English subtitles available
Bernau near Berlin and its municipal utilities are on the way to becoming a smart city: They have networked three neighbourhoods with LoRaWAN® technology from ZENNER. This enables a wide range of IoT services – from smart metering and smart building to smart parking.
The path to the smart city begins in the neighbourhood.
It is the ideal starting point for realising the major challenges of our time: Digitalisation, energy transition and e-mobility. This is because different sectors such as energy, buildings and mobility come together in the neighbourhood, enabling municipalities to explore synergies and develop holistic solutions. One municipal utility that is particularly committed to this approach is based in Bernau near Berlin. With the support of ZENNER, three districts were intelligently networked and an extensive digitalisation project was launched. This not only demonstrated the performance of LoRaWAN®, but also its flexible application possibilities. As part of the project, a total of around 2,100 meters and sensors from IoT specialist ZENNER and its partners were installed by June 2021.
“At ZENNER, we have found the products as well as the expertise to set up a powerful LoRaWAN® network, utilise this infrastructure in the best possible way and position ourselves as an IoT service provider in the future,” reports Sven Anders, Head of Customer Service at Stadtwerke Bernau, adding: “Digitalisation is an important pillar of this in the long term.”
In order to be able to test as many different applications as possible, Stadtwerke Bernau chose very different districts for its project: a modern residential district, a district with mixed residential and commercial use and its own company premises including a public car park.
ZENNER IoT gateway indoorZENNER IoT gateway indoor
The ZENNER IoT gateways use high-performance LoRaWAN® technology, whose excellent building penetration and long-range network coverage ensure the connectivity of IoT sensors even …
ZENNER IoT gateway outdoor for LoRaWAN®ZENNER IoT gateway outdoor for LoRaWAN®
The ZENNER IoT gateways use high-performance LoRaWAN® technology, whose excellent building penetration and long-range network coverage ensure the connectivity of IoT sensors even …
EDC-communication module with LoRaWAN® or wireless M-Bus radio interfaceEDC-communication module with LoRaWAN® or wireless M-Bus radio interface
For connection to ZENNER water meters with modulator disc
EASY PROTECT Radio smoke alarm for wireless M-Bus or LoRaWAN®EASY PROTECT Radio smoke alarm for wireless M-Bus or LoRaWAN®
The EASY PROTECT Radio smoke alarm was specially developed for use in radio remote reading systems and offers optimum protection.
Friedenstal forest neighbourhood
The Friedenstal forest neighbourhood is currently being developed by the company Ehret + Klein as a modern residential quarter with perfect connections to Berlin’s city centre. In the first construction phase, four buildings with a total of 223 modern residential units have already been built, which are modelled on Bauhaus architecture and blend harmoniously into the Brandenburg landscape with its old trees. These ultra-modern new residential buildings were equipped with heat, cold and hot water meters as well as smoke detectors that enable remote reading in submetering with LoRaWAN®. Two indoor gateways transmit the data to the municipal utility company’s servers, where it is processed, evaluated and visualised for the landlords. This means that tenants do not have to report their meter readings, nor do meter readers have to enter the flats to take meter readings or carry out the annual inspection of the smoke alarms.
“We integrate the meter data directly into the billing software via an interface and can therefore create the operating cost statements for the apartment blocks particularly efficiently,”
says Sven Anders.
“Am alten Gaswerk” neighbourhood
The mixed residential and commercial use characterises the “Am alten Gaswerk” district, a listed building owned by the municipal utility company. In addition to a residential and office building, there is also an old gas boiler as a technical monument and a kiln house, which now serves as an event location and dance club.
It is the ideal environment to implement submetering of residential and commercial units via LoRaWAN® and to test other use cases, such as access authorisation or air quality monitoring. The meters and sensors transmit their data to a gateway, which is mounted on the old gas boiler and forms a central point in Bernau.
StadtwerkeQuartier B45
Stadtwerke Bernau’s own premises, the StadtwerkeQuartier B45, in turn comprises an administration building, various outbuildings for technical services, a vehicle and event hall as well as parking, access and open spaces and the newly built public multi-storey car park. The first ground sensors at the car parks indicate whether the parking spaces are free or occupied – a function that can also be used to monitor escape routes and fire service access routes. By monitoring these sensitive areas, incorrectly parked vehicles can be removed preventively.
Sensors in the buildings measure temperature, humidity, brightness and the CO2 content of the air. If, for example, the CO2 content of the air exceeds the limit values, the employee responsible automatically receives an e-mail reminding them to ventilate. The fact that photovoltaic systems and a solar carport, including storage, have already been installed on the company’s own premises demonstrates the extent to which the municipal utility’s strategy is geared towards sustainability.
ZENNER IoT gateway outdoor for LoRaWAN®ZENNER IoT gateway outdoor for LoRaWAN®
The ZENNER IoT gateways use high-performance LoRaWAN® technology, whose excellent building penetration and long-range network coverage ensure the connectivity of IoT sensors even …
ZENNER Indoor T+H sensorZENNER Indoor T+H sensor
The ZENNER Indoor T+H Sensor is an indoor temperature and humidity sensor with wireless M-Bus and LoRaWAN® radio interface.
ZENNER CO2 INDICATOR L868 ID A for LoRaWAN®ZENNER CO2 INDICATOR L868 ID A for LoRaWAN®
The ZENNER CO2 INDICATOR is a compact indoor LoRaWAN® radio sensor (868 MHz) for measuring the CO2 content of indoor air.
Smart city Bernau near Berlin
These and other smart and sustainable applications are used in Bernau.
Smoke Detectors
Air quality monitoring
Submetering
Electromobility
Car park sensors
Photovoltaics
Entering the new world of measurement
Stadtwerke Bernau is pursuing several goals with its digitalisation projects: They want to strengthen their core competence metering, expand the field smart meter and test the interaction of technology, processes and roles in the new measuring world. In addition, submetering is to be expanded and developed into a viable business model. In the future, the municipal utilities also want to test new value-added solutions such as smart energy, smart lighting, smart parking and smart grids. After all, the smart neighbourhoods serve as a reference for local stakeholders, potential new customers and also for the company’s own employees.
Stadtwerke Bernau’s projects contribute to the following UN goals:
