How to automate resource accounting in an apartment building. Programs for automating the management of an apartment building Smart home system for an apartment building

Every resident of a smart home dreams of it being energy efficient. And if the requirements of a private customer to install a resource consumption control system can be implemented by an integrator, then with apartment buildings that make up the main stock of housing and communal services, things are much more complicated.

Federal Law No. 261 “On Energy Saving and Increasing Energy Efficiency” requires rapid measures to improve the energy efficiency of buildings. At the first stage, all houses must be equipped with communal meters. Then meters will appear in each apartment. According to legislators, installing metering devices and paying for energy resources based on consumption will help improve the energy efficiency of the house as a whole and reduce the cost of housing and communal services for residents. In addition, the accounting system will allow you to accumulate data, analyze it, plan measures to increase energy saving and energy efficiency, and also evaluate their results. At the same time, all this can be done both at the level of an individual apartment or HOA, and at the level of a block, microdistrict, city, federal district and the entire country.

How to create an automated accounting system

Any city building is connected to utility networks and equipped with 5 main channels: electricity, gas supply, water supply, heating and hot water supply (DHW), which are of particular importance in terms of energy saving. Accounting for general household resource consumption through these channels is quite simple to organize. An entrance node is formed in the appropriate room of the building, and a meter is installed in this node. It, in turn, is connected to a controller, the data from which is sent to a communication node, usually GSM, and then transmitted to the server where the accounting system is installed. According to this scheme, various automated systems for commercial metering of electricity (ASCAE) and heating are built.

Any city building is connected to utility networks

The advantages of such systems include their maturity and accumulated experience in their installation and operation. There are significantly more disadvantages. As a rule, such systems are not ready for integrated accounting of all resources, and it is obvious that creating 4-5 essentially identical systems will always be more difficult and costly than one universal one. The second disadvantage is related to the high cost. If the cost of a resource metering unit for an entire apartment building is 200-300 thousand rubles. is still justified, then for each apartment it should be significantly lower. The third negative factor is the short period of the verification interval, which can be agreed with in relation to communal meters, but not apartment meters. Ideally, the meter should be simple, reliable, have a long operating mode without verification, and be quickly replaced after failure.

Among other disadvantages of ASKUE is the lack of sufficient regulatory framework and, accordingly, standardized solutions with a single protocol for transmitting or receiving data to central accounting servers. There is no need to explain what a heterogeneous “zoo” of decisions can lead to, even within the same microdistrict. In addition, to date, specialized software has not been created that would allow taking into account all resources, analyzing this data and generating forecasts and warnings on the scale of a house, block, neighborhood, district and city.

Such software must solve various problems. For example, during peak hours of electricity consumption - to recommend measures to save it, in the event of an accident - to help solve the problem of quickly restoring the system and preserving heat in the housing stock. In addition, the software or its individual packages, which have a common database, should allow users, residents of all apartments and houses, to access their personal resource accounting pages, for example, through a regular browser, and analyze their own consumption, down to daily consumption. Note that it is on the basis of this data that residents would like to receive unified bills for consumed resources. But the question of who exactly will form them has not yet been resolved.

The last and perhaps most important, but not yet so obvious, disadvantage is that such systems do not offer a unified concept for building apartment accounting systems, their integration and subsequent development towards automation of the entire building.

All of the above disadvantages allow us to create a table of requirements for automated systems resource accounting (ASUR) at both the general building and apartment levels.

Table of parameters of ASUR components

The table presents the average requirements that apply to systems installed in urban apartment buildings. The cost of installing and connecting one sensor-meter at comprehensive solution should be 200-300 rubles, and annual maintenance should not exceed 50-100 rubles. per year per meter.

Developing common approaches is a state task

Federal program for increasing energy efficiency and similar regional programs, taking into account the scale of specific cities and local weather conditions, would allow each city to develop its own options for constructing an automated control system based on a unified approach. Unfortunately, such an approach does not exist yet.

Apparently, the current situation suits all parties involved in the resource supply process. However, difficult times are coming for ordinary citizens, homeowners' associations and other consumers: there are government orders on the introduction of energy-saving technologies, but there are no clear recommendations on how to do this comprehensively and effectively. At this time, the market is dominated by disparate solutions, which are not possible to evaluate in the absence of transparent quality criteria.

Unfortunately, realizing the need to modernize production and housing and communal services from the point of view of resource consumption, the state has not fully come to understand that this requires rules, technical regulations, GOSTs, the development costs of which Russia lags behind Germany by 100 times.

The lack of unified principles for constructing modern automated control systems for housing and communal services is only the visible part of the iceberg of problems that need to be solved by everyone - politicians who are not indifferent to the opinion of citizens regarding the rise in tariffs, and investors who are ready to perceive the prospects of innovative areas, and companies involved in the construction of houses and their operation.

How to automate an apartment building

Below is one of the optimal options for building an automated control system in an apartment building, which takes into account not only the current tasks of energy saving and energy efficiency, but also issues of safety and increased comfort when integrated with automated building management systems (ABMS).

The scheme for accounting for common house resources (on the right) is almost no different from what currently exists, with some exceptions. Firstly, building automated control system data can also be transferred to an integrated security system (ICSS), so the server provides their representation in a standard format and protocol, for example XML and SOAP. Secondly, to increase the reliability of the system, two controllers - servers, which are included in a single data exchange network, can be used in each home. If we take into account that the failure of the controller-server in this system, for example, for a day, will not lead to loss of data by the floor controllers - computers, then you can install one controller-server per house, but at the same time have several in the replacement stock with the possibility operational replacement. Thirdly, to increase fault tolerance and maintain operability even during emergency outages of external power supply, server nodes, data transmission and modems must be provided with sources uninterruptible power supply(UPS).

Modern energy metering system in an apartment building

Source: CNews Analytics, 2010

Let's take a closer look at the left side of the diagram - the apartment accounting system. Note that not only wireless meters, but also more reliable wired solutions can be used for its operation. This will not change the presented general concept of the ASUR system. But, it is necessary to clearly understand that the use of wired sensors leads to the need to lay cables and routes and, accordingly, to construction work, and therefore an increase in the cost of the system. Wireless meters can be various types, the main thing is to provide power using a battery and/or a small solar battery for a period of at least 3 years.

Such modern meters can form a reconfigured dynamic network that, with minimal radio power from each transmitter, ensures the reliability of the data collection and control system. Moreover, the frequency of data transmission per day from such a counter can be different - from once for simple systems to transmission several times per hour for the purpose of real-time analysis. All data collected by meters goes to the controller - a floor computer, which is connected to all apartments on the floor and has the ability to process data with a margin of at least 10% in terms of the number of connected meters and computing power.

To ensure reliable operation of controllers on floors, small UPSs should be used. After processing, information from each floor is sent to the controller, which performs the functions of a home server and guarantees the required degree of data archiving, converts it into standard format and provides control of the modem for receiving/transmitting them further to the central resource accounting servers. To ensure duplication, it is possible to include 2 or more servers in the building ring network. And to reduce the cost of individual parts of the system, it is possible to use one server for several entrances.

It is necessary to pay attention to the presence of two modems that can operate in unified network at home, thanks to which any data from the ASUR system, even in the event of an accident with one modem, can be transmitted through another device. The functioning of modems may vary depending on the tasks assigned to the system. For example, to take readings from apartment meters, it is enough for the central accounting server to “call” the house controller - server once a month and take all the readings at one time, and for operational online household accounting, it is enough to transmit this data to the central server several times an hour. At the same time, it is important to choose the most acceptable conditions and tariffs of telecom operators for transmitting this information. In homes that are connected to the Internet, it makes more sense to transmit information using it. The same system can be used to transmit emergency information to residents who are away from home, in the form emails. Moreover, such an automated control system can be easily expanded in the future and integrated with video surveillance, security and fire systems to ensure safer and more comfortable living in an apartment building.

Ideally, I would like to create a data collection system subordinate to a centralized city independent organization, which, on the one hand, provides data to the consumer so that he can analyze and reduce resource consumption, and on the other hand, sends it to the resource supplier for prompt settlements with the consumer . In this case, the answer to the question of how the user finds out the amount of resources consumed by him for payment becomes obvious: all calculations are carried out in a single transaction in accordance with the data generated using the archives of central servers.

Unfortunately, there are no companies yet that would be completely ready to switch to such a system for accounting for resource consumption, but if there is an automated management system, not only resource supplying enterprises, but also homeowners' associations and management companies can do this. In an emergency, data can be obtained from the website of the accounting organization or directly from the LCD screen of the floor computer after simple manipulations with the control buttons.

There are about 40 million households and apartments in Russia. To equip them with a minimum set of electricity meters, it will require about 1.5-1.7 billion dollars, and taking into account the creation of the control system as a whole, with installation and configuration at the rate of approximately 100 dollars per metering point, the minimum cost of the project can be 5. 5-5.7 billion dollars. Leading companies are beginning to understand the promise of this area and are trying to secure their share in the developing market in advance. Thus, AFK Sistema and Rusnano plan to become participants in the state program to equip Russian apartments with wireless “smart” meters - the Housing and Communal Sector Reform Assistance Fund sent a corresponding letter to the government of the Russian Federation. Perhaps the active participation of the state in the introduction of energy-saving technologies will finally force this process to become more efficient.

Ilya Markov - [email protected]

These days the topics " smart home” and “Internet of Things” are widely popular and discussed. However, in Russia, developers are still in no hurry to introduce automation technologies when building apartment buildings, although interest in automated apartments will be much higher than in ordinary ones. The article describes the concept of introducing smart home technologies into multi-apartment buildings.

Problems

A “smart home” has many advantages, the main one of which is comfort. Automation qualitatively improves the user’s life, and developers understand this. However, there are a number of problems here. Firstly, this is the high cost of the “smart home” complex, which greatly increases the cost of the apartment. Secondly, it is limited: most automation systems can only work with devices from their own manufacturer and do not support third-party devices. This concept creates difficulties when scaling the system, because there are no manufacturers who are strong in all areas of automation. Each one specializes in their own field. And the integrator is required not only to install the equipment in the “smart home”, but also to configure the interaction of this equipment.

The described problems stop developers from introducing smart home systems into apartment buildings.

Possible solution

One of possible options The solution to these problems proposed by iRidium mobile is the gradual introduction of smart home technologies. One of standard options in multi-apartment buildings there is intercom. A touch panel is installed in each apartment, with the help of which residents can see who has arrived, communicate with him and open the entrance door. This is where the current possibilities end. But nothing prevents the developer from introducing standard managed devices(lighting, curtains, climate, security) and turn the intercom panel into a control panel smart apartment, installing special software on it to control automation systems. If this software is supported by a large number of manufacturers of automation systems and smart devices, this will solve the problem of the limited ecosystem and make it scalable.

Even at the setup stage, the developer can “make friends” with the equipment in the apartment and add standard scenarios to attract the buyer. Further, when purchasing an apartment, the owner will be able to install additional “smart” devices in the apartment and supplement the project with drivers to control them.

Implementation concept

Work on the “Apartment building” object should be divided into two parts: the construction and configuration stage and the stage of handing over the object and the appearance of owners.

Construction and setup phase

At this stage the developer pays. Therefore, everything related to general house tasks (video surveillance, lighting, dispatching) is implemented. A stationary panel is installed in each apartment and a minimum set for controlling light and climate (controller, dimmers, thermostats).

Rice. 1. Example of a control interface for an apartment: authorization

To control the automation, iRidium mobile software with a template control interface for each apartment can be installed on the built-in panel (Fig. 1 and 2). Moreover, everything is done within the framework of one license. The developer creates two interfaces (one for dispatching, the other for control inside apartments). There may be more interfaces if, for example, you have one-, two-, three-room apartments, penthouses, etc. Having an IP router in each apartment, you can configure the management of each of them individually (the apartment management interface will indicate IP address, host of a specific router). This decision removes the limitations of the system. The iRidium mobile platform supports many devices various manufacturers, and the project can be modified for new devices at any time. This gives the developer freedom to choose equipment different manufacturers. All equipment will be controlled from a single interface, and scripts and macros can also be created for ease of working with the equipment.

Rice. 2. General plan of the apartment with the state of the system

Since dispatching and monitoring will require an iRidium server, it will need to be deployed on the operator’s PC or used one of the hardware platforms recommended by the company. In this case, the server will be needed for the entire building as a whole, and not for each apartment separately. The server’s functions include not only apartment management, but also general building functions, such as automatic collection of meter readings, transmission of results to management company, security monitoring, notification of residents in case of emergency, etc.

Stage of delivery of the object and appearance of owners

At the second stage, the owner may want to expand the functionality (add multi-zone audio, home cinema, control of motorized curtains, news and weather information, etc.). There will also be a need to control the apartment not only from the built-in panel, but also from the mobile devices of its residents. On top of everything else, user interface management can be done individually at the request of the client. One of the advantages is that you can scale the automation project at any time. Project modification occurs by updating the project on each panel via the iRidium cloud, which makes the modification process “invisible” for the owner. iRidium supports various equipment and allows you to create individual control interfaces.

The second stage will require additional licenses, for which the homeowner will pay. If the client wants to use their phone/tablet as a control panel, then a basic or extended license will do. With the basic version, the client will be able to use five control panels and change them as many times as he likes (for example, if he updated his iPhone to new model or lost/bought another, etc.). If you need more panels or new functions have been added, you will need to purchase the missing functionality.

Applications

Examples of equipment use:

• touch panels in apartments with iRidium and intercom functions;
• wired or wireless controller of any home automation system;
• a set of switches, sensors, thermostats and other control equipment compatible with the controller;
• IP intercom system in the house (for example, True IP, BAS IP, Mobotix, 2N, etc.);
• building climate system (controlled via Modbus or other supported protocol), resource consumption data collection devices (for example, Mercury) and security system (for example, Bolid) connected to the IP network.

As a result, we get the introduction of smart home technologies at the construction stage of the building. The system is scalable, and the owner can manage devices from his own mobile device. At the same time, the user is not limited by the ecosystem chosen by the developer and can buy any “smart” devices, the management of which will be integrated into a single management interface.

Each city building is connected to utility networks and equipped with five main channels: electricity, gas supply, water supply, heating and hot water supply, which are of particular importance from the point of view of energy saving. Using these same channels, it is easy to organize accounting of general household resource consumption. To do this, entrance nodes are formed in the corresponding premises of the buildings, into which meters are installed. These same meters are connected to controllers, the data from which is sent to a communication center, usually GSM, and then transmitted to the server where the accounting system is installed. According to this scheme, various automated systems for commercial metering of electricity (ASCAE) and heating are built.

The advantages of such systems include their maturity and accumulated experience in installation and operation. But these systems also have a number of disadvantages.
Typically, ASKUE is not always ready for integrated accounting of all resources, and it is obvious that creating 4-5 (essentially identical) systems will always be more difficult and costly than one universal one.
The second disadvantage is related to the high cost. If the cost of a resource metering unit for an entire apartment building of 200,000-300,000 rubles is still justified, then for each apartment it should be significantly lower.
The third negative factor is the short period of the verification interval, which can be agreed with in relation to communal meters, but not apartment meters.
Ideally, a simple and reliable meter should be integrated with long-term operation without verification and the ability to easily replace it if it fails.
Additional disadvantages of ASKUE are, among other things, the lack of a sufficient regulatory framework and standardized solutions with a unified protocol for the transfer or receipt of data to central accounting servers. The result of these shortcomings within even one microdistrict can be catastrophic. In addition, there is currently no specialized software(software), which would allow taking into account all resources, analyzing this data and generating forecasts and warnings on the scale of a house, block, neighborhood, district and city.
This software should solve various problems, such as, for example, during peak hours of electricity consumption - to recommend measures to save it, in the event of an accident - to help solve the problem of quickly restoring the system and preserving heat in the housing stock. The software or its individual packages, which have a common database, should allow users, residents of all apartments and houses, to access their personal resource accounting pages, for example, through a regular browser, and analyze their own consumption, down to daily consumption. And, what is objectively in demand today, based on this data, residents would like to receive unified bills for consumed resources. And again, the unresolved question today is who exactly will form them.
The last and perhaps most important, but not yet so obvious, disadvantage is that such systems do not offer a unified concept for building apartment accounting systems, their integration and subsequent development towards automation of the entire building.

All of the listed shortcomings make it possible to create a table of requirements for automated resource accounting systems (ARMS) at both the general building and apartment level.

The table presents the average requirements that apply to systems installed in urban apartment buildings. The cost of installing and connecting one sensor-meter with a comprehensive solution should be 200-300 rubles, and annual maintenance should not exceed 50-100 rubles. per year per meter.

Developing common approaches is a state task

The federal program for increasing energy efficiency and similar regional programs, taking into account the scale of specific cities and local weather conditions, would allow each city to develop its own options for building an automated control system based on a unified approach. Unfortunately, such an approach does not exist yet.

Apparently, the current situation suits all parties involved in the resource supply process. However, difficult times are coming for ordinary citizens, homeowners' associations and other consumers: there are government orders on the introduction of energy-saving technologies, but there are no clear recommendations on how to do this comprehensively and effectively. At this time, the market is dominated by disparate solutions, which are not possible to evaluate in the absence of transparent quality criteria.

Unfortunately, realizing the need to modernize production and housing and communal services from the point of view of resource consumption, the state has not fully come to understand that this requires rules, technical regulations, GOSTs, the development costs of which Russia lags behind Germany by 100 times.

The article was prepared based on materials from the CNews source: IQHouse - Smart Home.

In order to create software that will optimize the operation of housing and communal services, all programming languages ​​are used. All software is divided into two groups: software products and provision for local use. In the case of software for local use, housing and communal services issues are resolved at the enterprise where the specialists who created it work. The second group is not intended for sale. Many systems are based on a set of tools that speed up the creation process, as well as the ability to maintain the system at the site of operation. In this case, the presence of a programmer is not required. Perhaps the most popular is the 1C platform.

Today, automation of the management of an apartment building is of great importance. For automation, you can implement a system 1C:VDGB: Accounting in management companies of housing and communal services, homeowners' associations and housing cooperatives 8. It is intended for use in municipal housing cooperatives, housing cooperatives, homeowners' associations, as well as managers and other organizations that conduct calculations for various utilities, as well as passport registration. This system is an effective tool that helps make management decisions with the help of universal and specialized reports that ensure transparency of the entire accounting process, as well as reduced labor intensity due to the automation of basic operations. The program can be used both for a small partnership of owners and for a fairly large management company.

Any modern organization will sooner or later need to get its documents in order. Otherwise, problems begin after a while. For example, at the right time the necessary documents may simply not be found. Document files can be hosted on the server. This will make them easier to find. In addition, it can be used e-mail if it is necessary to transfer any document. In this case, it is necessary to introduce electronic document management.

On at the moment there are a number of times electronic document management systems. You just need to choose the one that suits each specific case. First of all, an important point is the economic efficiency of electronic document management. If the system is selected correctly, costs are reduced. Of course, we cannot do without certain kinds of problems. When implementing electronic document management, there is usually no desire to learn from employees and managers. Some managers are simply afraid to work with a computer.

Perhaps one of the main issues that arise, including in HOAs, is debt for utilities. In this case, it is necessary for HOA employees to work with debtors, systematically and systematically. The productivity of work in this case can be increased thanks to the developed software. A program usually consists of several applications that perform different functions. To facilitate the work of HOA employees with debtors, a sufficient set of tools is provided in the application.

Accounting in the HOA

There are a number of characteristic features of accounting in HOAs. First of all, this includes numerous personal accounts, since a fairly large amount of information needs to be controlled for one apartment. This includes technical specifications apartment, its address, information about its owners, also a list of services that are provided, benefits and much more. Further, we note that the HOA is an intermediary between the utility service provider and the residents. This indicates careful attention to what amount was collected from residents and the amount that was transferred to the account of the service provider. In fact, there are more such points and one person monitors it all. An accountant working in a large house was required to perform a large amount of work. All this resulted in automation of accounting.

As for automation, today the following areas can be distinguished:

• Software for accounting, as well as for calculating housing payments;
• programs intended only for paying for housing;
• programs for solving a narrow range of issues.

In relation to the first two areas, it should be noted that such software makes it possible to carry out accounting and billing of utility services. This greatly facilitates the accountant’s work, and the likelihood of errors is minimized. Software developers offer the same set of features.

Thanks to the use of new software, which increases the efficiency of the HOA, time costs are reduced, as well as the costs of various resources. This will have a positive impact on the formation of trusting relationships between control authorities and service consumers.

• Ways to solve problems of introducing information technologies in housing and communal services