BIM CASE STUDY | SCHNEIDER ELECTRIC We wanted to find out whether all the promises we had heard at various BIM conferences were really true Lack Lessons learned from TPle will be used to inform the design of the second building, the 28,000m2 XPle, which is looking to exceed 100 Leed points MEP systems in use. The dynamic model was also useful in helping size the area of rooftop-mounted photovoltaic panels and their associated batteries, which would give Schneider a smart grid-ready building. One of the companys objectives with the project was to see how the as-built model could be used to operate a smart building. The plan was to map occupation, space management and alarm systems onto the BIM model, and create the buildings digital twin. To this end, the actual building has been flooded with sensors. In addition to the active energyefficiency solutions contributing to the optimal operation of the building and the achievement of our energy goal, this building is over-instrumented to collect as much data as possible. This enables it to work as a tool WHY OPERATIONAL TECHNOLOGY IS KEY To create an operational building model that can be accessed by facilities managers (FMs), another layer of technology must be incorporated in services designs, says Stacy Van Dolah-Evans, global account director at Schneider Electric, who spoke about the Grenoble project at CIBSEs Build2Perform Live event in November. The architecture allowing FMs to interrogate building asset performance in real time is known as operational technology. We cant get all the building information we need out of the existing IT architecture; we need more information and datasets, says Dolah-Evans. He adds that services designers need to diversify and increase their skills and knowledge in this area. The industry has experts in different disciplines, but they dont converge very often. That is a real problem, because most technologies converge all the time. Mechanical engineers often dont have knowledge of electrical engineering, so arent able to integrate controls that would enable data from M&E assets to be accessed. Our industry needs to break down the silos; this will allow the changes to happen in how we approach building design. for future research and innovation actions, energy-efficiency algorithms and analytics technologies, Lack explains. As might be expected, TPle is a showcase for Schneiders BMS know-how. As such, it incorporates many of the companys technologies, including EcoStruxure for Buildings its architecture and buildingspecific platform for mass deployment of Internet of Things (IoT) solutions. As part of the IoT aspect of the project, we have mapped some of the sensors such as presence detectors and those for temperature onto the BIM model, says Lack, who believes this implementation shows the value of putting the data into the building context: If I say it is 25C in office 64, that does not mean much but if I show you, on the model, that its 25C in the office in the south-east area of the ground floor of the building, that is far more useful to a facilities manager. Integrating the IoT will give more flexibility of control over the buildings temperature, lighting, air quality and even power usage. In addition, by collecting dynamic data from the building and coupling this with data from the static modelling, Schneider hopes to develop new functionalities and services for space-management operation, energy, maintenance, operations, and information on the occupants. This connection of the static and dynamic data also allows the building to be visited virtually, in augmented reality. 26 February 2019 www.cibsejournal.com CIBSE Feb19 pp22-24, 26 Schneider Electric.indd 26 25/01/2019 16:12