Smart Community

At OpenMotics, we enable all the smart technologies that are present in different buildings within a community to communicate with each other, resulting in automation and optimisation. In this way, one central platform is able to monitor the entire community’s technical systems and meters –meaning that OpenMotics can also raise the alert in the event of problems.

Reference example
dokken

Create the ideal interaction between a district and industry

For example, in the creation of De Nieuwe Dokken, a Smart Community in Ghent, the focus is on the ideal interaction between a district and industry. 

In this ambitious and innovative construction project, DuCoop has installed a heating network, water purification equipment and other technical systems. DuCoop is also responsible for operating these systems. To do this, the organisation relies on OpenMotics’ integrated data and energy system.

Setting up an integrated data and energy system.

OpenMotics makes it possible to control and monitor every action of a house, a building or even the entire district. What’s more, the data is used to fine-tune and optimise the consumption and production of local renewable energy.

To start with, OpenMotics makes it possible to automate each apartment on an individual level. Every resident can participate in the smart energy district by signing up for OpenMotics services. Via a smartphone or tablet, the heating, sun blinds, lighting and ventilation can thus be controlled and monitored from one central platform. 

At a collective level too, OpenMotics plays an important role in the creation of a sustainable district. For example, every home is connected to the heating network, which uses residual heat from the nearby company Christeyns. In the past, that residual heat had to be actively cooled and represented pure energy loss; now, however, it is a source of energy for the district.

In addition to heating consumption, water consumption has been optimised. Wastewater and toilet water are collected centrally. The heat still present in the water is recovered via a heat pump, and the water is purified and returned to Christeyns as an input for its production activity. 

Moreover, OpenMotics’ intelligent software is self-learning. This has two benefits: all energy management in the district is continuously optimised and the emission of greenhouse gases is minimised. 

OpenMotics’ affordable, flexible and open system thus contributes in several ways to the creation of a Smart Community in which efficient energy management and the convenience and comfort of residents and owners are central.

A growing Smart Community? OpenMotics grows with you.

The open and flexible nature of OpenMotics means that it is also possible to add new technical systems and integrate them into the current installation at a later stage. This can be done at both the individual and the collective level.