SPE Aligns with Net Zero Goals for Smart Buildings

By AJ Born | July 30, 2024

As more companies see the financial and environmental benefits of net zero, connector suppliers continue to develop product solutions to help meet those goals. Single-pair Ethernet is one solution. It has a smaller footprint than traditional Ethernet connectors and uses less materials to enable field devices to connect directly to the network.

Single-pair Ethernet, or SPE, brings efficiency and optimization to smart buildings and can get them closer to net zero goals. By design, SPE improves on traditional communications over copper and streamlines data transmission while reducing materials and maximizing resources.

SPE offers seamless communication to the network by eliminating gateways. When compared with traditional Ethernet, SPE offers weight and space savings, shorter installation times, and increased deployment lengths. It also provides the option of powering communication devices and transferring data over the same interface.

HARTING’s T1 Industrial SPE line of products for industrial automation technologies from building systems to manufacturing processes are available from Heilind Electronics.

 

Seamless communication

SPE improves network communication in two important ways. Serial communications go through a router and gateway before being sent into the Ethernet network. Each of these connections is an opportunity for interruption in communications and loss of data. Compounding this problem is the fact that different protocols might be in use, which increase the potential for lag in communications.

“One of the main benefits of SPE is convergence and integration of internet systems (i.e., DDC [direct digital control], BMS [building management system], and sensors),” said Guadalupe Chalas, senior product marketing data specialist at Phoenix Contact. “That means field devices—edge sensors like temperature sensors and lighting controls, will be able to communicate directly with the controller.”

SPE makes this possible by eliminating the need for routers and gateways. The Ethernet-enabled sensor and controller communicate in the same language, making it much faster and error-free. “Some sensors in building applications rely on analog communications that have to be digitized before they can be of use for the higher level systems. With SPE-enabled sensors, the information transmitted is digitized at the source and transmitted to the controller seamlessly, minimizing the opportunity for errors during transmission,” said Chalas.

Removing the communication roadblocks eliminates failure risks, reduces security risks, and speeds up communications. Faster communication enables the system to make decisions much quicker and gather more information about the processes. Increased bandwidth allows more data and faster response times, making systems more efficient and more effective.

The migration into seamless IP communications does not only benefit the individual connections. “The buildings of today have many systems that run on all sorts of different communication protocols, resulting in inefficiency,” said Jim Dunbar, senior product marketing manager for PCB connectors at Phoenix Contact.Air conditioning may not be talking to the heating system and not talking to the window shades, for example. But with IP-enabled devices, all of them can talk together, work more efficiently together, and lead to lower energy usage overall for the building.”

SPE also dramatically increases the installation range. “That’s probably the most important thing about single-pair Ethernet for a building,” said Chalas. With standard Ethernet over copper, you can go up to 100 meters. With single-pair Ethernet, you can go up to 1,000 meters. That means less cut off in your communication and less hardware needed to enable it at long distances. Traditionally, long data runs within a large building, like a factory or a data center, would require fiber optics or repeaters with standard Ethernet over copper. With single-pair Ethernet, you don’t need the additional hardware, thus simplifying the connection.”

Future-proof technology, sustainability, and intelligent building

Eliminating hardware with SPE further reduces energy consumption by creating a smaller footprint for the overall system. The configuration of SPE itself contributes to that smaller footprint by requiring less material. Standard Ethernet communication over copper requires four or eight wires (two or four twisted pairs). Single-pair Ethernet uses two wires (one pair). “With SPE, less copper and insulation is needed, as well as less space to deploy cabling,” said Chalas. SPE can also provide power to end devices using the same interface used for data transmission via power over data line (PoDL), further reducing the overall amount of copper and cabling needed. That also reduces processing time, installation time, and termination time.

Additional savings on material cost and energy comes with sensors that can perform multiple functions. “Let’s say you want to measure temperature, CO2, and humidity. An SPE sensor can perform all three measurements, accommodating all that data into a single pair of wires while also getting powered by that single pair. Now instead of using three sensors to do your measurements, you can get all three with just one sensor. Because this system has a higher bandwidth, it also has more capability. You can not only query your data faster, but you can also get more data altogether and transfer it at once with this consolidation,” Chalas said.

To maximize efficiency in terms of performance and energy consumption, building automation is getting even smarter. “What we’re building into the buildings now is intelligence. We are no longer simply automating systems, like an air conditioner that turns on and off at specific times. Now that system knows that there are three of us sitting in this room so it needs air conditioning, and when we leave it knows to turn it off,” said Dunbar.  “It’s all about the energy efficiency and cutting down that expense of the energy in the building. The various parts of the building work more intelligently and more efficiently.”

SPE is already a standard: the connectors are standardized, the transmission specifications are standardized, and the connectors and cables are available as are the switches and chip sets, said Chalas. “Sensor manufacturers are starting to look into the technology and investigate its feasibility in their applications as we are seeing the first prototype SPE devices becoming available for demos and testing. We expect to see more building sensors that implement SPE in the upcoming months.”

Visit the Preferred Supplier page for Phoenix Contact to learn more about the company and its products.

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AJ Born
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