Green Spaces Receive a Boost of Intelligence

Convia and Legrand Help Customers Address Energy Management Demands with Smart, Sustainable Solutions Displayed at Ecobuild 2009

WASHINGTON, D.C. – December 9, 2009 – Strengthened by their strategic alliance, Convia/A Herman Miller Company and Legrand/Wiremold are expanding flexible, sustainable spaces into commercial buildings across the nation. From the United States Green Building Council’s (USGBC) Washington, D.C. headquarters to the iconic Empire State Building, leading facilities and organizations are looking to Convia and Legrand to achieve long-term savings and optimal energy efficiency. The two companies will join together to showcase their latest developments resulting from their partnership at The National Institute of Building Sciences’ annual Ecobuild® America conference, being held December 8-10 in Washington, D.C. (Booth #339).

“The demand for flexible, environmentally responsive environments is intensifying as building owners across various industries seek to cut energy consumption and costs,” said Randy Storch, president of Convia. “Our partnership with Legrand has enabled us to not only advance our technology to continually meet these needs, but has also provided us with a greater ability to drive and capture growth opportunities in new, broad-reaching markets.”

Convia’s parent company Herman Miller announced a strategic alliance with Legrand last spring, marking a significant milestone in the advancement of the energy efficiency for commercial buildings. Under the terms of the agreement, the Convia technology – which allows for the integrated control and monitoring of plug loads, lighting and HVAC/thermostat set points from a simple and intelligent control and management platform – is integrated into Wiremold® wire and cable management systems (e.g. Walkerflex® modular wiring system, floor boxes, poke-thru devices and architectural columns). With control and monitoring of office plug loads made possible through the partnership, the “Convia-enabled” technology allows for maximum space flexibility and effective energy management from everything from the infrastructure to the workstation.

Providing Complete Flexibility for Commercial Spaces
Leveraging the intelligence provided by Convia’s smart building platform, the companies introduced their first joint commercial offering: the Convia-enabled Wiremold® System. The system, which is on display at Ecobuild, combines modular wiring, integrated energy controls, and flexible pathways resulting in a multi-functional wiring platform that provides complete flexibility for the electrical infrastructure and seamless integration of energy controls and sensors. Eliminating the constraints of conventional electrical systems, the system allows users to create flexible spaces that can be easily modified and adjusted as needs change. New applications can be added and integrated with the existing system at any time, future-proofing the building for any technology application.

“Building controls and energy management platforms have transformed the built environment with their ability to provide maximum space flexibility and effective energy management,” said Brian DiBella, vice president and general manager of Legrand/Wiremold. “With Convia we have been able to raise the bar even higher by adding intelligence to these systems, enabling our products to monitor and track energy usage and drastically reduce consumption for maximum energy savings.”

Tracking Progress for Continued Building Performance
As part of their ongoing commitment to helping customers meet energy goals and maintain building performance, Convia recently introduced its Energy Track Reporting Tool™, a next-generation application that provides accurate, quantitative data on energy usage in a space. Gone are the days of making energy management decisions based on estimates of energy use. With the Energy Track tool, users can make informed decisions about how to manage, monitor and control their energy use and deliver a more efficient, smart space. When used in conjunction with the Wiremold system, the technology provides users with an end-to-end level of control.

[an error occurred while processing this directive] “Energy Track provides users with a complete picture of energy use and allows them to make changes from a single zone down to the circuit level,” noted DiBella.

The tool displays a space’s actual energy usage on a simple and intuitive dashboard interface. Energy monitoring chips integrated into the Convia-enabled control components allow for accurate reporting at a zone (e.g. a private office, individual workstation or workstation cluster) or circuit level. Based on this granular and highly accurate data, users can accurately report energy use and modify their strategies based on this data for immediate and ongoing improvement. Visitors to the Ecobuild booth can view the monitoring and tracking capabilities of Energy Track as reflected in a real-world setting: the USGBC’s new headquarters, which features the Convia technology and is expected to receive a LEED® rating of Platinum.

“The rapid of development of technology continues to change the way we work and live, but unfortunately the spaces where we work have remained relatively stagnant,” added Storch. “Our goal at Convia and Legrand is to provide building technology that can keep up with today’s evolving demands, and be easy adapted to address future needs and sustainable goals.”

About Convia, Inc.
Convia, Inc./A Herman Miller Company seeks to advance energy management strategies and change the way people design, build, personalize and manage space. Founded in 2006 and headquartered in Buffalo Grove, Illinois, Convia offers an end-to-end level of control that enables a building to adapt to the evolving needs of the people and organizations who occupy it while helping facility managers broaden their energy goals. Through its partnership with Wiremold/Legrand, the leading provider of modular electrical distribution components, Convia Controls are imbedded into Wiremold®’s flexible electrical wiring systems to provide a control platform that fuels the adoption of flexible, sustainable spaces. Such platforms can ultimately reduce real estate and building operating costs while improving employee productivity. For more information about Convia, visit www.convia.com.

About Legrand/Wiremold
Legrand/Wiremold, headquartered in West Hartford, Conn., is the leader in wire and cable management systems, including metal and nonmetallic raceways, power-poles, poke-thru devices, floor boxes, underfloor systems, plug-in outlet centers, firestopping, and innovative architectural columns. For more information visit www.legrand.us

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