"Clearly this offers environmental benefits to users too, and helps demonstrate a firm's commitment to wider community and corporate responsibility goals." he continues.
With the continuing rise in the cost of energy and growing political and commercial pressure to improve organisations' environmental performance, the attention of facilities managers is turning more and more to methods of saving energy.
As well as controlling access to a particular site, building, floor or individual rooms, Net2 can also be configured to control lighting, heating and air conditioning systems. This is achieved by integrating the Net2 I/O board with other building services so that particular actions are associated with particular 'triggers'.
For example, when the final member of staff leaves the building, they can set the intruder alarm through Net2. However this can be extended by using the system's 'trigger and action' function, to adjust or switch off the heating, lighting and air conditioning systems. "This is a big step forward from the traditional time clock approach" believes Adam Stroud. "No longer need anyone working late be plunged into darkness without warning or need to leave the building at a set time."
The interface of the company's air conditioning units is connected to two relay contacts on a Net2 I/O board, which means that one I/O board can control two air conditioning zones with its four relays. Relay 1 switches control away from the standard remote control unit so that pressing buttons has no effect. Relay 2 controls the ON or OFF state of the air conditioning unit if the remote control is disabled by Relay 1.
With everything connected, the 'trigger and action' function is configured in the Net2 software. The trigger is the alarm being set by the last person leaving the building. The associated action is for Net2 to take control of the air conditioning unit momentarily, leaving the unit in the off state, before passing control back to the air conditioning remote control panel ready for the next day.
Other actions may be set. For example, to bar use of the air-conditioning completely unless the outside temperature reaches a certain point. This can be measured with a thermostat outside the cooled zone connected to an input on a Net2 I/O board.