Testimonial on the launch of 'emon', an application for the monitoring of energy and other parameters associated with buildings. It operates as one of the first Internet of Things cloud applications in Luxembourg.

1. Ettelbruck based company RMS.lu runs Internet
of Things application for energy monitoring
RMS.lu has launched emon, an application for the mon-
itoring of energy and other parameters associated with
buildings. emon operates as one of the first Internet of
Things cloud applications in Luxembourg. The whole
monitoring system can be installed without demolition
work nor rebuilding. It is non-invasive thanks to sensors
that transmit their data wirelessly.
Everyone with a browser can consult the aggregated
data in emon. It gathers data from Internet of Things
devices such as energy consumption tongs, energy
monitoring plugs, temperature, humidity, light and air
quality sensors, smoke and flood detectors.
A typical customer for emon would be energy consult-
ants who have to hand out energy certificates as re-
quired by Luxembourg's regulations. They can now
base their findings on real measurements instead of
extrapolations and estimations from a standard check-
list. Other customers would be municipal administra-
tions, energy companies and facility management com-
panies.
Country: Luxembourg
Sector: Wholesale
Profile
RMS.lu, founded in 1992, is a company specialized
in the development, installation and support of
automatic identification and mobility solutions for
utilities, industry and commerce. They are experts
in the development of "tailored" end products
defined by the client's needs. They specialize in
integrating applications interfacing with for exam-
ple mobile devices, tablets, to barcode readers.
Challenge
RMS.lu wanted to develop a real-time energy mon-
itoring application that could also measure plenty
of other parameters associated with buildings. The
system needed to be ready for installation without
Microsoft Azure

2. any demolition work nor rebuilding. Anyone with a
browser should also be able to access the applica-
tion to read and analyse the data from anywhere in
the world.
Solution
Thanks to Internet of Things sensors all monitoring
data are transmitted wirelessly to the monitoring
application emon that runs on the Microsoft Azure
cloud. Everyone with a browser and the appropri-
ate password can consult the aggregated data.
Advantages
Û Cost savings
Û Energy saving
Û Real-time reliable data
Û Historical analysis
Û Augmented quality of life
Û Secure application
Software&Services
Microsoft Azure
.NET Framework
Microsoft Visual Studio
Internet of Things applications are a future promise for
trendy start-ups from California, could be what people
think about this somewhat hyped subject. However, it's
not correct, because RMS.lu from the small Luxembourg
city of Ettelbruck, has just launched emon, an Internet of
Things application for the monitoring of energy and plen-
ty of other parameters associated with buildings.
Software engineers Olivier Wagener and Pierre Lotin from
RMS.lu have developed emon in just three months. With
the practical assistance of a local Microsoft software engi-
neer, they have then ported the application to the
Microsoft Azure cloud. emon now operates as one of the
first Internet of Things cloud applications in Luxembourg.
Be your own guinea pig
Olivier Wagener: "We have used our own offices as the
test site for our application. We monitor our overall ener-
gy consumption, plus the energy consumption of every
piece of IT equipment. Our system is also connected to
the valves of our central heating, it measures the internal
carbon dioxide levels and the illumination of the desk en-
vironment. We can let in fresh air when necessary, turn
down the heating automatically, switch the lights on be-
fore working becomes uncomfortable and save on energy
costs."
Energy savings come in small portions at RMS.lu. Pierre
Lotin: "Some people switch off their PC’s every night, oth-
ers do not or only during weekends. For a small company
such as ours, this translates into a couple of hundred eu-
ros of unnecessary energy consumption. Big organizations
can save thousands of euros just by asking everybody to
switch off their computers every day. With our monitoring
system, they can also check whether that is really happen-
ing."
The RMS.lu team is especially proud that their whole mon-
itoring system can be installed without demolition work
nor rebuilding. Pierre Lotin: "It is totally non-invasive
thanks to a new generation of Internet of Things sensors
using technologies such as EnOcean and SIGFOX." All sen-
sors transmit their data wirelessly. Those data are collect-
ed and then transmitted by a 3G-dongle straight to the
emon cloud application. There, everyone with a
browser and the appropriate password can consult the
aggregated data.

3. Efficient energy saving
A typical customer for emon would be energy con-
sultants who have to hand out “Passeports éner-
gétiques”, which are energy certificates for newly
constructed buildings, as required by Luxembourg's
environmental regulations. The energy consultants
can now base their findings on real measurements
instead of extrapolations and estimations from a
standard checklist. Carlo Posing, general manager
of RMS.lu: "We've struck a deal with 1nergie, the
best known energy consultant in the country. In a
couple of weeks they will start using our application
after several tests have proven to be successful and
very promising."
Other future customers would be municipal admin-
istrations, energy companies and facility manage-
ment companies. A typical installation would moni-
tor a building for a week, after which all data in
emon can be processed and assessed. emon
gathers data from Internet of Things devices such as
energy consumption tongs, energy monitoring
plugs, temperature, humidity, light and air quality
sensors, smoke and flood detectors. Olivier
Wagener: "If there's a wireless sensor for it, we can
integrate it and do something with the data. Auto-
matically calling the fire brigade in case of an emer-
gency is definitely a possibility."
Real time data and historical analysis
Carlo Posing also aims for facility management
companies: "They have to monitor hundreds of
buildings and have no choice but to intervene after
the facts. Our emon cloud software allows for re-
mote monitoring, a better life quality for the people
inside the building and a very targeted lowering of
energy consumption without any loss of comfort."
emon shows all sensors, even with their status in
real-time, plus all historical data that can be filtered
and arranged in any way you want. An export func-
tion to Microsoft Excel is provided for further analy-
sis. Customers can use emon for a monthly fee
based on the number of sensors connected to the
application.
Security first with Azure
Olivier Wagener and Pierre Lotin have written the
software using the .NET Framework 4.5 and
Microsoft Visual Studio 2013. Olivier Wagener: "I
master several programming languages with their
regarding environments and I love all of them. Re-
gardless, working with .NET is very efficient because
a lot of elements are preconfigured and supportive
for an optimal workflow."
Olivier Wagener: “With Azure, we can concentrate on development and do not have to worry about infra-
structure, replications or availability.”

4. "We have been surprised how easy it was to bring the ap-
plication to the Azure cloud", concludes Pierre Lotin.
"Adding additional security, such as geo-replication, is just
a matter of checking boxes. Azure feels and behaves like a
native part of the .NET universe. This means that under-
standing and using Azure hasn’t been a problem for us
and became one of our standard tools."
For more information
For more information about the Microsoft products
and services described, please call +352 204 100 10
or visit to www.microsoft.lu/cases. There you will
find other companies that use similar applications.
For more information about RMS.lu, visit
www.rms.lu
"If there's a wireless sensor for it, we can
integrate it and do something with the da-
ta. Automatically calling the fire brigade is
definitely a possibility."
Pierre Lotin