The city of Les Mureaux launches into BMS with Topkapi

One of the major focuses of the HQE process is perfect energy control. In Les Mureaux, the 4,500 m² building housing the city hall consumes 15% energy less than an equivalent construction based on regular standards ; this is 40 tonnes per year CO2 less emitted in the atmosphere.

In Les Mureaux, the savings rely mainly on:

• A heat pump using the ground water
• A single exchanger passive A/C unit using the ground water table (15°C)
• Solar arrays covering 60% needs in hot sanitary water
• Reinforced insulation windows combining comfort and light
• A BMS (Building Management System) based on a TOPKAPI station
   

Topkapi: an economical solution, but not only

Beyond its recording and checking role, Topkapi's application installed by S3EB contributes to energy savings, by allowing: 

• Piloting as close as possible to equipment
• Monitoring of temperature and consumption curves
• Fast detection and correction of faults and drifts.
   

Piloting consists mainly in applying the hourly programming per zone, for temperature, lighting and ventilation: this function is particularly intuitive and offers virtually limitless flexibility in Topkapi, by allocating operating modes to time ranges in the Scheduler; nothing is easier for example than extending the comfort mode in one zone of the building because the local council will meet in the evening.

Consumption monitoring, performed jointly with EDF, allows first to check that the energetic behaviour of the building complies with plans, and correct any background anomalies. Then, a basic analysis of trend curves allows the trained expert to monitor proper operation of the regulation process, fine-tune the heating system, and be warned at a glance of any anomalies or drift.
 

Topkapi: a strategic choice to look further ahead 

For its BMS, the town of Les Mureaux wanted a product it could master easily after the initial installation phase, without calling upon outside providers, and with features ensuring the high level of performance planned.

Topkapi was chosen because of:

• Its flexibility and easy implementation and operation.
• The independence of the designer, AREAL, in respect of suppliers of field equipment, regulators and controllers
• Openness and availability of many communication protocols specific to the building technical management system
• Features, particularly ergonomics and power of hourly programming, graphs, reporting module for summaries, Open Client and Web access.

The town wishes to share its experience as broadly as possible, and in this respect the Web server module is particularly important, as it allows to choose the BMS data which will be posted publicly over the Web, without any adaptation nor particular skills. In its current state, the system is ready to receive new extensions: the town plans to connect to it other municipal buildings, such as schools, starting with the one offering the highest energy savings.

To summarise, the BMS, while contributing as such to energy savings, is the only effective way of ensuring we obtain the results predicted. It detects anomalies promptly, and is indispensable to maintain the levels of performance over time.