District Center in Washington, D.C. Rises Above the Rest

JLL, Distech Controls and SmartBT deliver a connected building solution for iconic office building

[WASHINGTON, June 11, 2019] – Distech Controls, an innovation leader connecting people with intelligent building solutions, and Smart Building Technologies, LLC (SmartBT), today presented the JLL Smart Building team with the “Unified Project of the Year” award for its work transforming District Center in Washington, D.C. to a connected building that elevates the occupant experience. Given every two years by Distech Controls, the award singles out the commercial building project that best leverages connected lighting technology and intelligent building solutions.

District Center, located at 555 12th Street, NW in the heart of D.C.’s historic downtown, was completed in 1998. Now 20 years later, the property, encompassing an entire city block, has received a modern update from building owner MetLife Investment Management via JLL, a leading real estate services firm, to meet the demands of current and future business tenants.

Systems integrator SmartBT completed the retrofit of the nearly 820,000-square-foot property using connected building solutions from the Acuity Brands® portfolio: building management solutions from Distech Controls®, smart lighting systems from Lithonia Lighting® and digital networked lighting controls from the nLight® platform. The resulting IP-based infrastructure and integrated digital technologies made possible by MetLife Investment Management’s investment have laid a network foundation to move the renowned complex beyond a simple space. These new digital amenities take the occupant experience to a new level by providing software via a digital UI for booking rooms and other features. Further enabling the platform provides additional features such as a unified graphical user interface for analytics, insights into new energy metering strategies, indoor location services and more.

“The ECLYPSETM solution from Distech Controls not only unified the building’s systems, but also scaled across the large and complex building structure,” said Paul Meng, Principal at SmartBT. “SmartBT was able to supply various operational and informational requirements as specified by JLL Smart Building.”

The result is a vibrant and interactive office building that is also one of the city’s most sustainable, boasting a LEED® Gold certification and ENERGY STAR® score in the high 80s.

A Vision for Experience: What’s Changing for Visitors, Occupants and Building Owners

“The JLL Property Management team at District Center will soon be able to manage building services in a streamlined fashion, with access to real-time data, online portals to track tenant service requests and building systems to enhance operations,” said Crystal Reddick, Group Manager, Vice President at JLL. “Occupants will benefit from a digitally modernized building optimized for safety, wellness, productivity and sustainability, enabling them to use their workspace as a tool to gain competitive advantage in the future of work.”

Soon, visitors to District Center will experience new, streamlined digital registry and badge access supported by app-based information lookup processes. Occupants will be able to set the room temperature, lower the blinds or even book a meeting room from an app or wall-mounted display. The future experience for occupants at District Center will allow tenants to remotely prepare a room for a presentation.

Today’s installed technology has the power to simplify control over occupied spaces in a way that is radically different than the past. Cost reductions and energy savings are only the starting point when equipping a building with connected, digital technology. Beyond these savings, open protocol-based systems will enable building owners to choose service providers with the most competitive prices. Unified technology equips buildings with scalable technology to support the future needs of building tenants, future proofing the building infrastructure and network for upgrades and updates.

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