Case study - management of community building made simple.

Helen Peach Nov 8, 2018 12:17:37 PM

calendar entry case study

Affordable control of heating, lighting and entry to increase the energy efficiency and simplify maintenance of this commercial building

Client Brief

Due to rising energy costs and changing regulations, Northmoor Village Hall was in need of a renovation. The aim of the renovation was to create a sustainable community centre by future proofing all the building services and reduce the running costs. The renovation is being community funded so the hall had a small budget to work with.

The hall is used by many groups, all of whom have their own heating and lighting requirements which needed to be addressed. The owners also had a problem with the management and monitoring of the hall and needed to ensure that it was secure and safe as well as well used by the villagers.

Project Scope

Full heating control
Internal Lighting Control
External Lighting Control
Entry - key pads on doors
Remote access.

Installation

Atamate specified, designed and installed the atBOS system for the client, and are returning for the next phase of the project which includes adding a shop and office space.

Keypad entry

Installing keypads and door releases reduces the requirement for keys. Managing keys for communal properties quickly becomes onerous. Installing simple keypads or more advanced near field communications technology on smartphones can negate this, allowing entry to buildings and units without keys.

DMX lighting

atBOS provided control of 36 different lighting fittings in the main hall, using DMX communication, so that the local dramatics society could also control them directly during their theater productions. There are 10 lighting scenes for users to choose from. Alterations to each scene can be made using the Atamate App.

Interior of actiivity room

Push button lighting scenes

There is little point having great functionality in a building unless people who use it get the benefit. There many different groups using the hall, most of whom will be unaware that there is a control system running the building services. All interfaces have to be simple to use particularly lighting. To ensure ease of use, as well as being accessible via the Atamate app, lighting scenes were set up on labelled push buttons.

Heating control

Different uses can have different temperature settings; painting class wants the hall to be quite warm whereas the scouts or Keep Fit class want it cooler.
For this sort of temperature control, the heating needs to be fast response ie fast warm up and cool down times. In this hall, the boiler heats the air which is then distributed around the room.
It takes 30 mins for the hall to come to temperature and the smart heating means that the the heating come on 30 mins before a user comes into the hall.
Calendar control heating - when a group uses the hall they can set up their own settings
Unplanned user can come in and press the push-button and switch on the heating for an hour (currently set to 18C) - this is done using Responses
If no occupancy is detected for 15 minutes the heating will switch off automatically. This is done using Atamate Responses.

Remote access

Users can access atBOS via a cloud server. It is made available to the hall manager so they can monitor the use and state of the hall and shut the place down when required.

This is just the beginning as the hall committee are now engaged in fundraising to increase available space in the centre to include office space and a village shop.