Police station project makes full use of KNX capabilities

Winner of the KNX Innovation Award 2019, the VLAS police station project in Kortrijk, Belgium, makes full use of KNX capabilities.

IntroductionThe new police station is based in Kortrijk, Belgium, and has been the home base of the VLAS police zone since last year. It houses all operational services of this police zone and includes office space, interrogation rooms, a detention centre, premises for monitoring the camera network and other facilities.The electrical engineering study was carried out by Ingenieursbureau ISTEMA, and the installation was done by the EEG Groep, with integration of the JUNG KNX system being done by Sumi.

The briefThe brief was to provide the new police station with smart controls for lighting, climate, energy monitoring, visualisation and specific functions such as anti-aggression push buttons over an area of 10,000 m², spread over 3 floors. Special consideration was also to be given to the effects of sunlight and outdoor lighting during the night.

The solutionFor the lighting, Sumi smart took into account the specific needs and flexibility requirements of the police services, such as permanent occupancy of the building, and the number of people present depending on external circumstances. Sumi also applied daylight control to LED lighting at the height of the windows, whilst the other LED lighting automatically switches on and off over a daylight threshold.

To limit nuisance caused by the sun in certain rooms, Sumi installed a motorised awning which is automatically controlled via a KNX weather station based on the solar radiation and wind speed. Together with a clock, the weather station also controls the outdoor lighting, and to limit the light pollution for the environment, the outside lighting is dimmed during the night.

There are 373 presence detectors within the building that control various functions. In the common areas, the presence detector controls the light on and off, whilst in the individual offices, the detectors only switch off the lighting automatically in the event of a longer absence.

Presence detectors have also been placed in the interrogation rooms and cell complexes to indicate the occupancy of the rooms. Anti-aggression push buttons in these rooms are connected to KNX and indicate with acoustic and visual warnings in which interrogation room assistance is needed.

For climate control, integrated thermostats in the KNX push buttons transmit the room temperature to the building management system. The CO2 level in the room, the relative humidity and the presence of people are passed on to the building management system in a similar way, which controls the room temperature on the basis of this data.

Products and technologies usedA JUNG KNX installation functions as the backbone of the building, and is responsible for, among other things, controlling the lighting via switching actuators and DALI gateways. This is done with the help of 373 presence detectors in function of a rational use of energy and optimum comfort through the use of daylight control. The outdoor lighting is controlled via a clock and the JUNG KNX weather station. The building is also equipped with 120 CO2 detectors that ensure an optimal indoor climate in which the heating, cooling and ventilation are controlled automatically.

Visualisation software allows building users to view the status of the various KNX functions, alarms are centralised and operating hours such as time clocks for outdoor lighting, can be adjusted.The architects on the project, Goedefroo + Goedefroo Architectenbureau opted for the JUNG LS 990 switches in alpine white with accents in Les Couleurs Le Corbusier.

The benefits of using KNXThanks to KNX, VLAS police station has been transformed into a smart building on both an energy and functional level. The energy consumption and comfort of the building is continuously monitored. All relevant KNX and building management system variables go to the cloud via the ByNubian data acquisition system, and analyses can be used to determine whether there is room for improvement in energy efficiency.The visualisation of this complete KNX installation provides a perfect overview of energy consumption and all relevant parameters, resulting in an ideal building management system.

Project: Police Office VLAS KortrijkA project by: Sumi SmartContact: Davy Riemaeker