A concept review of power line communication in building energy management systems for the small to medium sized non-domestic built environment

To date, building energy management systems (BEMS) have been well established in the large scale non-domestic field as an energy saving technology, contributing towards sustainable future cities. They utilise complex control interfaces, with control signals passed through purpose built communication wiring. Estimated end-use energy savings, due to BEMS addition, can reach up to 50%, with associated financial savings for building users. The intelligent control, featured in BEMS, enables buildings to adapt; optimising operation based on up to date weather forecasts. Despite the positive savings for future sustainable cities, the additional wiring required and complex control interfaces have inhibited wide scale up take for small and medium sized commercial buildings. Retrofit installation is often time consuming, whilst efficient operation requires additional training for users. BEMS, based on wireless communication technology, are limited by radio-wave reception and therefore suffer in heavyweight constructions and larger premises (greater than 1000 sqm). Following review of available technologies, this paper investigates a novel strategy utilising power-line communication (PLC) for BEMS communication, for versatile applications in the small to medium sized non-domestic (SMSND) premises that make up future sustainable cities. The PLC strategy intends to send BEMS control signals via the established electrical wiring network. Before implementation of this concept, further work is required to overcome the more challenging aspects of PLC technology.