Johnson Controls and Cisco integrate building and enterprise management in HQ building
Cisco is a global leader in IT and has its European headquarters located at Bedfont Lakes, near Heathrow Airport in the UK. The 12 000 m2 building is part of Cisco’s Smart+Connected Communities (S+CC), a global initiative using the network as the platform to enable economic, social and environmental sustainability and transform cities and countries into connected communities.
An alliance between Johnson Controls and Cisco is a global collaboration focused on providing converged and integrated network systems (building, business and specialty) and services to building owners, operators and tenants. These converged network systems and services increase energy efficiency, improve safety and operational performance, maximise property portfolio value and enable the seamless incorporation of future technologies.
By integrating different systems, this team has delivered a single user interface with which the building operator can view, monitor and control both building services systems and information technologies.The BMS portion of the project was based on Johnson Controls’ Metasys platform and includes the network control engine and network integration engine.
At Cisco’s UK premises, the solution incorporates energy monitoring and scheduling integration. as well as digital signage for the office, demonstration and lab facilities to notify and inform building occupants. It also provides IP phone control for 29 conference rooms.
Metasys integrates with Cisco’s service delivery platform (SDP) and provides all building services data from a range of disparate systems such as the HVAC plant, lighting controls, energy metering, fire monitoring and remaining elements of the legacy BMS, to provide control through to Cisco’s SDP. Cisco uses this dynamic solution to interact with its business systems such as email, calendar, energy analytics and carbon reporting.
When the building is unoccupied during nights and weekends, the BMS uses the unoccupied temperature set point for the entire building. However, during occupied hours, the set point for the conference room is established by the SDP, which informs the BMS of upcoming meetings scheduled in the room. If a meeting is scheduled the, BMS uses the occupied set point; when no meetings are scheduled, the BMS uses a standby set point which allows the BMS to rapidly heat or cool the room if it becomes occupied.
An important element to the success of an S+CC facility is the ability to monitor overall and sub-metered energy consumption. To facilitate these measurements, new multi-circuit meters were installed and connected directly to Metasys. Integrating Metasys with Cisco’s EnergyWise enables 94% of building energy consumption to be measured and verified.
With return on investment projected at £120 000 per year per building through ongoing collaborative works with Accenture, Johnson Controls has made valuable energy data visible to Cisco from the site level facility management team through to the corporate level sustainability group.
‘’The relationship forged between Johnson Controls and Cisco Systems has seen real benefit for both organisations. This project demonstrates the collaborative use of technology deployed during a building refurbishment programme delivering tangible results in occupant efficiency and energy cost saving benefits for the end user,’ explains Jonathan Williams, sales manager for major projects with Johnson Controls.
