by Shane Henson — November 14, 2011—Honeywell recently announced the grand opening of the University of British Columbia (UBC) Center for Interactive Research on Sustainability (CIRS), a living laboratory for researchers to teach, test and study the long-term impact of sustainable practices and technologies. Featuring advanced building controls, sensing technology and management software from Honeywell, CIRS will serve as a leading academic hub to test and advance sustainable technologies before broader implementation, and operate as a center for green building policymakers to establish future standards.
UBC selected Honeywell as its technology provider at the outset of the planning process, and Honeywell engineers provided guidance on how to network and integrate the building systems that help manage the facility. UBC and Honeywell also worked to ensure CIRS is one of the most sustainable buildings in the world. The research facility was built to Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design (LEED) Platinum and Living Building Challenge certification standards, two of the industry’s most advanced green building benchmarks.
Honeywell installed heating and cooling, fire alarm and security technology in the building, and is using its Enterprise Building Integrator (EBI) to tie these and more than 80 other third-party systems into a single interface that will help the university operate the center more efficiently and cost effectively, and provide a robust platform for faculty and students studying the impact of various green technologies and practices.
CIRS will further utilize the latest comfort, safety and security technology from Honeywell, including ComfortPoint heating, ventilation and air conditioning controls, XLS3000 fire alarm controls and the Digital Video Manager surveillance system.
Honeywell EBI, a facilities management platform that reduces operating costs by integrating building technologies across a common IT backbone, will manage the systems, and aggregate and report performance data. Researchers will use these metrics to examine how people interact with the technology to optimize the use of energy and other resources. EBI will also tie various third-party systems—such as lighting, utility metering and rainwater collection—into the platform to provide a comprehensive view and control of all operations, which will aid researchers as well.
Other companies may benefit from utilizing the wide ranges of services available from this recognized leader in the building systems industry on both small and large products, such as the one undertaken by UBC.
