Four control systems folded into one interface.
FMC partnered with Aalanco Service Corporation to upgrade the HVAC and control systems, improving indoor air quality before the fall 2022 reopening.
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- Client
- Hopkinton Public Schools
- Location
- Hopkinton, MA
- Sector
- Education
- Year
- 2022
- Scope
- HVAC controls upgrade with Aalanco
The complaint.
A school that had to be ready before the doors reopened.
Hopkinton Middle School wanted its boiler and HVAC control systems upgraded before the building reopened in fall 2022. The asks were plain: reliable indoor air quality for the classrooms, control over energy consumption, and lower costs.
What the school asked for
- Reliable indoor air quality in every classroom
- Real control over energy consumption
- Lower operating costs
- All of it finished before the fall 2022 reopening
What we found.
Four control systems that couldn’t talk to each other.
Four different control systems, each with its own user interface. An older Honeywell LonWorks system ran part of the building; newer Distech Controls equipment ran another segment. None of them communicated with each other.
The results were a maintenance headache, sub-standard indoor air quality, and excessive energy use.
What that cost the school
- Four separate interfaces for one building
- An older Honeywell LonWorks system on one segment
- Newer Distech Controls equipment on another
- A maintenance headache for the facilities team
- Sub-standard air quality and excessive energy use
What we did.
One unified interface for every era of equipment.
FMC cataloged what was already in the building, replaced what had to go, and put a single Niagara-based interface over everything that stayed, so the legacy controllers and the modern ones answer to one place.
Scope of work
- Control points mapped across seven AHUs
- More than twenty classroom unit ventilators cataloged
- Honeywell LonWorks controllers replaced on the AHUs and central plant
- Remaining Honeywell controllers integrated with the Distech controls
- One Niagara-based interface over legacy and modern equipment
Identified and cataloged the existing Honeywell LonWorks and Distech Controls systems, mapping control points across seven AHUs and more than twenty classroom unit ventilators.
FMC upgraded the school's controls with Distech equipment and put a Niagara-based graphical user interface over both the legacy and the modern systems.
Replaced the Honeywell LonWorks controllers for the seven air handling units and central plant. Remaining Honeywell controllers were integrated with the existing Distech controls for classroom unit ventilators.
Deployed one Niagara-based graphical user interface covering the Distech equipment and the remaining Honeywell controllers. Despite supply chain challenges, FMC and Aalanco completed the upgrade before the school reopened.
The result.
Four systems folded into one, in place before the doors opened.
Different vendors, different controllers, different eras of equipment, all talking now, all tunable from one place. The new sequences run tighter than the old ones, which shows up on the utility bill.
From the facilities team's perspective: one login, one interface, one phone number to call when something drifts. From the classroom's perspective: air that's comfortable, quiet, and not a distraction. Both sides matter in a middle school.
What changed day to day
- One login and one interface for the whole building
- One number to call when something drifts
- Tighter sequences showing up on the utility bill
- Classroom air that is comfortable, quiet, and unremarkable
Got a school building with four different controllers?
If your district is looking at a similar mix of controllers and deferred maintenance, FMC has done this before.