Remote Control

You may think of your office as an inanimate object that simply houses equipment and people. But most modern offices are working all the time around you, silently making subtle adjustments to lighting, humidity and temperature.

So far only services engineers have had access to the complex building management systems that control our interior environments. But now building services engineer BWP and the mechanical and electrical division of Amec have devised a website that monitors lighting, security, heating and ventilation in a building and allows small adjustments to be made. This means that anyone with an internet connection can control building services.

The first building to be controlled by a website is not a high-tech Richard Rogers-designed office in the City of London. Instead, it is a Crown Estate-owned Georgian offices-above-shops development just off Regent Street in London.

The website system monitors the services of the development, which encompasses three previously separate buildings that have been linked. The website may be viewed from this month, and anyone can access it; but adjustments to services are password protected.

Developing the system
"We developed the system through discussions with BWP," says Amec services business development manager Aslela Rodrigo. "It had the concept design at the pre-tender stage, which fitted in with what we had been developing in this area and satisfied the client's requirements." The client and facilities manager - the Crown Estate - demanded a very efficient building with an excellent environmental (BREEAM) rating from its contractors.

Liam Colgan, Crown Estate's head of special projects, says using this system was one way to achieve that. "We wanted efficiency and an open system of control for the services. We already used electronic control for monitoring, and using a web-based system was a natural progression. So we were happy with BWP and Amec's design. Web monitoring seemed like the obvious next step."

The site works through web servers which are embedded in a panel on each floor of the building. These are connected to the three electrical risers, which control heating, ventilation and lighting in the building. The servers translates information from the risers onto a web page. "[The server system] is an integral part of the building," says Rodrigo. "It's not sitting on a PC off site somewhere. It is taking information directly from the building's services."

The major engineering adjustments required when a room is partitioned, for example, are still made by facilities management engineers through a software program. But anyone sitting at a desk can make simple adjustments to lighting, temperature or even to blinds by logging on to the site. Engineers can also monitor the building's performance and spot problems, not just from their offices, but from anywhere they can access a web browser.

Security officers can benefit from the site too. It sends an alert when an alarm has been triggered and, through a link with the building's CCTV cameras, shows the area where the alarm has been set off.

BWP managing director Paul Mason has been looking web-based solutions for maintenance for a number of years. "It is difficult to set up simple property maintenance systems, and with the advent of the internet and more open access to data, it seemed like a logical step to make this information available via a web browser," he says.

"It was technically very simple to create, and runs very smoothly. Amec weren't starting from scratch, so it only took them three months to build the site. We paid them £70,000 to do it, which was about 20% cheaper than monitoring systems we normally use."

Less work
The system means less work is done on site. "All that needs to be done on site is to install the web server and screw the panel to the wall," says Rodrigo. "Most of the work is done off site, which is cheaper; less mess is created on site, and the risk of damaging the equipment is reduced." Mason, Rodrigo and Colgan are all planning to use this type of maintenance in future projects. "If this system is successful" says Colgan, "it may point the way to how we manage all our buildings in the future." Rodrigo agrees. "We are looking at using this in other projects.

This is the first project we have fully rolled the system out on, but we have been looking at using web-based supervision for services for some time. It has only really become possible in the last six months, and we will be using it on other, larger projects." Mason goes further and says that BWP intends to build all services like this in future.

So soon you won't even have to get out of your chair to turn off a light or turn up the heating. Just point your mouse in the right direction and your building will do it for you.