Econowise has recently been awarded the final phases of the multi-million pound apartment BMS fit out works covering blocks 1, 2, 3 and 5 at the prestigious One Tower Bridge development as direct contractors to the Berkeley Group. Alongside the previous works already completed by Econowise the overall contract will have been phased over a 4 to 5 year delivery term.

Although Econowise have been resident on site for over 2 years now the project first became known to them around 3 years ago when they were approached by the developers consultant engineers to assist in designing the HVAC system controls for the entire site, including the shell and core right through to the apartment environmental controls and apartment technology integration.

Instead of looking to third party integration products Econowise committed to provide a direct interface solution by working closely with the manufacturer’s development teams to produce a new module capable of utilising existing hardware technology. This removed the need to rely on a third party specialist and reduced unnecessary risk by offering a cleaner solution that was entirely supportable by not only Econowise but also the manufacturers, something that proved to be a crucial and deciding factor for the developer, The Berkeley Group, since it offered a superior level of confidence in the technical solution being proposed.

Adding to this was a requirement to provide a centralised concierge network linking all of the apartments back to a Harrods provided 24 hour service which offers alarm and fault monitoring, out of country services, and enables routine maintenance regimes and contract works to be carried out with the least possible disruption to the apartment and the occupants. An example of this is having the ability to shut off the water supply to an individual apartment when plumbing works are perhaps required.

To satisfy the complex control requirements Econowise developed the solution using a Trend integration controller based on the hugely successful and robust IQ3XCITE platform, with a bespoke interface software module that allows the system to connect directly to the Legrand Vantage controller via a serial interface. This offered the flexibility needed to cater for the large number of control points and meant the tenants could benefit from control over all of their apartment systems, including the environmental controls, via a single touch screen interface.

Due to the high value of the systems installed in the utility space the Trend BMS controls, supplied by Econowise, accurately monitors temperature and humidity within this space and sends alarms to both the apartment occupants and the centralised concierge Trend supervisor PC, should conditions fall outside of acceptable limits. Additionally, control routines are used to exercise the mechanical and ventilation systems should there be an extended period where the apartment is unoccupied.