An Enterprise Approach

Apr 1, 2008 12:00 PM, By Jim Nanini

Try thinking outside the ‘security silo.’

Security technology capabilities have advanced by leaps and bounds over the last decade. Integration between technology silos - security, fire, building systems, business systems and end-user systems - has enabled its growth.

It used to be that security, fire, HVAC and building controls, voice and data resided on their own infrastructure. A different subcontractor installed each, and integrating them was difficult. Walls and ceilings were stuffed full of wires.

Today's low-voltage systems reside on a converged IP network, a data network designed and installed to allow building, business and end-user systems to share a common infrastructure. Convergence on one network standardizes maintenance, reduces hardware costs and streamlines installation. It also allows easy integration between systems, thus enabling today's most exciting security applications.

Against this backdrop, a new best practice - technology contracting - has emerged. The concept involves appointing responsibility for planning, designing, installing, integrating, commissioning and servicing technology systems throughout the enterprise to a single, qualified entity known as the technology contractor. The responsibility extends to all low-voltage systems: fire, security, HVAC and building automation, voice, data and end-user applications.

This new methodology can help security teams get the most out of integration, extend functionality and conserve operating costs.

A revised contracting model

Traditionally, during a construction or renovation project, the building goes out for bid and a general contractor wins the project. Separate subcontractors bid on fire, security, plumbing, wiring, lighting, HVAC, communication and specialty systems. Each installs its own system and, many times, its own network. The result is an abundance of unnecessary networks. No one entity is responsible for communicating network specifications. Security systems and building equipment may not be ordered with the proper connections, thus resulting in change orders and delays. Opportunities for integration are missed. Little thought goes to future technology needs and how the infrastructure will support them.

Technology contracting augments the conventional process of subcontractors working under a general contractor. One manager brings an enterprise-wide perspective to technology.

With broad technical expertise across silos, the technology contractor serves as a counselor and advisor throughout the planning, design, installation and commissioning process and beyond. The technology contractor is expected to understand and anticipate the needs of the owner, security department and other stakeholders, and guide decisions from selection to placement. The role also involves managing and mitigating risk related to future technological advancements.

Some key benefits of technology contracting include:

• Enabling system interoperability and taking advantage of opportunities for intelligent integration.

• Case study: Ave Maria University

  Saving time. Effective project management means that all vendors work with clear direction and coordination.

• Reducing the number of contractors to manage. The technology contractor acts as a single point of responsibility for planning, design, installation, integration, commissioning and service.

• Cutting capital costs. The technology contractor avoids unnecessary duplication of infrastructure and systems.

• Reducing construction costs. Better coordination means more efficient installation, fewer change orders, less schedule overruns and faster commissioning. Also, ordering everything at once helps to leverage volume opportunities.

• Improved network design. A thoughtful approach to design reduces instances of systems and applications conflicting, and enables standardization of processes, for a more end-user-friendly presentation of multiple technologies. A well-designed network also makes it easier to make modifications, helping a facility to be more adaptable as the organization grows and technology needs change.

• Improved management and maintenance. Intelligently deployed technology saves energy, reduces maintenance and uses facility staff efficiently. It is also easier for staff to maintain, as it does not require as much specialized knowledge.

Technology contracting is best suited to large, complex projects requiring extensive integration among systems. Common applications include hospitals, airports, data centers, stadiums, pharmaceutical research and manufacturing facilities and, increasingly, universities.

Ave Maria University, a Catholic institution located in Ave Maria, Fla., opened in July 2007. The 908-acre campus has 500,000 square feet of facilities serving 600 students and 200 faculty and staff.

Ave Maria was “green field” construction. In other words, unlike other institutions, it did not grow out of a legacy college. Every campus building is brand new. This gave the university's founder and architect engineering team an unprecedented opportunity to build technology systems from scratch.

The university is among the world's most technologically advanced. A Johnson Controls Metasys® building management system monitors, controls and automates the campus's chiller plant, heating and cooling, indoor air quality, lighting and lavatories. It is also responsible for power management and asset tracking.

The Metasys application is centrally managed from the campus's network operations center. However, it occupies only one of the center's four monitors. Other systems monitored from this center include a fire panel, digital video monitoring and a system for security and access management. Incredibly, these systems are effectively operated by a staff of just six full-time employees. Operators can also monitor and control systems from their smart phones. Integration helps make this all possible.

If a professor complains that a classroom is too warm, operators can correct the temperature with a few mouse clicks. Protocols and workflows ensure a swift and effective response to security incidents. Moreover, maintenance is minimal. Metasys predicts when equipment needs service or replacement. Since students and faculty moved onto the Ave Maria campus in mid-2007, all systems have performed as designed without a second of downtime.

Ave Maria enjoys extensive integration between security and other systems. A campus “One Card” gives students, faculty and staff individually tailored access to dormitory rooms and academic buildings. It also acts as a library card and a debit card for the cafeteria, bookstore, copying and printing.

The campus's cutting-edge security features do not stop there. Biometric readers provide an additional layer of identity verification at data centers. Campus public address systems by GAI-Tronics, Reading, Pa., are scattered throughout campus in addition to emergency phones at all building entrances, providing instant emergency access to the network operations team. Digital surveillance cameras are trained on the stations whenever they are used.

Integration benefits fire and life safety as well. If the fire alarm system detects a fire, Metasys tells the HVAC system to stop delivering fresh air to the area, to prevent fanning the flames. It also pressurizes a path of egress, clearing it of smoke. The access control system unlocks doors along the route, and surveillance cameras train on the fire to give responders a live feed.

The systems at Ave Maria University make it exceptionally safe and comfortable. With a network operations staff of six overseeing all building controls and IT systems - as well as fire, security and life safety systems - it is also lean and efficient.

With so many technologies and applications to consider, Ave Maria hired Johnson Controls, Milwaukee, as its technology contractor. The university tasked Johnson Controls with overseeing the design and installation of the infrastructure, as well as all the technology that would reside on the network. Systems included the Metasys building management system; data equipment from Cisco Systems, San Jose, Calif.; a Johnson Controls P2000 security management system; a fire panel from Notifier, Northford, Conn.; lighting, smart cards and proximity readers from GE Security, Bradenton, Fla.; HVAC components, a Maximo maintenance management system from IBM, Armonk, N.Y.; an audio/visual distribution and oratory audio system, servers and other equipment and applications.

Ave Maria University's Vice President of Systems and Engineering Bryan Mahaffey challenged his technology contracting team to push technology's limits to achieve the greatest functionality possible within the construction budget, while pushing operating costs down.

The technology contractor installed all systems on a LonMark backbone. LonMark is an open data protocol that allows equipment from various vendors to be installed and integrated on the same infrastructure easily and inexpensively. Because any vendor or contractor can introduce new equipment and functionality to the infrastructure that Johnson Controls designed, Ave Maria's campus is “future ready.”

Hiring a technology contractor resulted in significant savings on its $10 million investment in facilities and IT infrastructure. It is estimated that Ave Maria saved $1.5 million on unnecessary or redundant cabling included in the original campus design.

Over the long-term, operating savings will be even more significant. The university projects that it will save $350,000 annually by conserving on network operations center staff, as well as $600,000 annually from reduced utility costs.

“By designing and building an open, IP infrastructure throughout every building and structure on our university and the nearby town, we have created a new paradigm for design and integration of building systems,” Mahaffey says. “It provides us the opportunity to dramatically lower costs, improve services and drive productivity increases on almost every level.”

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Jim Nanini is director of network integration solutions for Johnson Controls. Contractors & Specifiers

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