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GCN Home > 06/04/07 issue

GSA paves way for IT-based buildings

Agency leads in the new trend of managing buildings via the network

By Drew Robb, Special to GCN

In May, the General Services Administration issued an unusual statement, saying it was “working to integrate power controls into [information technology] operations.” By doing this, the agency expected big savings on energy consumption.

One example cited is the Charles E. Bennett Federal Building in Jacksonville, Fla., which cut energy consumption by more than half.

“We have just started to move in the direction of converging IT and facilities with our newer buildings,” said Diane Herdt, chief information officer at GSA’s Public Buildings Service. “Initially, we are looking at energy and water conservation, but it will be expanded to use IT for physical security, lighting and power management.”

And GSA is not alone. The best examples are occurring in the state government and educational sectors. The Missouri state government’s energy costs, for example, soared from $42 million to $74 million in a couple of years. Missouri now has a program to centralize control of building automation systems (BAS).

“We’ve saved $15 million so far,” said Trent Blair, director of the technical analysis unit in the Division of Facilities Management, Design and Construction. “The goal is to reduce total cost of operations by about a dollar a square foot, with overall savings of $30 million.”

Those gains will be spread across 27 million square feet of owned space and more than 800 buildings. The game plan is to harness IP to connect the various control systems and integrate everything into one system that collects all data to provide a unified maintenance and energy picture.

IP has been invading all kinds of zones during the past few years. Voice over IP converges voice and data over one network. IP Storage allows agencies to achieve economies of scale by managing storage capacity over the existing Ethernet-based network.

Now, the trend is for IP to invade BAS. Instead of separate data, building, access, physical security, elevator, HVAC (heating, ventilation and air conditioning), fire and energy systems — with separate control environments and their own console and monitoring programs — the goal is to use IP to centrally manage everything.

More news on related topics: Communications / Networks, Mobile & Wireless, Homeland Security, IT Management, State & Local



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