Marlborough College gets smart with new Internet-compatible building-management system
Marlborough College has replaced a series of stand-alone building controllers with an Internet-compatible remote-access BMS to integrate around 40 separate buildings. The new Priva system enables this independent boarding school to save huge numbers of man hours.
‘Initially, Marlborough College investigated the possibility of integrating its existing stand-alone controllers into a network for use by a BMS,’ explains Derrick Lailey, project engineer for Priva partner PA Collacott & Co. ‘However, this idea was deemed uneconomic as the controllers were not Internet compatible.’
The existing system did not have any central reporting features, and the functionality, flexibility and modularity of the Priva technology led the college to make the step to a fully integrated BMS.
Derrick Lailey says, ‘The college liked the fact that with Priva there are no protocol or modem compatibility issues. We explained that the system would create a central head-end computer, located in the IT service racks, whereby important performance data could be accessed over the Web at three PC points — one in the central boiler house and the other two in the estates office. Additionally, the head mechanical engineer/boiler-house manager would have a laptop that would allow him to connect remotely to the system and take control of the BMS from anywhere in the world.’
Before the installation of the new system, a simple change to heating times would require an engineer to walk around all the buildings to change the settings. Now it can be done in a few seconds from a central point.
The project involved removing the stand-alone controllers and I/O boards and replacing them with Priva system components. Existing cables and sensors/field devices were assessed and reused if possible.
Internet-compatible HX6E and HX8E controllers form the basis of the system and are connected to an Ethernet network. Where an Ethernet connection was not required, more cost-effective units such as HX3 or HX4 models were installed.
In the swimming-pool building, for example, the changing room was fitted with an HX4 controller that could communicate via an RS485 bus to the HX8E controller in the adjacent swimming-pool hall.
Once the hardware had been installed, the software was commissioned so the system could go live. PA Collacott is also providing ongoing training for the college’s maintenance engineers to ensure that they remain comfortable and familiar with the new system.
One of the benefits of the new system is much better sequencing of the three boilers. The detailed reporting capabilities of the new system make it easy to pinpoint any areas requiring investigation; previously, it was like finding a needle in haystack.
At present, the Priva BMS oversees all the college’s heating, hot-water and air-system requirements. The system notifies the estate-management team when heating oil needs to be re-ordered.
A new building with ground-source heat pumps and solar panels is monitored and controlled by the system. Only a small amount of metering is carried out at present, but this will expand in the future.
One employee of the college is looking forward to another addition to the system’s capabilities. That is the person who currently starts the steam plants for the kitchen at 5.30 a.m. every day.
