Malmö Municipality, located in southern Sweden, has a long standing relationship with Schneider Electric. Given the fact that Malmö was ranked fourth among the world's 15 greenest cities by Grist.org, it is not surprising that it would prioritise energy efficiency. To date, Schneider Electric has implemented energy conservation programs in over 100 buildings across the municipality. The goal is to achieve significant energy conservation throughout the building portfolio's life cycle through continuous energy inspections, remote energy monitoring, and energy optimisation measures.

When it came time to develop a vision for schools of the future, the customer turned to a trusted advisor to deliver something more—a unique solution that would collectively address energy use, indoor climate, and security concerns.
 
 

At the time of this project's inception in 2006, energy costs in Sweden had increased by 40% during the previous four years. With such a sharp rise in energy costs, and in light of the EU directive on energy conservation, it was crucial for the customer to become proactive in this area. A second priority was to create a school environment for the future that would be optimised in terms of energy efficiency and indoor climate, along with security and safety. Schneider Electric proved to be a strong partner for both these priorities. The result of our collaboration was Klagshamnskolan, a primary school located just outside of Malmö, and a benchmark for all future schools in the municipality.

Klagshamnskolan perfectly demonstrates the concept of green security with its integration of building management, access control, intrusion detection, lighting, and carbon monoxide regulation. Planning for both security and building systems at the design stage of a project is fundamental to achieving the highest level of security and energy efficiency. Unfortunately, all too often, security is added to a project as an afterthought. This can diminish both the effectiveness of the security system and the benefits of integration.

• 55 kWh/m² annual energy used compared to the average of 120 kWh/m² used in Malmö schools
• Streamlined planning and construction for new facilities—this project serves as a blueprint for all future development
• Shared infrastructure of equipment allowed for reduced CapEx
• Increased operational efficiency
• Significant energy conservation
• Comfortable, healthy indoor climate provides an enhanced learning environment and improved student performance

The highly integrated building management system makes it possible to conserve energy and ensure optimised operation of the building’s technical systems. This is made possible through the tight integration between the lighting, indoor climate, and security systems. Management is simplified through the TAC Vista single-user interface. Users can access the system on-site, or remotely via a web interface, where both Schneider Electric engineers and the Malmö Municipality technical staff can monitor and optimise the solution.

Energy efficiency is something that now impacts the daily lives of the students, who are able to monitor energy usage on a central display in the cafeteria.

The general concept behind the technical installations at Klagshamnskolan was to create close integration and communication between traditional building management systems (heating, cooling, ventilation, and lighting) with security systems (access control, intrusion detection), thereby creating increased operational efficiency and energy conservation.

One of the main benefits created through this coordinated approach was that components, (e.g., motion detectors), could be co-utilised by the security system as well as the system controlling indoor climate. Additionally, because one supplier provided all the technical systems in the building, there was improved coordination during the planning and construction phases.

Open communication between the systems also enabled further benefits through a sharing of vital information that traditionally resided only in closed and separate systems. For example, the security system informs the ventilation system that a classroom window is open, which consequently signals that room's ventilation system to switch to stand-by mode, thereby saving energy.

Schneider Electric has expertise in both energy and security management. We design and install highly integrated systems using our own hardware and software, but can also easily integrate with third-party products and systems as required. As a long standing partner of Malmö Municipality, we have a proven track record and are considered to be a trusted advisor.

Green security: an integrated approach
• Motion detectors for intrusion detection and climate control
• Window-contact is utilised for both intrusion and energy savings
• Lighting control through motion detection
• Climate quality through carbon monoxide monitoring devices
• Scheduled energy savings modes for the whole facility
• Zone-based access control is coordinated with lighting systems

Klagshamnskolan is equipped with an access control system based on the TAC I/NET solution. During after-school hours, students and staff can enter the building by using their access card and a personal PIN-code. The school is divided in such a way that the alarm system for each zone can be individually activated or de-activated. At 4:00 p.m., all main doors in the hallways are closed by automatic release of the magnetic contacts holding them. This ensures that the building is ready to be completely locked down without having to close doors manually. At 6:00 p.m., a voice message is broadcast throughout the building via the public address system, announcing that the building is closing and the alarm will be activated.

Staff members remaining in the building may prolong their stay by entering their personal PIN-code at the closest card reader. Motion detectors used to operate the ventilation system during the day are used by the intrusion alarm system after-hours to monitor movement in the building.

When a zone’s alarm system has been activated, lighting in that section is automatically turned off in order to save energy. If an alarm is activated, the lighting turns on for the whole zone to ensure that guards and/or police have easy access to the premises. This sharing of infrastructure components traditionally reserved for the security system, such as motion detectors and magnetic door and window contacts, makes for efficient, intelligent building management.

A typical room and its features
The benefits of an integrated and coordinated approach for the building systems become clearly evident when looking at the features and functionality of a typical room in the school. All areas throughout the building operate in the same manner, capitalising upon a shared infrastructure that delivers easily-accessible and actionable information.

During nights and weekends, when the building is empty and the alarm system is activated, a typical room is set to stand-by mode. At 7:30 a.m., all rooms are automatically reset to economy-mode, (19° C and minimal airflow). Once someone enters the room, it goes “live”: the motion detection device activates the room and sets it to comfort-mode. Temperature is then increased to 21° C and airflow is increased accordingly.

As additional people enter the room, temperature and carbon monoxide monitoring devices continuously measure and optimise the airflow and radiators to constantly maintain a pre-set temperature and a safe level of carbon monoxide.

On a sunny day, when students want to listen to bird song outside the window, integration is evidenced again. Once a window has been opened, it is detected by the intrusion alarm system through the magnetic contacts in all windows. This is communicated directly to the heating and ventilation system; after one minute, the room switches to stand-by mode, and ventilation and radiators automatically turn off to conserve energy. When the window is closed again, the system resets to comfort-mode.

When everyone has left the room, the lights are automatically turned off after 20 minutes, thanks to the integration between the security (motion detectors) and lighting systems.