Total BMS makeover for Clarion Oslo Airport
Clarion Hotel & Congress Oslo Airport received a full BMS retrofit treatment in 2018. VEKO AS performed the retrofit using Fidelix solutions, taking the hotel’s building management system to another level entirely.
Clarion Hotel & Congress Oslo Airport featured an aging Johnson Controls DX9100 series with SCADA – and the hotel was looking to replace the SCADA. Because of some specific requirements, however, it was decided that SCADA would not be discarded, after all.
Since all the DX9100 controllers were quite old, we decided to offer them Fidelix substations and SCADA,” explains Jørn Rønningen, Service Engineer, Automation, from VEKO AS.
In the end, the total BMS retrofit package included three FX-3000-C with Visio-15, and total of 130 I/O-modules; replacing all of the temperature sensors; rewiring cabinets to suit the new system; and composing new drawings for the cabinets.
“We could do it with just two FX-3000-C, but because of the layout of existing BUS cable and available network, we chose to use three,” says Rønningen.
Plan & Execute
Rønningen started in March 2018 with the planning effort, getting as much information as possible from the old system, collecting old drawings for the cabinets, ordering parts, programming the first substation and make drawings for the retrofit.
Then the two-man VEKO team commenced to perform the first retrofits on site. All through spring and summer, the team was conducting programming for substations and making drawings, and then performing the retrofit.
“We finished the project in September and trained the customer in the use of the system,” Rønningen looks back.
Cost Savings Meet Convenience
Discussing the benefits of the BMS retrofit in this particular case, Rønningen says that the cost is much cheaper for a system with SCADA than previously was the case.
Balancing Act
“Also, wherever you are in the hotel, you can use mobile devices to login either on the SCADA or directly to the substation. You see exactly the same graphic in both,” he says, adding that there is no need to rush to the office in case of a critical alarm on SMS. “There is good capacity for expansion of modules and internal points.”
How about the challenges in project, then? Rønningen responds that having both the old and the new system running side by side (and on the same BUS cable), without the old SCADA losing its controllers before the retrofit was performed, was the biggest obstacle to overcome.
“Since the hotel was not closed, all systems had to work. Each system had a downtime of approximately two days.”
In the end, everything worked like a charm. Rønningen credits the Fidelix BMS solutions for the solid outcome:
”I’ve been working with Fidelix since 2013 and have a good relationship with Reinout Ederveen, Asko Määttä and Jonas Wikström from Fidelix,” he says, adding that especially the support from Ederveen over the years has been invaluable.
Photo: Clarion Hotel.