CASE STUDIES

Virgin Active, Sunninghill

The Clipsal designed & manufactured C-Bus Automation and Energy Management System was specified by the Virgin Active Group as the preferred automation system for their Sunninghill, Sandton gym.

Instructions were given to the appointed electrical engineering consultancy, Watson Mattheus, to design and implement this system, in conjunction with Thornton Group.

The requirements of the client were as follows:

1) Central “master” control from a specified point to switch all lights, air-conditioning units, saunas and steam rooms
2) Central monitoring and control of each individual light circuit, air-conditioner, as well as the saunas and steam rooms.
3) Integration to the fire detection system to cut off any airflow in the event of a fire.

About C-Bus:

The C-Bus System comprises of two separate divisions i.e. the mains voltage side, and then the low-voltage data side.

All loads are wired to the mains voltage side, while all the C-Bus input devices like the touch screen is wired to the low voltage data wire. This is superior to any power line carrier system, as the data line stays clean from any electrical noise that may be present on the mains line and can therefore cause the data signal to be diminished or totally disappear. Apart from two way communication, the data network also incorporates collision detection and CRC checks every 3 seconds to ensure that data gets sent out when the network is clean, and that the data signal is not corrupted along the way. The input devices (the touch screen, in this case) therefore reflect the real status of the load, because there is feedback from the load.

Lights:

The light circuits of the different areas inside the gym are all fed from industrial contactors which are located in the allocated distribution boards as specified by the electrical engineer.
Thornton Group designed the C-Bus System around the electrical engineer’s design and with as little disruption to the project as possible. We designed the layout and supplied the distribution boards to house the C-Bus product. These were mounted adjacent to and separate of the main electrical db’s.
220V feeds were then fed from the C-Bus relays inside the C-Bus db, to the contactor inside the main electrical db. The activation of the C-Bus relay would then energize the contactor to switch the desired load.

This was done for a few reasons which includes the always-present concern where different parties are involved in an installation, namely “Whose responsibility starts and ends where?”

In this way, there is a clear and distinct segregation between the product of the systems integrator and the product of the electrical contractor. Nobody works inside another contractor’s db.

Because of our volatile electricity supply from Eskom, as well as our lightning prone areas, Thornton Group specify and installs surge protection on every individual C-Bus dimmer and relay. Overload protection is also included on every single unit we specify.

The C-Bus system is also programmed to revert back to its previous state in the event of a power failure, and because of its non-volatile memory, no programmed information will be lost after a power failure, even if it is indefinite.

Air-Conditioners and Air Handling Units:

The different areas inside the gym are all fed with fresh air from industrial air handling units, as well as centralized air-conditioning systems.

As with the lights, Thornton Group designed the C-Bus System for the control of these units around the mechanical engineer’s design and with as little disruption to the project as possible. We designed the layout and supplied the enclosures to house the C-Bus product. These were also mounted adjacent to and separate of the air handling units’ control panels.
220V feeds were then fed from the C-Bus relays inside the C-Bus enclosures to the contactor inside air handling units’ control panels.
The activation of the C-Bus relay would then energize the contactor to switch the desired load.
Daikin and Mitsubishi units were used in this installation.

This segregation of the C-Bus enclosures and the air handling units’ control panels, was done for the same reasons as for the lights

In this instance C-Bus controls only the “master” switching of the air-conditioners, and does not replace the thermostat or built-in “intelligence” of the units.
It therefore also means that the air-conditioners are set to “auto-start” mode and will re-initialize itself in the event of a power failure.

In addition to controlling the air handling units, C-Bus also monitors these units for any fault or trip conditions. If a condition occurs that causes any of the air handling units to trip, a voltage-free, dry-contact pulse is fed into the C-bus System. This then triggers an indicator on the monochrome LCD touch screen which is located in a specified location.

Because of our volatile electricity supply from Eskom, as well as our lightning prone areas, Thornton Group specify and installs surge protection on every individual C-Bus dimmer and relay. Overload protection is also included on every single unit we specify.

The C-Bus System was integrated to the fire detection system in this installation. As per the governing body’s regulations, no fresh air may be fed to an area where a fire is being detected.
A voltage-free, dry-contact pulse is fed from a relay on the fire detection system. This relay then gets activated in the event of a fire, and subsequently triggers a response on the C-Bus System to shut down all air-conditioners and air handling units.

It is evident from the above that the integration to the various elements has been kept very simplistic. Again that was designed as such to keep the system robust, instead of going the route of software integration by means of RS232/485 which is fallible.

Steam rooms and Saunas:

The male and female saunas and steam rooms are all fed from individual heating units.

As with the other systems, Thornton Group designed the C-Bus System for the control of these units around the suppliers design and specifications. We designed the layout and supplied the enclosures to house the C-Bus product. These were also mounted adjacent to and separate of the control panels.

The C-Bus System supplies a voltage-free, dry-contact pulse to the saunas’ control panels to switch the units on and off respectively.

This segregation of the C-Bus enclosures and the sauna/steam room control panels was done for the same reasons as for the other disciplines.

User Input (Control) Devices:

A requirement of the client was that the staff of the gym had a central, secure switch from which to switch everything on when opening the gym and off again when locking up.

This was done by means of a standard key switch at the entrance that was linked to C-Bus. This switch acts as the trigger to instruct the C-Bus System to switch on or off all lights, air-conditioners, saunas and steam rooms.

A monochrome LCD touch-sensitive screen also forms part of this installation. This device’s layout and programming is fully customized to suit the client’s requirements.
From here every load can be controlled and monitored real-time, and individually.

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