FHI Tech Stories: Sauter focuses on security and open standards in building automation

With years of experience, Sauter Building Control Nederland is an established name in the world of building automation. The company is committed to bringing technology with an open character to the market. That has been challenging, because many competitors have stuck to more closed systems for a long time, says Eric Kortz, manager Smart Components & Solutions at Sauter.

“Sauter is a family business that is over a hundred years old and a traditional building automation company,” Kortz explains. “We have always remained true to our field. Sauter therefore still does everything within the construction column of building automation. Furthermore, we produce around 90 percent of our products ourselves. This mainly involves techniques for controlling water and air and smart automation.”

An important driver for Sauter is opening up building automation solutions and platforms. And that did not happen automatically, says Kortz: “As Sauter, we were one of the first in this industry to make the transition from a relatively closed world to a more open product and service offering. Think of applying open protocols and ensuring interoperability, so that you can also successfully integrate with other disciplines and systems. This transition was a long-term process.”

Cybersecurity

Moreover, it does not stop at the application of open protocols: “The cyber security component has now also been added. Think, for example, of network security and data encryption to keep data safe and to be able to communicate safely and reliably. To some extent, we at Sauter have increasingly become an IT company. In addition, we are now also working on further certification of safe products.”

“We are initially focusing on large utility. That includes large office buildings for governments, banks and insurers, but certainly also on. Of course, our products can also be applied well to smaller projects. Here too, you see that there is more awareness of cyber security emerging.”

Although the market has already embraced the transition to open protocols, there is still work to be done, says Kortz: “The open protocols in our field lagged behind developments in IoT, such as the MQTT protocol. We are now seeing more secure protocols emerge, such as a secure version of BACnet (BACnet Secure Connect). This process towards more secure open protocols will take a number of years to become commonplace. For example, it is quite a challenge to get a secure device to talk to an older, insecure device.”

State of affairs

When Kortz looks at the market, he sees a number of developments: “There is currently some uncertainty in the market, because many projects are being postponed. Some parties have a lot of work, but there are also many parties that have a limited backlog. Furthermore, we see that predictive, cloud-based systems are now gradually being accepted. There was still a lot of fear for a long time, but demand is growing, partly due to the high energy prices. I also see opportunities in improved AI models.”

Sauter will be present at the renovated event at the end of this year Building of the Future Conference, says the manager of Sauter Nederland: “Sauter participates in various FHI events, such as the upcoming Building of the Future. You try not only to have relational contact moments with customers, but also to provide added value for the customer. Time is and remains scarce and that is sometimes quite a puzzle.”

Sauter is participating as an exhibitor in the conference Digital Building of the Future on Wednesday 15 November in the AFAS Theater in Leusden. Would you like to participate in this conference? Register now as an exhibitor!