Customer application
Auron Office Building – Room Automation via Mouse-Click

In the Laim district of Munich, Auron has constructed a new office building that is unparalleled in terms of indoor temperature control and spatial layout. First of all, a holistic layout, based on feng shui, ensures a special harmony between people and their environment; secondly, WAGO’s flexROOM® Distribution Boxes provide quick commissioning and flexible adaptation of the individual room regulators.

Auron’s building in Munich is distinguished from other office buildings by its strong emphasis on the well-being of its tenants.

To achieve this, increased attention was placed on high-quality interior furnishings and an exclusive facade. In fact, from planning to implementation, the Chinese philosophy of feng shui determined the design of the 38,000 square meter office complex. The first sections, which cover approximately 19,000 m2, are complete. For those in charge, this focus was more than just a marketing strategy – their approach was based on a belief that people feel better in a harmonious environment than in conventionally designed buildings.

Such commitment to and enthusiasm for the concept has been well received by customers. Even before the start of construction, more than 40 % of the available rental space in the Auron building had been leased. In order for the offices and conference rooms for the future renters to be planned in advance while still accommodating high levels of individualization, modern building technology was required in addition to the ancient design teachings. “In this project, there wasn’t even a question of whether or not we should choose automation components from Minden – with its new solution for easy commissioning and flexible management of individual areas, WAGO was the top choice from the very start,” emphasizes Michael Detterbeck of Bauer Elektrounternehmen GmbH & Co. KG.

Auron Office Building

  • Room Planning via Internet Browser
  • Award-Winning Energy Planning
  • Automation Planning with Design
  • A Partnership with a Future

Room Planning via Internet Browser

Detterbeck, the project manager for building automation, is referring to the new flexROOM® Distribution Boxes. As decentralized automation nodes, they ensure that each EnOcean device controls the correct lighting, ventilation, shading and air conditioning. In addition, an automation controller integrated into the software application makes the flexROOM® Distribution Boxes an ideal interface between the integrator and individual room control. An Internet browser is used to access the Web interface stored in the flexROOM® Controllers. This interface includes a graphic display containing a simplified overview and plans for each floor. A few mouse clicks allow users to view and change parameters for individual rooms.

In particular, any re-purposing and spatial changes can be implemented intuitively and quickly, simply by assigning virtual axes. To allow such a user-friendly principle to work seamlessly and without any user programming, WAGO’s flexROOM® Distribution Boxes are delivered to the construction site pre-configured. “Precisely during the difficult phase of start-up, flexROOM® helped us tremendously because the assignment of systems and space is accomplished much more quickly than with conventional systems. We estimate that we were about 50 % faster this way,” reports project manager Detterbeck.

In addition, Auron’s particularly user-friendly building allows users to individually regulate each room, performing functions from reprogramming and functional diagnosis to troubleshooting – without prior personnel training and external assistance.

Auron-flexroom-systemverteiler.jpg

Award-Winning Energy Planning

Automatically connecting separate flexROOM® Distribution Boxes to one another to form a total system does not just save time, it also saves valuable energy. When individual systems are perfectly synchronized with one another instead of simply working next to one another, it is possible to develop scenarios that conserve resources. In the Auron building in Munich, this philosophy is already being applied in practice: Even before the building heats up in the summer, the shades facing the sun are lowered and then adjusted automatically to the sun’s position for the rest of the day.

Additionally, room temperatures can only be changed within a defined range corresponding to the outdoor temperature. All of the necessary information about weather conditions comes from the building’s own weather station. The result is significant energy savings, which, combined with other measures aimed at sustainability, earned the building a gold seal of approval from the German Sustainable Building Council (DGNB).

Automation Planning with Design

In addition to the right hardware, the foundation for such high-performance building automation lies in the right automation strategy. Bauer developed both, together with the WAGO project team. A window axis, which includes all of the individual room regulation, was defined as the smallest possible unit in flexROOM® for the Auron building. Several axes can be arranged at will for flexibly designing rooms of different sizes. On the automation level, WAGO’s flexROOM® Distribution Boxes are installed in the suspended ceilings of the floors. They are designed uniformly and available in three models to correspond to the different numbers of window axes. The distribution boxes communicate with each other via an ETHERNET network, which is specially designed for building technology installations. In addition, WAGO has implemented an open interface in order to ensure that data exchange with the building management system works smoothly. All of the parameters stored in the automation controllers are available at any time as a data record and can be fully integrated by any higher-level entity.

A Partnership with a Future

The Bauer electrical company has implemented several projects with WAGO in the past seven years. Auron was the first building equipped with flexROOM®, but it will definitely not be the last. Additionally, Detterbeck credits the smooth project flow to more than just the products: “The relationship between us and our colleagues from the WAGO project sales team was – and is – outstanding. From planning to support, we have encountered only expert representatives, who really take the time to assist us. At this point it’s almost as if we are working with colleagues from our own team.” Commissioning without Programming Automation Scenarios that Conserve Resources Gold Seal of Approval from DGNB

Easier Automation with flexROOM® – the Benefits for You:

  • Simple configuration – no programming

  • Flexibly adaptation to individual application requirements

  • Secure configuration via HTTPS and SFTP

  • Modern Web visualization based on HTML5

Author: Florian Tremmel | 2011-03-01

Photo: Bauer Elektrounternehmen GmbH & Co Kg, WAGO

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