Futurasmus KNX Group

ComBridge Studio Evolution (CBSE)

Energy Management System implemented at the Castilla La Mancha University

Project by: APControl

E-Mail: info@apcontrol.es
Telephone: 0034 689468563
Web: www.apcontrol.es

The initial phase of this project is focused on the measurement of the electrical energy in several distant buildings that belong to the Spanish University of Castilla La Mancha.

The following protocols have been used: KNX – TCP/IP – KNXnet/IP

Let us mention some of the project´s figures:

96 monitored buildings spreaded throughout the geography of this Spanish region.
77 KNX IP Routers.
96 KNX Energy meters.
15 KNX Areas.
1 Central Server.

The programming and configuration of the system has been completely customized to meet the exact requirements of the University. We are not looking at a closed system, but quite the opposite. It is an open system that could easily be adapted to any other type of installation: office networks, hotels, industries, etc...

Something important to keep in mind when implementing this system: what was originally conceived to become an exhaustive control of the energy management can be easily reused for further purposes. Since we are talking about an open system, the same infrastructure and network can be used to control the lights, the HVAC system, the shutter/blinds, the surveillance, etc. ctura y la misma red para integrar controles de iluminación, de climatización, gestión de persianas, vigilancia, etc…

All these systems will be part of the same communication network and will be able to "talk" to each other in order to improve and optimize the energy management as well as the control of the other elements.

In the first image, we can see all the buildings within a specific campus. At a first glance we can monitor each building´s power demand in kW, as well as the cos phi value; both in real time.

When clicking on any building, we immediately access a new screen that displays further information on the selected site.

Consumption curves on hourly, daily and monthly bases; monthly ratio as per square meter; curves with the maximum, average and minimum demanded power values; clock indicating the current cos phi.

We can access each and every graphic so as to evaluate the data by specific dates. The server has been programmed to store all data in a data base. These data are easily exportable in .csv format to have them processed by third-party applications.

In the particular case of the University, the server shares several variables of the data base with its own software for managing the the cost allocation per building and university department. Let us again stress the fact that we are in front of an open system that can share information with other systems.

The alarm management is also a very important issue: via a specific alarm log screen and the simultaneous sending of alarm warnings both to the responsible building authority and the maintenance service team, they will be informed about any incident occurred in any of the buildings in real time.

The system alerts if a building overcomes the contracted power for a certain period of time; the correct management of the power contracted is a hot spot in the search of efficiency. We can also be warned when it comes to power factors that have negative influence in our invoice: malfunctions in meters, etc…

We will be able to to easily compare several buildings, procure reports by province, by building usage or any other relevant matter.