Olympic Controls and KODE Labs bring smart building technology to high-rise residentials in British Columbia in record time

Hardware upgrades from OC

Prior to the building controls upgrade, the property was suffering from defective controllers resulting in undesirable conditions for the tenants. The building operators were also stuck with outdated dashboards and graphics which didn’t provide tools like Fault Detection & Diagnosis or Functional Testing Tools. Olympic Controls replaced the defective controllers with new controllers that operate on Niagara Framework® and set the stage for a KODE OS deployment.

Once a secure connection was established between the controller and the KODE OS cloud environment, KODE was able to integrate all building systems into the platform. The integrated building systems included HVAC, lighting, access control, metering, and fire systems. These systems were integrated into KODE OS at a fast pace thanks to the scalable API integrations of the platform.

KODE normalizes data

KODE OS normalizes information across all integrated building systems. For each integration, the live data is reviewed, normalized, and standardized with Google Ontology. Once the data goes through this standardization process, it becomes easier to manage and analyze. Additionally, our standardization technology enables users and building operators to implement building-wide standards for how their space operates and how they prefer their data to be displayed.

The reason this Smart Building project was able to be completed in a short time period is due to Olympic Control’s superior BMS programming capabilities, allowing us to pull, integrate, and tag the building data in record time. Additionally, KODE Labs applied Google Ontology to the integrated system data which “future proofs” the building for future integrations and conditions the data for machine learning based optimizations. KODE Labs’ Data Science team has devised a revision of Google Ontology such that it functions as the backbone of how KODE Labs normalizes incoming data and how systems work together to maximize efficiency and comfort. 

KODE OS in action

Once normalized data flows into KODE OS, the platform provides numerous capabilities to aid with the everyday operations of the building. 

• Cybersecurity: Sensitive and personal information of the building and its tenants is secured with two-factor authentication and the best in class cybersecurity protocols backed by Google Cloud’s cybersecurity teams.
• Analytics Dashboards: Normalized inflow of data allows the user to build custom dashboards that represent important metrics such as equipment use, overall tenant comfort, energy usage summaries, etc.
• Routines: Building operators can upload equipment schedules to automate when a particular device is scheduled to start and stop from anywhere in the world.
• Audits and Functional Detection & Diagnostics (FDD): Engineers can audit the performance of equipment and receive automatically generated reports. They can conduct fault detection and diagnostics to conduct preventive maintenance.
• Our Energy Optimization Module: Optimized start-stop learns the behavior of HVAC equipment to proactively modify equipment schedules to maximize tenant comfort and minimize energy consumption.

Results

The future of smart building technology owes its success to partnerships between control contractors and platform providers. KODE Labs and OC’s collaboration has set a new standard for smart building deployments and stands to positively impact all stakeholders of the building industry for years to come. 

One thing is for sure: the next few years will be an exhilarating and transformational period for anyone involved in facilities and energy management. Technology is advancing at an astonishing pace. Devices and systems we take for granted today would have seemed like science fiction to many people only a few years ago. And the pace of technological innovation shows no sign of slowing.

We’ve been working on getting set for Industry 4.0; The fourth industrial revolution is upon us. We already see the digitization of many manufacturing and industrial processes; let’s unlock the potential of connected buildings together KODE Labs!

– Alborz Alavi, Business Operations & Strategy at OCI

Productivity with smarter servicing and maintenance

Integrations between smart building platforms and integrated workplace management systems enables the building to monitor the service life of HVAC, lighting and plumbing equipment. As the platform monitors these systems 24/7 and moderates their usage, equipment failures can be anticipated and proactively identified. Such platforms can also identify when a piece of equipment is down and immediately notify the responsible parties via mobile app, greatly reducing response times for repairs.

Informed decision-making for better outcomes

Smart building platforms can support facility managers in achieving their goals for maximizing tenant comfort. The platform’s ability to monitor a variety of data inputs, such as weather forecasts, allows the building to proactively manage interior temperature by adjusting setpoints of the HVAC system. Similarly, the platform can make changes to the lighting system as ambient lighting changes due to weather or time of day. 

Energy savings

Management of electricity and water usage is critical for maintaining sustainable and healthy buildings. Smart building platforms can track usage of these resources and provide building owners with a clear path to sustainability. Additionally, the platform can easily integrate with utility company demand response API’s and can enable your building to harmonize with the grid, a key requirement for LEED certification. These capabilities reduce the operational and environment burden of a building and can positively impact your bottom line.

About Olympic Controls

Olympic Controls Inc. is a full-service solutions provider of MSI solutions, heating, ventilating and air conditioning (HVAC) controls and building automation systems serving British Columbia, Canada. Olympic Controls offers a comprehensive range of HVAC control services, including turnkey solutions of conventional HVAC controls in commercial settings or complex, specialized controls for industrial applications.