Web-Based Communication Suits Rowan U. Well

Rowan University in southern N.J., hopes to soon realize a long-term goal: better inter-building communication, and with it, greater energy savings.

The institution, with an enrollment of over 10,000, is about six months from completing its five-year, $270-million project to install an open energy management and control system. Cost savings, reduced energy consumption, integrated operator interface for multiple buildings and improved environmental control are all goals of the expansive project.

The initial phase of the system connected eight different buildings over the university's Ethernet. Complicating this task was the fact that work on existing buildings had to be performed around the university's class schedule.

The installation itself is a web-based building automation system that uses a standard browser as the user interface, allowing university personnel to access the system and perform all necessary monitoring and control functions from any computer on the network.

The BACnet open communications protocol is used throughout, as it supports high-end functions such as scheduling, alarming and trending. Control systems, made by several different manufacturers, will be integrated into a single BACnet system. The actual construction and renovation work is being performed by a number of different contractors.

The system controls everything from VAV boxes and fan-coil units in individual rooms to chillers and cooling towers supplying multiple buildings. The project was funded by the State of New Jersey.