Home / Smart Energy Solution Enhances Indoor Climate Control at a University in Belgium
CASE STUDY:

Smart Energy Solution Enhances Indoor
Climate Control at a University in Belgium

🇧🇪 Brussel, Belgium

Our client

Building type: University Building

Partner: MCS and Allorado

Location: Brussel, Belgium

Building parameters: 1 building, 6 floors

Product(s) implemented:
423 Vicki LoRaWAN® Smart Radiator Thermostat

Third Party Devices:
200 Air Quality Sensors
MCS IIoT Protocol Gateway integrated with the existing BACnet BMS

In collaboration with carefully selected partners, MCS designs and delivers Managed IoT solutions and secure private networks that ensure seamless access to innovative IoT technologies for everyone. Since its founding in 1997, MCS has been committed to making daily work and life easier, safer, and more sustainable.

Leveraging years of expertise, MCS combines its knowledge with that of its partners across diverse industries. In addition, MCS provides all the essential hardware and software components for communication networks, including the design and production of antennas and wireless communication accessories, all made in the Netherlands.

Allorado builds a next-generation LoRa gateway that seamlessly integrates LoRa devices into existing building and industrial automation systems. It converts raw LoRa data into standardized formats such as KNX, BACnet, and Modbus, enabling effortless connectivity and interoperability.
Designed for simplicity and speed, Allorado eliminates the complexity of LoRa integration. With a plug-and-play approach and no coding required, Allorado makes adopting LoRa technology faster and more intuitive than ever.

Challenges

For over ten years, sustainable development has been a cornerstone of the Vrije Universiteit Brussel (VUB)’s values. In line with this commitment, the university has developed a climate strategy aimed at significantly reducing its CO₂ emissions and lowering energy consumption across its campuses. To meet these goals, accurate monitoring of the indoor climate—including temperature, humidity, and CO₂ levels—was essential. They wanted to make the old radiators smart and use the collected room data to control the heating process more efficiently. To implement this solution, the university turned to MCS for expertise and support.

Solution

Before implementation, Allorado and MCS conducted a thorough analysis of the building to understand its needs. They established a private LoRa network, which was integrated into the existing Building Management System (BMS) that uses BACnet protocol. They optimally placed 1 MCS IIoT Protocol Gateway and 8 forwarders across 6 floors and enabled the BMS to recognize LoRaWAN devices as fully integrated BACnet objects. By installing 423 Vicki LoRaWAN® Smart Radiator Thermostats and 200 third-party air quality sensors in the second half of 2024, and integrating them into the BMS, the university gained access to the necessary real-time and historical data on temperature, humidity, and CO₂ levels and achieved 31,5% savings. The MClimate Vicki devices provided precise, room-by-room temperature control, schedule creation, and open-window detection, enabling more efficient use of the radiators. The Vicki thermostats, utilizing the LoRaWAN® protocol, also offer firmware updates over the air (FUOTA) and replaceable batteries with a 10-year lifespan, ensuring long-term, sustainable use—aligning with VUB’s goals.

Results

Temperature & Humidity

Monitoring and Control

31,5%  

energy savings

99% compatibility

with standard radiators

Supports FUOTA

Firmware Upgrade Over The Air

Products in this case study

Vicki LoRaWAN® Smart Radiator Thermostat

Vicki LoRaWAN® is a radiator thermostatic valve fully compliant with the LoRaWAN standard. It is the perfect choice for large-scale projects as it offers amazing battery life, RF performance, and no maintenance for years as well as functionalities such as child lock, detection of opened windows, and much more.

Recommended products

MClimate CO2 Sensor & Notifier LoRaWAN®

We've designed MClimate CO2 Sensor and Notifier in a way that it blends with any interior and doesn't attract too much attention. Thanks to the fact that it will work on a single pair of batteries for up to 10 years, you can install it and forget about maintenance. Feel free to stick it on a surface or utilize the convenient mounting screws if you want to secure it permanently.

MClimate CO2 Display lite LoRaWAN®

The MClimate CO2 Display lite is equipped with temperature and humidity sensor, LUX sensor and NDIR CO2 sensor. Featuring 1.54" e-ink screen the device is showing the current levels of CO2 as well as historical trends. The data from the CO2 Display lite can be used in any LoRaWAN® compatible system, incl. Building Management Systems to control demand-based ventilation. Sensor information can be exposed

MClimate Vicki Anti-vandal protective case

Protect your Vicki from tampering, vandalism and theft with our robust anti-vandal cover.

MClimate Wireless Thermostat LoRaWAN®

MClimate Wireless Thermostat is a stand-alone thermostat powered entirely by solar energy using an organic solar panel. The device features a 2.9" e-ink screen, sensor for movement (PIR), temperature and humidity sensor, LUX sensor and 3 buttons. The user can change the target temperature and see current indoor conditions. The device sends an uplink after any event as well as periodically.

MClimate Open/Close Sensor LoRaWAN®

MClimate Open/Close Sensor LoRaWAN® is a device detecting the event of opening or closing windows, doors, cabinets and more. It features long battery life, LED, temperature sensor and a button that triggers an uplink. The device sends an uplink for every event of opening/closing and keeps an internal counter of the total number of events.

MClimate HT Sensor LoRaWAN®

MClimate HT sensor is a fully LoRaWAN®-compliant device with surprising battery life time - up to 10 years! If you need to track temperature and humidity in your building, then HT will not miss a reading and will make sure you have enough data to analyse and improve upon.

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