Building Automation Systems (BAS)
Technology is powerful. Through the Energy Performance Contract,
CMHA has installed a Building Automation
System (BAS) in each of CMHA’s 25 high-rise public housing
buildings. BAS
operates over a CMHA Ethernet connection. Through the Siemens
central monitoring facility in Dallas, CMHA
and its residents will benefit from real-time
emergency response related to our heating systems. Further,
CMHA will realize considerable energy savings
by using BAS technology to more efficiently
operate the boiler and/or
chilled water systems at these buildings. The
following photos show the Siemens' Dallas-based
monitoring facility which is manned twenty-four
hours a day, seven days a week.
  
BAS will provide CMHA with the ability to control these building heating
and cooling systems’ operating schedules based on the outside
air temperature with programmed reset schedules and lockouts. In
addition, BAS will alert key operating personnel of system failures
and aid in diagnosing the need for mechanical repairs.
Our Lakeview Tower high-rise will act as a test site to tie a newly
installed fire alarm and door monitoring security
systems information to the BAS. The
total building monitoring system will give
CMHA real-time data to more efficiently provide
for the comfort, safety, and security of our
residents.
Below is a slide which shows
how from a remote computer, the operating conditions
of a buildings heating and cooling systems
can be monitored and controlled to provide
the residents a comfortable and safe building
environment.
Riverview Towers:
(Click image to Enlarge)
This is an actual remote computer screen which is looking at all the
central heating water boilers at our Riverview
Tower high-rise building. As you can see, we
have seven boilers at that site, and we can
monitor the operating condition of all those boilers and the pumps
which actually move the heated water through the building. We can monitor
the water temperature and make adjustments remotely if the outside
temperatures dictate that we need to adjust water temperature either
up or down.
In the event of a malfunction or some out of range condition, that
particular condition will flash red alerting
operations of a problem. It will continue to
flash until the condition has been corrected. |