In this paper, we consider sensor database systems. Sensors are attached to objects and queries on the objects are operated at the sensor network level. Although queries to such a system might be extremely complex, ensuring efficiently basic functionalities such as broadcast or anycast without any central element is not trivial. In this paper, we provide a suite of *-cast (anycast, $k$-cast, broadcast) functionalities in a fully decentralized manner. More specifically, we present the design and evaluation of \textsc{Solist}, a multi-layer structure for sensors, largely inspired from structured peer-to-peer systems providing such functionalities. The main goal of \textsc{Solist} is to limit the overall energy consumption. A type is associated to each sensor, and the \mbox{*-cast} functionalities are implemented at a type granularity regardless of the number of types and their distribution within the network. A typical use of such a system is sensor-based stock management. We evaluate \textsc{Solist} through simulations and show that \textsc{Solist} achieves a reasonable trade-off between performance and energy consumption.