Remote monitoring and data acquisition network increases efficiency, provides flexibility
San Jose, CA — February 7, 2005 — The School Construction Authority (SCA) of the City of New York said today it has chosen a facilities management system based upon Echelon Corp.'s networking technology, LonWorks, to reduce energy and facility management expenses and to foster a competitive bidding environment for future construction and management contracts.
The SCA is responsible for the design, construction and renovation of New York City's more than 1,200 public school buildings. The initial project will include approximately 40 new schools. Assuming the SCA installs the remainder of its buildings with similar facility management systems, the overall project would be the largest LonWorks supervisory control and data acquisition system to date in a public school system in the United States.
"Our facility-related costs have been increasing due to non-competitive bidding based on the former proprietary systems as well as increasing energy costs," said William Benson, manager of the HVAC Standards Group, New York City School Construction Authority. "The LonWorks-based facilities management system allows us to choose products from multiple suppliers, creating a more competitive bidding process among contractors, and the flexibility to easily expand or alter the system in the future."
Developing a system to efficiently monitor and control multiple building subsystems in 1,200 locations across the five boroughs of New York City was a challenge. SCA selected Control Technologies Inc. (CTI), an Authorized LonWorks Integrator, to implement and oversee the commissioning of a facilities management system that would be cost effective to install while providing the scalability needed to reduce life-cycle costs.
"A facilities management system based on Echelon's technology and implemented using a set of standards to ensure consistency, provides the SCA with long-term flexibility and decreased maintenance costs," said Terry Reynolds, PE, partner and vice president of business development for CTI. "As the school district grows, the ability to maintain a durable competitive environment, selecting products and services from multiple sources for additions and alterations, will reduce the life-cycle cost of these systems."
Echelon said that additional school districts across the nation are using LonWorks technology to reduce facility management expenses through remote monitoring and control of heating, ventilation, and air conditioning (HVAC) and other building systems. These include the Chicago Public School District; the Decatur Township Schools in Decatur County, Indiana; and the San Marino School District and the College of the Desert in Palm Desert, both located in California.
