices is
collected centrally and analyzed anonymously via analytical software. Analogous meters can
be integrated into the system as well, without creating too much additional costs. By taking
weather forecasts into consideration, a heating system can be optimized also regarding its
operation in the future and thus further refined. Connected sensors additionally give an
overview regarding the actual circumstances on site. More than 1000 real estate properties
will be connected this way within the coming six months.
The basis is “solucon”, the cloud-based platform of Q-loud. It connects devices in the
Internet of Things, short IoT, and enables the operation of various software components at
the same time. Thus URBANA’s heat quantity meters, reading devices for gas- and power
meters or sensors can both be connected and the resulting data analyzed without any
difficulty.
“As the central intelligence ‘solucon’ is always available. Thus we can continuously collect
and analyze big data quantities”, explains Thomas Surwald, managing director of Q-loud, and
adds: “optimizing energy consumption does not only mean turning down the heating and
switching off the light. For a smart energy management all variables within the complex
system have to be taken into consideration and analyzed.”
The so-called “Zero-Downtime-Architecture”, the parallel operation in various geographically
separated data centers of QSC in Germany, allows the operation of “solucon” without any
maintenance windows and practically excludes a complete blackout. An open API offers a
variety of possibilities for expansion and of integrating the solutions into third party systems.
The so-called “solucon Chip” is a standardized radio frequency module. As a component it
can be integrated easily into existing hardware.
URBANA’s managing director Frank Jarmer is pleased about the cooperation with Q-loud:
“With this cooperation we realize the decisive step to managing the energy supply of real
estate property via the Internet of Things for one of our customers. Thus we leverage new
opportunities for optimizing the energy supply of buildings for our customers.
Pressemitteilung URBANA_engl
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Background
Heating, gas and power are the main cost drivers of every real estate property. Since 1995
energy costs have more than doubled according to the German Federal Statistical Office.
With an intelligent solution for optimizing the energy consumption of heating, climate and
power you could safe lots of money. Above all less consumption means less ancillary costs
for the property company or landlord and residents.
To make this work it is not enough to check the consumption once a year – that’s what is
currently the case. The data have to be available in detail and without any delay. Only then
owners and residents can carry out necessary changes for more efficiency, whenever they
make sense. An intelligent platform, which collects and analyzes all data, supports this.
Q-loud GmbH
Q-loud GmbH, a 100 per cent subsidiary of QSC AG, develops solutions in the Internet of
Things, among others for energy, trade, industry, logistics and smart home applications.
solucon – The enabling Platform is the basis of it all. It is a platform on which software
components can be implemented and operated modularly. Apart from applications in the
Internet of Things, telecommunication solutions can be realized efficiently. www.q-loud.de
QSC AG: ICT-Solutions for Small and Mid-Size Enterprises
QSC AG offers small and mid-size enterprises one-stop shopping for an extensive range of
ICT services: from telephony, data transfer, housing and hosting right through to IT
outsourcing and IT consulting. As an SAP and a Microsoft Partner, QSC AG additionally
possesses special expertise in the field of SAP and Microsoft implementation. Cloud services
developed in house for a wide range of applications round out the portfolio. With its own
cutting-edge network infrastructure, as well as TÜV- and ISO-certified data centers in
Germany, QSC numbers among the leading SME providers of ICT services in Germany. The
company offers both custom-tailored solutions for individual ICT needs as well as a modular
product portfolio for smaller business customers and marketing partners. QSC employs a
workforce of some 1,800 people and is included in the TecDAX index. www.qsc.de
URBANA
URBANA constructs, builds and operates plants for the efficient energy supply Germanywide: for the housing sector, trade, industry and public authorities. The energy supplier
provides heat and power from decentralized cogeneration plants and at the same time relies
mostly on renewable energies. URBANA trades gas and power - from procurement to
marketing – and as a mid-size company independently and directly accesses the market.
URBANA manages buildings and plants with its own operating team, based on its core
competencies: operation, maintenance and increasing energy efficiency. The essence of 50
years URBANA: presently the company provides for more than 150,000 apartments as well
as 600 communal and commercial objects with more than 1,000 heating plants and heating
centrals and a thermal power output of more than 680 MW. Additionally we do
maintenance works in more than 50,000 apartments. Hoppenstedt’s “Top Rating 1Pressemitteilung URBANA_engl
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Certificat” for excellent creditworthiness, as well as the environmental partnership with the
Free and Hanseatic City of Hamburg show what URBANA stands for: Economy and
innovation for more energy efficiency. URBANA – switching on the future. www.urbana.ag
You get further information from
QSC AG
Dennis Knake
Corporate Communication
Mathias-Brüggen-Str. 55
50829 Köln
Tel.: ++49-221-669 - 8285
Fax: ++49-221-669 - 85285
E-Mail: [email protected]
URBANA
Thomas Ahlborn
Head of Marketing
Heidenkampsweg 40
20097 Hamburg
Tel. ++49-40-23775-103
Fax ++49-40-23775-8103
E-Mail: [email protected]
Pressemitteilung URBANA_engl
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