Voltimum attends ISE 2017 in Amsterdam

Last week, Eddie Embleton, MD at Voltimum UK & Ireland, attended the Smart Buildings Conference at ISE, the largest Integrated Systems exhibition in Europe. Here, Eddie shares his thoughts on the show and how it has reinforced that smart solutions are clearly a big part of our industry’s future.

Smart solutions are starting to have a significant impact on our industry and are already considered a key part of Voltimum’s growth strategy. The Smart Buildings Conference, held at the Integrated Systems Europe show in Amsterdam, provided a great opportunity to find out more about this evolving market and witness some of the innovations that are on the way from some of the industry’s top manufacturers.

Diverse opportunities

As soon as you enter the show you immediately get a sense of how diverse the opportunities are in this market for anyone who already works in the electrical industry. Covering both residential and commercial applications, there are areas dedicated to smart buildings, digital signage, audio visual installations and lots more. When you walk through the halls there is an exciting atmosphere that reflects the levels of innovation on show. This is especially so in the smart home section where exhibitors, which included leading manufacturers such as ABB and Legrand, presented their products on stands in ‘real world’ scenarios. These were clearly designed to capture the imagination of end users, who will be key in driving demand for these solutions in the future.

Focus on outcomes

The Smart Building conference programme was particularly interesting, addressing the need to focus on outcomes and the usability of buildings rather than the technology. It’s clear that making a building ‘smart’ needs to be thought about at the beginning of the project so the building understands the user rather than the user struggling to understand the building!

I liked what James McHale, from Memoori research, had to say about the retrofit opportunities for wireless solutions. He reminded us that 80% of our current housing stock would still be around in 2025 – so we don’t just have to build better buildings but we need to improve the ones we have.  Not many people will want their walls damaged for a wired solution so wireless products will be the perfect option.

Lennart Ruh, Head of Light Management Systems OSRAM,  also delivered a fascinating presentation on how beacon technology integrated with lighting offered the perfect infrastructure to make buildings smart. He highlighted a case where it was known that 50% of desks in an office were not being used at any one time but it was impossible to know which ones and when.  With beacons in the lights feeding information to the building management system, the energy savings were huge and the payback was within two years.

Time to engage

The show has further convinced me that smart solutions represent a huge opportunity for the electrotechnical industry, but now is the time to engage. We are always striving to provide our users with information on the latest technology and the business opportunities they can open up. With this in mind, I am happy to announce that we will be launching a dedicated portal for Smart Solutions in 2017 that will aim to inform educate and support installers as they begin to engage with this technology and offer it to their clients.  So, watch this space!

Also, following on from the success of last year’s event, we will be holding two Smart Tech Live seminars in June this year, one in London the other in York. At both events, we will assemble industry experts and leading manufacturers to cover everything you need to know about smart buildings and the opportunities they can offer your business.

The only thing constant in this industry is change. We are seeing more and more smart technology hit the market, with many systems requiring new skills and understanding. Voltimum will provide you with the resources you need to prepare today for the industry tomorrow

ISE 2018 will take place at the same venue, RAI Amsterdam, from 6th to 9th February. It will even feature one more additional hall to accommodate new business. Voltimum will see you there!