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Summary
This application describes a 4.8 million square foot mixed-use office complex in San Francisco, California.
The project requirements are to provide remote energy monitoring and billing data to building management located 2,700 miles away in Boston,
MA. Additionally the project is to enable remote software
support and the "aggregation" of five 30-story buildings into a single system via the
Internet.
Photos: Embarcadero Center -
San Francisco
Using an ordinary web
browser, management can monitor energy usage from 2,700 miles
away.
The aim of the project is to provide building management and
accounting with
web-based direct monitoring and reporting of electrical
power, lighting, heating and chilled water by upgrading its automation system to interface transparently with the Internet. The building management
company choose to enhance its existing Direct Digital Control
(DDC) system with affordable state-of-the
art web technology. With the proper security, users can log on to the web site from anywhere in the world and access
current and accumulated energy, chilled water, steam and other
HVAC data. All that is needed
is a standard web browser.
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Photo
1: SCADA node -
A
PC-based operator station
running standard Windows 2000
is connected to the DDC control system. |
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Photo
2: 30-story Office Tower -
One of 5 at Embarcadero Center. |
Embarcadero Center Facility
Automation
One of the largest mixed-use complexes in the western U.S., Embarcadero Center spans six blocks in the heart of San Francisco's prime commercial
district covering 9.8 acres. Offering four million square feet of office and retail space, Embarcadero
Center is comprised of five
30-story office towers, three interconnected shopping levels within four towers,
four levels of underground parking ( approximately 2,400 spaces)
and the former Federal Reserve Bank Building. The office tower
population is approximately 14,000 people. Known for its diverse business and entertainment facilities, the Center features more than 125 retail shops,
restaurants and a five-screen
cinema.
Each building has a state-of-the-art Direct Digital Control
system (DDC) supplied by Barrington Systems of San Carlos,
California. (www.barringtonsys.com)
The DDC system monitors and controls lighting, electrical power, chilled water, hot water and
HVAC equipment.
Benefits of Web Access
The building is owned and
managed by Boston Properties of Boston, Massachusetts.
Web Access allows management and accounting personnel to
quickly access tenant energy use for invoicing and billing
using an ordinary web browser. When
management and accounting can ascertain the tenant energy
usage data directly from the system, it frees
up staff for more productive work.
The use of Web Access increases the quality and value
of services to customers, with more timely and accurate
invoices. It also saves time and money for the
management company.
An additional benefit is that
Web Access facilitates remote software support by the DDC
Control System Vendor: Barrington Systems. Engineers, technicians and
managers can log on to the system and remotely access the
building controls at the facility using an ordinary web browser
from anywhere and at any time. This enables engineers
and technicians to solve problems as soon as they occur,
rather than waiting hours or days to travel to the
facility
In the past, some of these requirements were
provided via dial-up access via telephone modem. The advantages
of an ordinary Web Browser using the Internet, or an intranet, over
private dial-up arrangements are speed of the connection and that any number of remote users can access the
network from any computer by familiar procedures, without special software.
Security Levels assigned to each users and areas of the
facility specify what data can be changed by various groups of
people.
Photo
3: Web Browser - Air Handler Graphic.
Implementing
Web Access
Broadwin's Web Access software is the most direct way to implement Internet access to
a new or existing automation system. Simply install Web
Access SCADA node software on an ordinary PC connected to the building automation
network. This is a readily available, off-the-shelf solution. The SCADA node
acts as an Operators Station and/or an Engineering Station used by building engineers and
operators to monitor and control the HVAC and Lighting
system. It also is used as a link between the automation
system and the Internet. In this project, five SCADA
nodes (one in each building) are used each with an Ethernet
connection to an Internet router.
In this project, an off-the-shelf web server software suite is provided
connected via LAN to the 5 SCADA nodes on the DDC automation
system. The web server suite is Microsoft's Internet
Information Server, which is included in the standard Windows 2000 Professional
package. The choice of a web server suite depends on the
number of simultaneous connections desired. Windows 2000
Professional allows up to 10 connections via the Web.
Windows 2000 Server would provide an unlimited number of
connections via the Web.
If the building did not
already have an Internet connection, one could be arranged with a local Internet
service provider or telephone company. It would use a modem or other interface
device of the desired speed.
Management and Building
Operators: Access to real-time data
Using a web browser such as Microsoft Internet
Explorer 6.0 or Netscape Navigator 6.1, accounting, building management,
building engineers and operators can view process
graphics, process-variable trends updating on a real-time basis, historic
trends, and summaries of events, alarms and, most importantly, reports
describing monthly energy usage for each tenant..
The
Web Access software provides security to grant or deny
access to individual modules, so that users can access only the information needed.
Engineers and
Technical support Personnel: Remote Software
Administration
Web Access software also provides a significant benefit to the
building engineers and DDC Control System Support Engineers, in that the
Internet acts as the automation network.
Personnel at any computer on the Internet can use a web browser to access the
automation system, without having to run automation software. This enables "remote software" support.
Without leaving their offices in San Carlos, California,
Barrington technical support personnel can log onto the
building automation system using an ordinary web
browser. They can modify graphics, modify the control
database, download new control strategies and restart
nodes. Barrington is moving to an "open
system" approach that enables WebAccess to download files
directly to the LanSTAR and MicroSTAR field controllers.
Using Broadwin's WebAccess software enables complete
automation system support through an ordinary web browser.
Innovation
for the Future
Currently, the latest innovation for
building automation is an Internet server on the building's
automation system. Located in the building, the WebAccess
SCADA computer provides access to energy usage, equipment and HVAC
data in real-time over the Internet. Real-time customer data can be accessed
directly from any web browser by accounting and management.
Engineers, Operators and Technical Support can support the
building control system remotely through any web
browser. If desired, customers will now be able to access their account data through a
web browser, using appropriate privacy features such as passwords.
Web-based automation
of buildings and facilities is advancing in North America for eventual business-to-business integration of
resource management via the Internet. We are installing the same Web Access technology at
other
office complexes, manufacturing facilities and large
university campuses.
For a large company
managing buildings and facilities at many locations,
making useful real-time data available via the Internet can increase a
building's worth, through improved monitoring and timely
invoicing of tenant energy use and other client services,
while at the same time reducing the costs to monitor and
retrieve that data.
Chances are, not every company
will choose to enhance its full-service offerings with affordable state-of-the
art web technology. But perhaps your competitors in the global e-marketplace
will. The choice is to make web technology work for you.
BroadWin
Software Powers eAutomation
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