Does my building need IoT if it already has a BMS?

The BMS controls. IoT monitors. They serve different functions. The BMS runs the chiller setpoints and air handler schedules —it does not tell you that Meeting Room 14B is occupied by 8 people producing 800W of metabolic heat while the VAV is set to "unoccupied." IoT adds the occupancy, air quality, and per-zone energy data that makes the BMS smarter. The BMS is not replaced —it is fed better data.

NB-IoT or LoRaWAN for basement water meters in a smart building?

NB-IoT. A LoRaWAN gateway 15 floors up cannot reliably reach a meter behind 3 floors of reinforced concrete. NB-IoT at 164 dB MCL penetrates. One SIM per meter at EUR 0.10-0.50/month — no gateway, no wiring. The alternative (running BACnet cable) costs EUR 500-2,000 per meter in labor.

Edificios Inteligentes: LoRaWAN y NB-IoT

June 4, 2026 · 6 min read · Case Studies

30 plantas, 3 dominios. IoT monitoriza, BMS controla.

Un edificio inteligente no tiene una sola red. Tiene tres: la columna vertebral BMS (BACnet/IP sobre cableado estructurado —controla enfriadoras, manejadoras de aire y paneles contra incendios), la capa IoT de planta (sensores LoRaWAN para ocupacion, CO2, temperatura —alimentados por bateria, sin cableado) y la capa de penetracion celular (NB-IoT para medidores de agua en subsotanos).

El Modelo de Conectividad de Tres Capas

Columna BMS: BACnet/IP, Modbus TCP —enfriadoras, AHUs, VAVs, paneles contra incendios —alimentado por red —sin costo IoT. IoT de planta: LoRaWAN —ocupacion, CO2, temperatura —bateria 5-10 anos —sin licencia. Penetracion celular: NB-IoT/LTE-M —medidores de agua/gas en subsotano, HVAC en azotea —bateria 5-15 anos —EUR 0.10-0.50/SIM/mes.

References

MDPI Energies — Systematic Review of BEMS: Sensors, IoT, and AI Integration (Dec 2025)
Electronics360 — LPWAN and its role in smart buildings (Apr 2025)