Unlocking the Potential of the Asset Administration Shell (AAS) for Existing Building and Infrastructure Systems

How vAAS Bridges Legacy Products to Smart Building Systems for Autonomous Operation

Integrating the Asset Administration Shell (AAS) into building and infrastructure systems opens new possibilities for managing and optimizing sensors and actuators in building technology. By combining AAS with smart building platforms, organizations can make data-driven decisions to improve sustainability, operations and performance by optimizing areas such as energy use, tenant comfort and safety, maintenance and security.

The?virtual Asset Administration Shell (vAAS)?serves as a significant link between legacy building systems and modern?smart building platforms, particularly those that emphasize?autonomous operation. By introducing a standardized digital representation for assets, vAAS enables older devices and systems, often reliant on proprietary or protocol-specific integrations, to become?interoperable, intelligent, and automation-ready.

Challenges Without AAS

Without the use of AAS, organizations encounter several obstacles that hinder efficiency and innovation. The absence of standardized methods for exchanging information between different systems and applications leads to interoperability issues, making communication between devices challenging and processes inefficient.

Additionally, without a unified digital representation of assets, transparency is significantly reduced, limiting visibility into the status and performance of products and systems. This lack of clarity complicates monitoring and maintenance efforts.

The difficulty in diagnosing and resolving technical issues without AAS results in higher maintenance costs and extended downtime, as troubleshooting becomes less efficient. Furthermore, integrating new technologies and systems into existing infrastructures is a complex and time-consuming process when standardized interfaces are missing. The potential of automation and AI remains largely untapped in such environments since AAS provides the necessary data structure to support intelligent automation and data-driven decision-making.

Without this foundation, organizations struggle to implement advanced solutions that could otherwise enhance operational efficiency and drive innovation.

Solution with vAAS for Legacy Edge-Device

To address these challenges, the virtual AAS (vAAS) on an edge device has been designed, combining the benefits of AAS with edge computing capabilities. This approach ensures a structured and scalable solution for modernizing legacy systems while enhancing interoperability, efficiency, and security.

By integrating AAS as an abstraction layer, all connected devices are standardized in a vendor-neutral way. This allows for a unified view of all asset data, independent of the underlying protocol or manufacturer, making data exchange seamless across different systems.

The vAAS-Edge-Device supports multiple communication protocols, including BACnet/IP, KNX, Modbus, LoRaWAN, and MQTT. This broad compatibility simplifies the integration of devices from various domains without requiring modifications at the application level.

With built-in edge computing capabilities, the system processes data locally, enabling real-time analytics, automation, and optimization. By reducing the volume of data sent to cloud-based platforms, this approach improves responsiveness and lowers dependency on external infrastructure.

Designed with modularity in mind, the vAAS-Edge-Device allows for the seamless addition of new protocols or functionalities through hardware or software upgrades. This flexibility ensures that evolving requirements can be met without disrupting existing operations.

Security and compliance are integral to the vAAS architecture. Advanced security measures such as TLS encryption and device authentication safeguard communication and data integrity. Additionally, the device aligns with regulatory requirements, making it suitable for secure and compliant smart building environments.

To simplify interactions with legacy systems, the vAAS abstracts protocol-specific complexities by representing each connected device as a digital twin within the AAS structure (IEC 63278). The edge device hosting the vAAS translates and normalizes incoming data from legacy products into a standardized, machine-readable format such as OPC UA, JSON-LD, or MQTT. As a result, smart building platforms can seamlessly integrate with these systems without the need for extensive custom adaptations or direct protocol conversions.

Example: A legacy?HVAC controller using BACnet?can be represented as a vAAS model, allowing a cloud-based?AI-driven energy optimization system?to access and adjust its operational parameters in real-time.

Enabling Autonomous Decision-Making with AAS Intelligence

Problem: Legacy devices typically?lack built-in intelligence?and require?manual adjustments?or human intervention for maintenance, optimization, and fault detection.

Solution with vAAS: Autonomous?anomaly detection and predictive maintenance?can be implemented through?pattern recognition on device-level time-series data. The vAAS?enables event-driven automation, for example, detecting an?HVAC inefficiency?and automatically adjusting settings based on AI recommendations.

Example: A?legacy lighting system using DALI?can be?self-optimized?by a smart building management system. The vAAS monitors real-time occupancy data and autonomously?adjusts brightness and energy consumption?based on historical usage patterns.

Digital Product Pass (DPP) & Lifecycle Management

Problem: Legacy assets lack a structured way to store and share technical product information,?historical performance data, documentation, and compliance records, making?regulatory compliance, maintenance, and sustainability tracking?inefficient.

Solution with vAAS: The?Digital Product Pass (DPP)?concept can be?integrated into the vAAS, ensuring that each asset maintains a?traceable history?of operational data, maintenance logs, and sustainability metrics (e.g., carbon footprint, energy efficiency). Regulatory compliance?and?warranty tracking?become streamlined, as data can be securely accessed and updated over the entire asset lifecycle.

Example: A legacy?HVAC controller using BACnet?can be represented as a vAAS model, allowing a cloud-based?AI-driven energy optimization system?to access and adjust its operational parameters in real-time.

Cloud and Digital Twin Integration

Problem: Legacy devices typically operate in?isolated silos, preventing seamless integration into?cloud-based smart building ecosystems?that require?digital twins for advanced analytics and optimization.

Solution with vAAS: The vAAS?acts as a local digital twin?for each legacy device,?synchronizing its real-time status and metadata with cloud-based digital twin platforms. This allows?cross-building analytics?and?multi-system automation, where AI algorithms in the cloud can?compare data from multiple buildings?to identify energy-saving or operational improvements.

Example: A?legacy elevator system?connected via Modbus can be?digitally twinned in a cloud-based building management system?through its vAAS representation, enabling predictive maintenance insights?based on multi-site failure analysis.

Secure and Scalable Future-Proofing

Problem: Legacy systems often have?weak security measures?and are?difficult to update, making them vulnerable to cyber threats and?unsuitable for modern, AI-driven autonomous operations.

Solution with vAAS: The?vAAS architecture includes security mechanisms?such as?TLS encryption, authentication certificates, and access control policies, ensuring that legacy devices?comply with modern cybersecurity requirements. Future protocol updates or?software-defined automation?can be implemented?remotely?through?containerized vAAS applications, eliminating the need for costly on-site hardware replacements.

Example: A?legacy fire alarm system?with?outdated security?can be integrated via vAAS, ensuring?secure remote monitoring and AI-driven risk assessments?while extending its useful lifespan.

Advantages Over Existing Solutions

Compared to current solutions such as intelligent edge gateways and IoT management platforms, the vAAS-Edge-Device stands out with its comprehensive standardization. While many existing solutions depend on manufacturer-specific data models, AAS ensures a fully standardized data representation that enhances interoperability across different systems.

Another key advantage lies in its extended functionality. By incorporating submodels for various data categories, including operational data and maintenance information, AAS provides a more detailed and structured approach to asset data, increasing usability across multiple applications.

In addition to standardization and functionality, the vAAS-Edge-Device is outstanding in flexibility and scalability. Its modular architecture enables seamless expansion and adaptation to new requirements, ensuring that infrastructure updates or additional functionalities can be integrated without causing disruptions to existing systems.

Practical Implementation

The adoption of standardized digital twin approaches, such as those enabled by AAS (IEC 63278), is already demonstrating significant benefits in industrial and infrastructure applications. Companies implementing IoT-driven solutions in industrial environments have improved process efficiency and gained better insights into their assets. These implementations illustrate how standardization through AAS can facilitate integration, data accessibility, and future-ready system architectures. Next step is the adoption of these advantages to the building sector, to make airports, hospitals, and smart office buildings more efficient and reliable in operations.

Conclusion -> vAAS as a Key Enabler for Autonomous Smart Buildings

The virtual Asset Administration Shell (vAAS) serves as a?bridge between legacy infrastructure and autonomous smart building systems. By?standardizing data, enabling AI-driven automation, integrating with digital twins, and improving security, vAAS allows existing assets to seamlessly operate within modern?self-optimizing and data-driven environments.

This approach positions organizations to?extend the life of existing infrastructure?while embracing?autonomous and intelligent building operations, reducing costs, and preparing for?next-generation smart building ecosystems.

Christian G. Frey

#AAS #IDTA #submodel #smartbuilding #autonomousbuilding