Product category:
Plant- and Machine-Wide Communications
News Release from: LonMark International | Subject: LonMark certified products
Edited by the Engineeringtalk Editorial
Team on 14 March 2003
Joined in the name of true
interoperability
Evangelic-Lutherans in Helsinki will soon notice that their churches have received a technological facelift.
Evangelic-Lutherans in Helsinki will soon notice that their churches have received a technological facelift, as the Consortium of Evangelical-Lutheran congregations has opted for open LonWorks network technology and LonMark certified products to connect all of its churches in Helsinki to a joint property management and real estate surveillance centre The network integrates primary functions, such as the HVAC, lighting and access control, as well as a multitude of other systems, including the control of indoor air quality and district heating
84% of the Finnish population belong to the Evangelical Lutheran Church of Finland.
The Consortium of Evangelical-Lutheran congregations decided to reconstruct outdated substations based in over 100 buildings, including churches and cathedrals such as the renowned early19th century Helsinki Cathedral, as well as office blocks and residential homes.
It sought the advice of the National Technology Agency of Finland (TEKES) and the Finnish Association of Building Owners and Construction Clients (RAKLI), who highly recommended LonWorks technology, which enables building subsystems that use LonMark certified devices from multiple manufacturers to be integrated into a single intelligent building system.
This multivendor concept offers a high level of flexibility as the building owners are not locked into agreements with a single supplier.
Should the Consortium decide in the future to connect other buildings to the network, they are free to pick and choose from the broad range of LonMark certified products and services from multiple suppliers.
LonMark Partner member, Faan Oy, a specialist in building infranet networks, was awarded the project to connect the building automation to the real estate surveillance centre, located at the Consortium's headquarters in Helsinki.
The old building automation will be partly replaced during this project, which is due to be completed in 2004.
Over 80 buildings will be connected to the surveillance centre by means of a fibreglass Ethernet network with a TCP/IP protocol.
The rest of the buildings, located in remote parts of Helsinki will use an ADSL network to establish the connection.
Inside each building, web servers from LonMark Partner Member Plexus Technology have been installed along with Echelonīs LonMaker Integration tool, Release 3.1, a virtual network interface, via which a computer can communicate with all devices.
This installation allows the building operators to access the complete network using a standard browser.
LonMark certified TAC Xenta 400 programmable controllers from LonMark Sponsor member TAC are being implemented to control and supervise systems such as HVAC, lighting and access control inside almost 90 churches.
The TAC Xenta controllers allow easy regulation of church lighting and feature a dimmer sensor in order to reduce the luminance to desirable levels.
The office buildings will be equipped with Excel 5000 Open Systems, a sophisticated direct digital building management system from LonMark sponsor member Honeywell.
The Excel 5000 system monitors and manages systems such as HVAC, lighting, fire protection, security and access control via a single interface.
Additionally, LonMark certified Lexel occupancy sensors and occupancy controllers indicate entry and exit events.
When the rooms are empty the lights are automatically switched off, the ventilation is set to the required minimum and the temperature within the rooms floats within the set limit.
"In the past, no one would have dreamed of installing an infranet network to manage a place of worship.
Today, building automation is a reality that is continuously gaining new grounds.
This installation not only provides for better control of the various electronic systems in the churches, but also ensures valuable energy and monetary savings", says Kari Hein, President of Faan Oy.
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