Distech Controls has equipped St. Columba’s School with a smart and integrated building management system (BMS) to reduce energy costs, while providing a comfortable learning environment.
Scotland-based system integrator, West Coast Controls, worked with Distech Controls to install the Eclypse Connected BACnet/IP series, a modular and scalable platform that works across the entire school campus.
The project
St. Columba’s School is a co-educational independent day school for pupils ages 3 – 18, located in Kilmacolm near Glasgow, Scotland.
The School has recently completed the construction of a new building and West Coast Controls was tasked with renovating the heating system across the campus as well as ensuring the BMS was working at optimum capacity. The Eclypse platform installed by West Coast Controls created an integrated system that controls both the air source heat pumps and boiler plant to provide efficient heat generation.
The solution
West Coast Controls installed six Eclypse Connected BACnet/IP controllers throughout the campus. The Eclypse consists of a control automation and connectivity server, power supplies, as well as I/O modules, which enables users to select the type and number of modules to meet their specifications. It is also embedded with Envysion, a web-based graphic design and visualisation interface. The solution is a connected building system designed to raise the experience of occupants – in this case, students and teaching staff.
“We decided to install the Distech Controls Eclypse controllers on this project for many reasons,” said Alan Macdonald, director at West Coast Controls. “It is open to BACnet which allows the Eclypse to easily connect to the rest of the BMS. It is also a cost-effective solution that provides uniformity across the campus, which allowed us to remove other periphery control systems for ease of use and future-proofing future works/installs with an open protocol system. The Eclypse controllers are also easy to configure. This saves us time and the flexibility of the products meant we could satisfy the needs of the school.”
The result
At the school, West Coast Controls is monitoring the main electrical services to alert staff to outages that may cause the school issues. The Eclypse system with Envysion interface system is set up to send an email or contact through a mobile phone if an alarm is signalled and allows remote access for service and maintenance purposes.
“We are delighted with the completed project,” commented Alasdair McGregor, facilities manager at St. Columba’s School. “With the new BMS system in place, we can effectively monitor our energy usage and ensure the operation of the campus buildings is as efficient as possible.”
