IP-based solution integrates fire detection and alarms, building management, security, aquatic life safety and closed circuit television systems

London, 27th June 2008 - CDC, the intelligent building experts, has used its flagship product, Integra™, to create a safe and secure environment for staff and visitors to County Hall, a landmark building in London which is home to The London Aquarium, Marriot Hotel, Diana trust Memorial Fund, Dali Museum as well as many other restaurants and businesses.  Integra was used to integrate the individual stand-alone fire and aquarium life support systems into a single IP-based system, making it easy to monitor and control the building’s individual systems, reducing operating and maintenance costs.

Integra, which provides an out-of-the-box software interface between building management systems and the IP infrastructure, enables County Hall to manage and monitor multiple building services in real-time via a single, easy-to-use management console, effectively making the building ‘intelligent’.  Integra was ideal for the project as it can be effectively retrofitted with existing systems, meaning that the older building management systems within county Hall could be kept.

Using Integra means that the fire alarm system and aquarium life support systems do not need to be individually manned.  Using a comprehensive range of IP communication drivers, all information from the disparate building management systems are now passed to a centralised IP network and vice versa, enabling data to be managed via a single interface, resulting in improved estate efficiency, decreased running costs and increased safety and security. 

By using Integra, response times to fire alarms are now accelerated, and a graphical representation of the building provides visual location of alarms as well as text descriptions, so fire strategies can be properly implemented. Integra also creates an audit trail, logging the activities of each of the alarm panels and also operator actions, so cause and effect for events initiated via Integra can be recorded and assessed after the event.

Mike Williams, MD of CDC commented:  “Given the size and prominent location of the County Hall building and the large number of people visiting and working within it, security and safety are top of the management’s agenda.  By opting to make their building intelligent, County Hall can safeguard its residents by optimising its IT infrastructure, removing the need for investment in additional network communications cabling, as well as minimising disruption to visitors and staff. Using IP network technology also guarantees data capacity to meet the future information needs of the business.”

A senior spokesperson for County Hall, commented: “Given the number of lives we need to keep safe within County Hall, both human and aquatic, security systems and monitoring are paramount.  To this end, it was imperative that we found a way of optimising the management of the multiple security systems that protect the building and its inhabitants.  CDC has provided us with a solution that has not only increased the security of County Hall, but also provided us with operation and maintenance cost reductions.”