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TAC Installs $2.1 Million Building Automation System At the Boston Convention and Exhibition Center
TAC, a world leader in building automation, security systems and energy solutions, has installed a $2.1 million building automation system (BAS) in the recently completed Boston Convention and Exhibition Center. Containing 1.7 million square feet, the new convention center is the largest meeting facility in New England and has the capacity and services to host tens of thousands of people under one roof. To effectively manage all the systems in place at this massive building, the owners, the Massachusetts Convention Center Authority (MCCA), turned to TAC to provide a versatile and reliable BAS. The MCCA asked TAC to deliver an integrated BAS solution that would allow multiple third-party systems to interoperate and be controlled through a single front-end system. TAC leveraged the facility’s Ethernet backbone network and installed its Andover Continuum® products to handle building controls and integration with an Allen Bradley programmable logic control (PLC) system to address central plant requirements.
With air circulation a critical factor in a facility this size, the Continuum system controls 29 air handling units (AHU) and automatically sends alarms to alert convention center staff in the event of a problem. A graphical user interface makes it easy for facilities staff to quickly monitor multiple zones within the convention center. TAC also trained the convention center’s staff to manage and maintain the facility throughout the year to meet specific needs.
Using the TAC BAS, the convention center’s staff has flexibility to monitor and manage a wide range of systems and operations, such as heating, ventilation and air conditioning (HVAC) equipment, fire alarms, carbon monoxide/carbon dioxide levels, interfaces for fuel oil and refrigerants, data transfers, and generators. Key benefits of the TAC BAS for the staff are centralized and remote system access, interoperability among multiple systems, expandability and reliability, ease of use, and self-maintenance.
“One of the primary objectives the MCCA had when designing this new facility was to introduce and maintain the highest possible level of technology,” said Jack Haley director, engineering and maintenance for MCCA. “TAC’s Building Automation System helped tremendously toward attaining that objective.”
“The MCCA articulated its desire to create a dynamic building that announced that Boston was moving into the future. They envisioned a hi-tech convention facility that would also serve as a drawing card and linchpin for the city’s waterfront revitalization efforts,” said David Berardi, vice president Systems Integration-East, TAC. “Encompassing that vision, the facility has a dramatic design, a technologically advanced infrastructure and a building controls system designed to meet 21st century demands.”
Although this public works project was many years in the making, TAC had just 18 months to complete its work on the facility. Still, notes Berardi, “TAC delivered the building controls project on time and on budget.”