Self-Powered Locks for a Future of Sustainable Electronic Security

Sustainability continues to be a factor of growing importance in today’s security industry. In Finland, the Abloy Pulse ecosystem now delivers highly encrypted, electronic access control via self-powered cylinders, padlocks and electronic keys — with no need for batteries or any external power supply.

In a recent survey for Assa Abloy’s ‘Wireless Access Control Report’ around three-quarters of industry leaders reported sustainability as a growing influence on procurement decisions. Almost half of all survey respondents pointed to Greentech innovation like energy harvesting as a potential future solution.

With Pulse key-based access control, Abloy is already working towards this sustainable future.

‘While the self-powered mechanism doesn’t generate much power,’ notes the report, ‘electronic door readers and wireless locks don’t actually need much power. They are inactive, and can power down, for long periods. Their only task — reading card credentials and releasing the lock — is completed in less than a second and at the expense of minimal energy.’

Modern security - reliable and sustainable
Pulse locking is a very simple process: A user inserts their Pulse key and the power generated by inserting and turning powers the lock’s encrypted electronic access control features. If the key is authorised, the lock opens.

Cloud-based access control software ensures that administrators can program their Pulse keys with the right access permissions. Users carry only one Pulse key programmed with their cleared permissions, no matter how many doors they need to open.

‘With Pulse, sustainability, security and user-friendly operation work side-by-side,’ says Kimmo Hirvonen, Abloy Pulse Product Manager at Abloy Oy. ‘Pulse does everything you need from a 21st-century electronic access control system. And does it sustainably.’

Easy to install
Because its locks require no major adjustments to doors, Pulse is very easy to install.
An installer simply switches the existing cylinder for a Pulse cylinder. Using no wires and no batteries, the solution is cost-efficient as well as sustainable.

Pulse is adapted to any multi-resident housing block. A single installation can include a wired reader to secure communal doors, key-operated locks for apartment doors, and padlocks for storage rooms. Residents carry a single, programmable key to open every lock they need.

For block security managers, it is easy to investigate incidents because cloud-based software logs events and can generate audit trails for all locks or keys. The keys and cylinders are reusable and reprogrammable, which means managing resident turnover is simple as well.
Pulse products are durable and weather-resistant, minimizing the need for maintenance.

'At Abloy we have been creating the future of access control for over a century. Energy harvesting technology is the latest chapter.’