BG Controls helps improve operation of buildings for Bradford Council

BG Controls has installed state-of-the-art building-management systems in six buildings of Bradford Metropolitan District Council. The BMSs have been upgraded in the Richard Dunn Sports Centre, Bowling Pool, Jacob’s Well council offices, Neville Grange care home, Baildon Recreation Centre and Heaton Primary School.

An innovative solution has been devised to control the temperature and environment of Bowling Pool. Swimming pools require pumps to filter dirty water and maintain a constant temperature. However, it is not cost effective to run these pumps at full capacity all the time.

The solution is based on turbidly sensors in the pools, which is said not to have been used in the UK before. They measure the cloudiness of the pool as an indicator of the quality and state of the water to determine when the pumps need to run.

BG also designed an intelligent heating control system for four buildings to ensure that heating is only provided when needed — considerably reducing energy bills.

For the sports centre, a control system for external lighting ensures it is only turned on when needed.

All sites are open protocol with BACnet interfacing. They can be controlled from one front end in the Flockton House council offices. The BMS to any site can be accessed from the council’s intranet site via a web browser.

The front end is also linked to BG’s bureau, which is operational 15 hours a day, except Christmas Day.

BG Controls has also won a contract to upgrade the BMSs of four other buildings for the council.