In Pennsylvania, the Community College of Allegheny County (CCAC) is modernizing buildings across its four campuses and the West Hills Center, as well as its building automation system, with occupancy sensing, improved LED lighting control systems, and Internet of Things (IoT) platform. The project is part of a COVID-19 mitigation initiative and infrastructure upgrade from Enlighted, a part of Building Robotics Inc., a Siemens company. Funded by the Higher Education Emergency Relief Fund (HEERF) and accelerated by the need to help minimize COVID-19 exposure, the implementation will help increase the health and safety for students, faculty, staff and the community while shaping a smart, connected campus prepared for the future.
Located in the Greater Pittsburgh metropolitan region, CCAC serves more than 24,000 students across four campuses and four neighborhood centers, as well as other off-site locations. The initiative will retrofit indoor spaces spanning more than 1.8 million square feet with an LED lighting and controls system consisting of 17,000 Enlighted IoT sensors. The IoT sensors, positioned in the lighting fixtures, will connect to Enlighted’s Data as a Service (DaaS) offering, Space, which will provide occupancy and utilization insights to lower energy usage and costs and make strides in furthering CCAC’s sustainability initiatives.
Benefits that CCAC will obtain by modernizing all building spaces include:
- Automated operation that will adapt based on the use of the spaces by students, faculty and staff
- Data insights and analytics to help direct campus cleaning and sanitation efforts for high traffic areas
- Ensuring proper ventilation of air in spaces that are occupied
- Understanding of space usage to help achieve social distancing and meet local capacity requirements
- Analysis of space utilization for facilities planning and reduction or new construction guidance
“Our goal is to reinvent and transform our campus into the most innovative, safe and sustainable campus of the future to create new research and innovation opportunities for our faculty and students,” said Carlo Vazquez, Vice President and Chief Facilities Officer at CCAC.
“We recognized the importance of a strategic partner in supporting our COVID mitigation efforts while meeting ambitious sustainability goals,” he continued. “Enlighted delivers a level of data insights and analytics, as well as platform agnostic integration, that is unmatched in the industry. Having access to Siemens Empower and workforce development programs was also compelling as we sought the ideal partner for this critical initiative.”
“We are proud to partner with CCAC in shaping a safe, healthy and energy efficient environment for its students, faculty and the larger Pittsburgh community,” said Stefan Schwab, Chief Executive Officer at Enlighted. “By deploying the latest IoT sensors and lighting control technologies, CCAC will succeed in optimizing its energy infrastructure and providing a template for other higher education institutions striving to create energy efficient, sustainable and smart campuses.”
