iOpt is monitoring 2,400 social homes on behalf of Renfrewshire Council over the next four years for temperature, humidity and carbon-dioxide levels.
The council and iOpt have already achieved a positive RoI in terms of repairs and maintenance costs, but the project’s aim is to demonstrate a much wider RoI across the whole of the portfolio management side of the council’s operations.
The first step is to install sensors in each of the 2,400 properties. The sensors’ data is then transferred to the cloud and generates alerts and reports for the remote monitoring of the council’s properties’ environmental conditions, with an emphasis on pre-emptive actions.
In line with the global drive towards ‘net zero’ emissions, the iOpt service also monitors energy consumption so that the council can track the effect of its energy efficiency measures.
The iOpt infrastructure and devices use LoRaWAN-based gateways from Multi-Tech Systems for its underlying network architecture, enabling communications between the sensors and the central server.
Dane Ralston, managing director, iOpt, said, “We have tried many gateways, but ultimately we chose Multi-Tech because it was compatible with LoRaWAN, had the widest range of sensor compatibility and overall is just the most reliable for what we’ve done to date.”
The project was initially delayed due to the various lockdowns but is now in full deployment, with sensors fitted into selected empty properties being prepared for new tenants.
Ralston said, “The RoI goes well beyond direct cost-savings. Having real-time, accurate visibility of asset conditions means Renfrewshire Council is in control, resulting in predictive and proactive maintenance interventions; in our experience, proactive actions are usually five times cheaper than reactive ones.”
