A controls retrofit that met the budget and secured $117K in incentives.
250 Royall Street, Canton, Massachusetts. 185,000 sq ft of commercial property, most of it unoccupied at purchase.
- Client
- Campanelli Companies
- Location
- Canton, MA
- Sector
- Commercial office
- Scope
- Controls retrofit + tenant fit-out, 185,000 sq ft
The complaint.
New owner, old controls, most of the building unoccupied.
Campanelli Companies had just acquired 250 Royall Street in Canton, Massachusetts. The building ran on an old Siemens control system. Common areas and occupied suites needed a new Building Management System, but the unoccupied areas still had to stay under control on the old system until new tenants moved in.
The second problem was the incentive money. The project would not be 100% complete until much of the space was occupied, which made the case for utility incentives harder to present. Qualifying for maximum incentive support meant planning the work, and the paperwork, around a building that was still filling up.
What stood in the way
- An aging Siemens control system running the whole building
- Most of the 185,000 sq ft still unoccupied at purchase
- Vacant areas had to stay controlled until tenants arrived
- Incentives are harder to claim on a building still filling up
What we did.
One new BMS, with the old system kept online where it was still needed.
FMC designed and installed the network infrastructure and control hardware for the base-building HVAC: the major rooftop units, common-area HVAC, building and garage exhaust fans, cabinet and unit heaters, and the rest of the supporting equipment. One Tridium Niagara system, all of it on the same BACnet trunk, with the legacy Siemens system kept online for the spaces still waiting on tenants.
FMC also installed two risers, one on each side of the building, to support future tenant unitary controls, plus a server and graphics package for building management control, monitoring, and alarms.
On the incentive question, FMC worked with Eversource and brought the base building equipment, plus tenant equipment for several early tenants, under control of the new system. That was enough to secure $117,094 in utility incentives through Mass Save, with further incentives to be paid once the remaining HVAC equipment is connected and future tenants have moved in.
Scope of work
- One Tridium Niagara system on a single BACnet trunk
- Rooftop units, common-area HVAC, and exhaust fans
- Cabinet and unit heaters plus supporting equipment
- Two risers for future tenant unitary controls
- Server and graphics package for control, monitoring, and alarms
- Legacy Siemens system kept online for vacant space
The result.
A 2.9-year simple payback, net of incentives, on a $396,000 project.
The $117,094 in utility incentives covered nearly 30% of the total project cost. Set the remaining $279,000 against the estimated $96,000 in annual utility savings, and Campanelli's simple payback came to 2.9 years.
The BMS was sized for the full building, not just the current tenants. As the remaining space leases up, the controls are already there to bring each suite online without pulling more conduit.
Where it goes from here
- More incentive money is still owed as the remaining HVAC equipment comes under the new system
- The BMS was sized for the full building, not just today's tenants
- Each suite can be brought online without pulling more conduit
- The legacy Siemens system retires as the last vacant space leases up
Have a building with incentive money on the table?
We can tell you what's available in your territory and how to sequence the work to capture it.