AutomatedBuildings.com Article - Coactive Technology Provides Solutions for International Bank Located in London's Broadgate Complex


	Case Study Adam Marsh, VP Marketing Coactive Networks

The Broadgate complex in the heart of London's Square Mile appears to be one of the more modern developments in the city, but at nine years old its building controls were in need of an upgrade. A major international Swiss Bank located in the building decided to refurbish 500,000 sq ft of office space spread over eight floors.

The goal was to integrate state-of-the-art components, creating a flexible infrastructure to support a highly redundant facilities management system. The bank also wanted an infrastructure that was future-proof, one that could be easily upgraded and reconfigured for at least a decade without the need for disruptive new cable pulls and build-outs.

The bank's requirements included support for remote access worldwide, so that systems could be monitored and controlled from anywhere, as well as the option of local control of environmental conditions. Specific targeted systems included power supply and energy management systems.

In particular, power supply reliability was critical. The business shutdown associated with even a minor power outage could result in huge losses as trading came to a standstill. Increased efficiencies in energy management, centrally overseen from Switzerland, could offer potentially significant returns. And precision control in all areas was key, given the degree of system interdependence.

London-based system integrator Advanced Building Controls (ABC) Systems was given the complex task of installing a state-of-the-art LonWorks-based open controls system to interface with the standalone legacy systems using a common network. A new high-speed data network was to improve the speed and redundancy of existing systems, while allowing for connectivity of any systems installed in the future. To accomplish the task, ABC Systems wanted to take advantage of the building's advanced data networking infrastructure, which reached into every part of the building and could provide a reliable, high-performance backbone for the system.

ABC turned to the full product line offered by Coactive Networks. First, Coactive Router-LLs allowed ABC to integrate each LonWorks subnetwork with the high-performance Ethernet backbone infrastructure via 10Base-T Ethernet connections. Then the Coactive Connector^(R) 1000 was used to connect the entire set of control systems to the building Intranet, and on to the Internet. This approach allows facility and energy managers to have access to building views and controls for all zones from any PC with Internet access, worldwide.

"A big benefit of the Coactive technology is the flexibility," says ABC Director Mick Scriven. "The bank's facility managers and engineers can look at critical alarms and monitor subnetworks from generators and power supplies to air handling units - from another office, from home, from anywhere. Energy managers have a more flexible route to monitor and manage energy usage. And an occupancy change now just involves moving equipment and plugging it in somewhere else. The network won't become obsolete, even if the control devices do."

By choosing the flexible, third-generation line of products from Coactive Networks, ABC delivered a reliable, next-generation networking infrastructure that took advantage of several connectivity approaches, each where the benefit was greatest. Best-of-breed technologies were used on both the control and data networking sides of the system, enabling a total solution that integrates legacy and new equipment into a unified system that is expandable, upgradeable, reconfigurable, and flexible enough to support the bank's needs for years to come.

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