According to the United States EPA (Environmental Protection Agency), intelligent green buildings can reduce energy usage by up to 70%. With more buildings incorporating intelligent sensors and technologies to help maximize building efficiency, building managers are looking at converged building solutions to help unify the individual sub-systems and manage the slew of sensors for greater ROI.

APPLICATION OF NUCLEUS IN UNIFIED BUILDING MANAGEMENT

NUCLEUS fuses data from multiple sub-systems with the building’s 3D model, giving you an all-in-one unified management system.

NUCLEUS – Integration with Environmental Sensors
Through NUCLEUS, premise managers can get a comprehensive 3D situation awareness of the premise’s environmental variables, security, fire alarms, CCTV cameras and converged network in a single window. In addition, NUCLEUS’s networked access architecture enables managers to oversee and manage multiple premises easily from an operations center.

Capable of full integration with OPC-based and BACNET-based sub-systems, NUCLEUS can be integrated with the following systems:

  • > Temperature Sub-system Management Interface (Indoor temperature distribution monitoring)
  • > Chiller Plant Sub-system Management Interface
  • > Energy Usage Sub-system Management Interface (City wide & per level building monitoring)
  • > Air Quality Sub-system Management Interface
  • > Water Sub-system Management Interface
  • > Lighting Sub-system Management Interface
  • > Facilities Sub-system Management Interface
  • > Network Sub-system Management Interface
  • > Fire Alarm Sub-system Management Interface
  • > Integrated Alarm Management Interface
Real-time Fusion of sensors information with 3D model

Real-time Fusion of sensors information with 3D model

1. Real-time fusion of sensors information with 3D model
Integrated with building management system, NUCLEUS fuses real-time sensors information collated by the building management system with the building’s BIM derived 3D model in one view. Powerful convergence of 3D building and multiple sensor sub-systems in one view gives rise to comprehensive premise situation awareness, leading to clearer decision-making and response co-ordination.

CCTV sensor marked in 3D model according to geographical info

2. Marking sensors in 3D model according to geographical info
On top of being able to view real-time sensor information, NUCLEUS unique feature of marking sensors in the 3D model according to the geographical location in real-world allows building managers to quickly view real-time sensor information of the building with reference to actual location in the 3D model.

Temperature monitoring of individual rooms

Temperature monitoring of individual rooms

3. Indoor environment quality monitoring
Indoor environment conditions such as HVAC, temperature, energy and water consumption, are monitored by the building management system and displayed via a colored volume in the 3D model in NUCLEUS. The volume shows the extent of the sensor’s coverage while the varying colors allow building managers to gauge the measured property in a glance, e.g. temperature level of the rooms. In case of abnormalities, an alert will be raised in NUCLEUS, allowing manager to acknowledge the issue and carry out the relevant SOP for rectification.
City-wide energy consumption management

City-wide energy consumption management

Per building level water consumption management

Per building level water consumption management


Chiller plants monitoring

Chiller plants monitoring

4. Chiller plants monitoring system
Aiding the indoor environment quality monitoring, NUCLEUS also works with the building management system to give building managers a fast overview for managing the chiller plant system. The 3D building models of the chiller plants helps building managers to easily visualize the data that belongs to each chiller equipment, with clear indication of the condense water flow and chilled water flow information. In the event a fault with the equipment is detected, e.g. any chiller equipment breaks down, the building manager will be able know which equipment has broken down at a glance, with the alerts from NUCLEUS.

Carpark slots monitoring

Carpark slots monitoring

5. Smart parking system
NUCLEUS integrated with car park slot sensors and CCTV video analytics helps driver to locate empty car park slots and through utilizing the smart parking system, drivers can locate the nearest available car park slots, reducing cruising time.

Carbon monoxide levels monitoring in car park

Carbon monoxide levels monitoring in car park

6. Air quality monitoring
NUCLEUS can also help building managers in car park’s air quality monitoring. Carbon monoxide sensors placed in the car park measures the levels of carbon monoxide present in the car park, and is displayed with colored volumes in NUCLEUS. When the carbon monoxide levels reaches an unhealthy level, NUCLEUS will alert building managers to take rectification measures such as increasing air flow through ventilation vents.

Smart 3D lift monitoring system

Smart 3D lift monitoring system

7. Smart 3D lift monitoring system
NUCLEUS integration with smart lift sensors allows business park manager to monitor the status of the lifts in all of the buildings. From the smart 3D lift system, business park manager can quickly know the status of each lift (operating, stopped, faulty etc.) and deploy maintenance team as needed.

Tracking of ammonia levels in washrooms

Tracking of ammonia levels in washrooms

8. Multiple 3D premise site management support
NUCLEUS is integrated with smart sensors to help building managers to optimize toilet cleaning and waste removal process. By integrating NUCLEUS with air-quality sensor to track levels of ammonia in the washrooms, cleaning services is triggered on-demand only when ammonia levels reaches undesirable levels.

Waste bins can also be monitored so that in the event waste overflows and is detected around the bin instead of in the bin, on-demand cleaning services will be engaged to clear the bins.
CASE EXAMPLE – NUCLEUS WITH JOHNSON CONTROLS’ METASYS® NETWORK CONTROL ENGINE (NCE) 25 SERIES CONTROLLERS
Metasys® Network Control Engine (NCE) 25 Series controller

Metasys® Network Control Engine (NCE) 25 Series controller

Integrated with Metasys® Network Control Engine (NCE) 25 Series controllers, NUCLEUS fuses real-time sensors information collated by Metasys® Network Control Engine with the building 3D model. The physical locations of the real-time sensors are marked in the 3D building according to the geographical location in real-world, giving building managers actual location based situational awareness.

Fire alarm system board

Fire alarm system board

In tandem with the indoor environment quality monitoring, Metasys® Network Control Engine also works with the fire alarm sub-systems. For example, a spike in carbon dioxide levels accompanied by positive readings from smoke sensor that has a laser-based photoelectronic sensing chamber triggers an alert in NUCLEUS, alerting the building managers with a very intelligent early warning (VIEW) to a possible fire emergency. In the event that the actual fire alarm has been activated, the alarm status will be shown in NUCLEUS, and emergency lighting and pathway guidance systems will be activated, unlocking all exit doors for emergency evacuation, and ventilation will be set to safety mode.

Fire alarm activated alert, with exit doors unlocked

Fire alarm activated alert, with exit doors unlocked

VALUE & BENEFITS OF NUCLEUS TO USERS
1. Alert system

Incorporated with an alert system, NUCLEUS alerts building managers when unusual behavior is detected for indoor environment monitoring, e.g. power outage triggering an alert. This active alert system eliminates the need for constant monitoring. With the location based information, building managers can quickly pin point the problem and the extent of area affected.

City-wide energy consumption management

Alert for unusual energy consumption detected

Alert for unusual water consumption detected

Per building level water consumption management

City-wide energy consumption management

Alert for unusual chiller plant activity detected

Alert for unusual water consumption detected

Alert for unusually high temperature detected


2. Equipment monitoring for efficient maintenance

NUCLEUS’s ability to monitor devices, facilities and equipment information allowed building managers to easily browse and query maintenance records and manufacturer information from the 3D view. Incorporated with location based information, when any system has problem, e.g. power outage, building managers can quickly pin point location of source of fault so that rectification measures can be taken immediately, reducing the system’s down time.

Listing of equipment maintenance schedule

Listing of equipment maintenance schedule


3.Manpower resource optimization

NUCLEUS integration with smart sensors helps building managers to optimize manpower resource. For example, tasks such as washroom cleaning are scheduled with redundancy. By integrating NUCLEUS with air-quality sensor to track levels of ammonia in the washrooms, cleaning services can be triggered on-demand only when ammonia levels reaches undesirable levels, hence optimizing manpower while maintaining the same level of washroom cleanliness.

Waste bins can also be monitored so that in the event waste overflows and is detected around the bin instead of in the bin, on-demand cleaning services will be engaged to clear the bins.

City-wide energy consumption management

Tracking of ammonia levels in washrooms

Alert for unusual water consumption detected

Tracking of waste level in bins


4. Benefits for Visitors

NUCLEUS integration with smart sensors helps improve visitors’ experience at a premise. For example, by integrating NUCLEUS with car park slot sensors and CCTV video analytics, drivers can utilize the smart parking system to locate the nearest available car park slots, hence reducing cruising time.

Listing of equipment maintenance schedule

Smart car park system detects occupied slots, reducing drivers’ cruising time


5. Efficient Feedback

NUCLEUS features an incident reporting function which allows anyone with a camera able mobile phone to become an information provider. Passerby who notice incidents, such as a leaking air con vent can capture an image of the incident with their mobile phone and report it to NUCLEUS with a short description of the incident location. This provides a great way for efficient feedback, which helps in overall management and maintenance of the building.

Efficient feedback with mobile incident reporting

Efficient feedback with mobile incident reporting


6. Premise planning for better prepardness

Annotation of location-based notes can be done in the 3D building model using 2D icons or 3D objects. This can be used in premise planning, e.g. planning car park slots, resulting in better preparedness for the building.

Utilizing NUCLEUS for premise planning

Utilizing NUCLEUS for premise planning


7. Centralized Management

NUCLEUS completely integrates with Building Management System, Security Management System, Fire Management System, Asset Management System, 3D building model and the building’s Information Technology system to reach a system convergence, allowing data from individual sub-systems to exist on one single platform. Boundaries between each sub-systems is removed, creating a vast reservoir of business intelligence, and building managers can seamlessly interplay data for a more efficient and intuitive management of the building.

For example, the fire alarm system integrated with NUCLEUS monitors the CO2 and smoke levels in the building. When unusual levels of CO2 and smoke levels are detected, NUCLEUS will alert building managers, who can then take fast actions to verify the situation via selecting a neighboring CCTV in NUCLEUS to call out the live footage or dispatch the nearest patrol guard on duty, based on RFID locations, to understand the ground situation.

Viewing of data from fire alarm system and access control concurrently in NUCLEUS

Viewing of data from fire alarm system and access control concurrently in NUCLEUS


Apart from supporting centralized management, NUCLEUS also supports multiple 3D site management, allowing building managers with multiple premises to manage all premises from a single control room.

NUCLEUS's multiple 3D site manager module

NUCLEUS’s multiple 3D site manager module

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