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March 27, 2015 — Trane, a leading global provider of indoor comfort solutions and services and a brand of Ingersoll Rand, now offers Air-Fi wireless technology for building controls. Air-Fi wireless replaces the need for wired building controls, allowing installations to be completed quickly with less disruption to occupants in existing buildings, while also providing greater reliability, simplified installation, and more flexibility as building spaces change.
Many building owners face challenges connected to maintenance and repair with traditional wired building controls systems, which fail when wires are cut, disconnected, or damaged. Air-Fi can help optimize any building’s performance with less risk, thanks to self-repairing mesh technology that features redundant signal paths to help prevent communication failures. Trane offers a typical 200-foot indoor signal range, with up to four times the number of paths, extending up to half-mile when unobstructed for even greater levels of signal reliability.
With a battery life that is three times what other system providers offer, the lifetime battery eliminates the need to replace batteries over the life of the system in most installations and saves time and money.
“Trane Air-Fi is a reliable, flexible solution that frees building owners from the hassles associated with traditional wired systems for building controls. Air-Fi offers easy problem solving, efficient performance, and cost savings over the life of the equipment,” said Dave Molin, vice president of control products for Trane North America. “Trane understands that building owners want a system that works as expected from day one and continues to provide reliable performance for years down the road.”
Air-Fi is a ZigBee Certified Building Automation solution, and the system is built on a platform that supports BACnet open standards. This allows customers to integrate devices in the future when the building expands or changes. Wireless sensors are easy to move or replace, as needed, to resolve issues related to sensing accuracy, aesthetics, or reconfigured spaces.
Trane Air-Fi wireless also conforms to the IEEE 802.15.4 standard, so customers get a wireless BAS communication system that reliably coexists with other wireless systems, including Bluetooth and Wi-Fi — without interference. There’s no security risk with Air-Fi, which uses a separate, secure network from those used by a building’s IT system. Air-Fi secures building automation networks by the use of AES-128 encryption, keys, and device authentication.
The Trane Air-Fi interface is available factory-installed and addressed to expedite installation and reduce labor and upfront costs. It also ensures higher installation quality that results in better building performance for customers because the work is done in a controlled environment, making it more repeatable and consistent.
For more information, visit www.trane.com/AirFi.
