Newsletter subscription
For the design and implementation of its multisite smart building system, the town of Angers called upon the project owner support (POS) company ALTEREA (44), in charge of writing up the specifications sheets (one for supervision, then another for automation equipment), support contractor selection, following up the works, and support upon reception.
The functional needs related with supervision were defined clearly:
- View the malfunctions and early detection of any drift
- Provide clear and sufficient vision to the different users
- Allow fine adjustments (regulation parameters, …)
- Maintenance support: remote interaction with the equipment
- Time scheduling
- Consolidate data generated by the technical installations (metering, operating time,…) to produce automated energy control panels
Choosing a flexible supervision solution
In addition to its ability to meet all these needs, Topkapi's independence with respect to regulator vendors, native processing of many communication protocols (Bacnet IP, Modbus IP, WIT's TRSII) and AREAL's ability to ensure prompt evolution of the time scheduling functions to meet demand, were crucial factors in the choice made by the town of Angers.
It is within the framework of this project that a new development, now offered in standard in Topkapi software platform, was produced to manage multisite and multivendor models of occupation calendars.
After a demonstrator (development of generic objects and supervision of 6 typical sites) was produced by SN Apilog Automation, Buildings Management got organized around 3 technicians (1 developer and 2 contract managers) for gradual deployment of supervision over a maximum number of sites, more than thirty today (school complexes, auditoriums, gymnasiums, offices...). This team handles relations with operators (theatre managers, gymnasium managers, …) who have access to supervision for programming occupation timetables and heating engineers who ensure first diagnostic and first level maintenance.
"The fact our teams have full control over the supervision solution is a key factor in the success of such a project" explains Mathilde ROUSSERIE Energy unit supervisor.
The supervision/equipment communication architecture leverages the town's intranet based on an optical fibre network. In total, TOPKAPI processes close to 7,000 variables and interfaces with about fifty controllers by Wit, ACS Domino, SAIA or Trend (equipment validated in the second bid for tender) distributed over 33 buildings. For daily operation, TSE clients (Terminal Server Edition) are made available to the different users, providing full access to all functions of the supervision application, through appropriate access rights.
After 2 years full operation, savings on the energy bill range from 15% to 20%. With a total annual bill of 5.9 M€ which tends to increase with the cost of energy, "in 2012, the energy control committee has decided to continue the deployment, as the investment is profitable" commented Mathilde ROUSSERIE. She says that "the return on investment (ROI) time for a site is about 6 years". But the other benefits of smart buildings should not be overlooked, i.e. better user comfort and effective and optimized maintenance, aspects which were not quantified in the financial analysis.
* Heating Ventilation Air conditioning