A large Compass installation provides interconnection between systems including HV and LV switchgear, generators, fire panels, sprinkler systems and the Trend bms at the prestigious new headquarters for German banking giant Westdeutsche Landesbank (WestLB) in London. The 8-storey office block has a floor area of nearly 33,000m².

[an error occurred while processing this directive]

A network of over 1000 Trend IQ bms controllers with around 9000 input/output connections takes care of the heating, ventilation and air conditioning. A Simplex 4100 series fire panel has been installed to provide fire and smoke detection. Compass provides a technique for getting data to and from the Trend bms for the following systems:

Motor Control Centre 1
Compass connects together the Trend bms, Simplex fire system to control the smoke dampers via the Trend IQ controllers. Fire signals from the Simplex fire system are interpreted and transferred into the Trend HVAC control. The signals allow the Trend bms to open or close fire dampers and turn off the air handling unit supply fans depending on the status of a particular fire zone. Nearly 1000 values needed to be transferred between the two systems, necessitating the need for a TRANSMAX Compass Point, which can boost the transfer capability of any Compass installation.

Motor Control Centre 2 
A MODBUS-compatible Merlin Gerin Digipact DC150 acts as an interface to the breaker system controlling the sprinklers. This is linked via a Compass Point to the Trend bms, allowing the Trend system to monitor the status of the sprinkler system and produce fault alarms.

Generator/Ventilation Plant room B2 
The standby electricity generator is supplied with a MODBUS-compatible interface card. A Compass Point communicates with this and sends values to and from the Trend bms controllers so that the generator status can be monitored for run and fault conditions.

[an error occurred while processing this directive]Motor Controls Section 8 & 9 – HV & LV Switchgear 
All HV and LV switchgear is monitored and controlled by Merlin Gerin switchgear equipment fitted with a MODBUS-compatible interface. A Compass Point provides a communications link to each device and transfers data to the Trend bms for alarm reporting, data logging and energy management purposes.

UPS Monitoring 
2 Pillar Uniblock 500R Uninterruptible Power Supplies have Compass Point connectivity in order that data can be transferred into the Trend bms for the display, monitoring and logging of values such as battery time , current conditions and faults.

The Compass installation was completed by North Approved Systems Partner, Tyrrell Systems. Managing Director of Tyrrell Systems, Ged Tyrrell, commented "The North communications driver library already contained interfaces to all of the systems specified for this project so we knew that we could use tried and tested products within an open systems framework to provide the interoperability needed. The fact that all of the manufacturers involved had released protocols to North enabled the customer to buy best-of-breed products without having to compromise on the basis of compatible protocols. The Compass product has allowed true interoperability without any re-development of primary systems". Tyrrell Systems are one of a number of Approved Systems Partners operating across the UK with a proven track record in the delivery of integration schemes using North products.

Interfacing to the sub-systems using a communications approach has proven to be far more cost effective than hardwiring back to the bms using traditional techniques. With several thousand elements of data to transfer between the various systems, the costs of the cabling alone would have outweighed the entire cost of the Compass installation and commissioning. Once the sub-system is connected to Compass, all of the data from that sub-system can be displayed or transferred within the open systems framework created by Compass.

[an error occurred while processing this directive]
[Click Banner To Learn More]

[Home Page]  [The Automator]  [About]  [Subscribe ]  [Contact Us]