AB Vassilopoulos

A SMART ENERGY MANAGEMENT SOLUTION IN ONE OF THE TOP SUPERMARKET CHAINS

The installed by ZARIFOPOULOS SA ENERGY VISION NX energy management system, now allows centralized monitoring and optimization of energy consumption of the more than 80 renovated stores of AB Vassilopoulos.

REQUIREMENTS

The client requested the central monitoring and control of all BEMS system functions in every store, to analyze and keep clear track of the power consumption, always aiming to save energy. The different existing HVAC and non-HVAC systems, such as fridges, lighting, energy meters, etc., had to be integrated in a single collaborative platform, its main characteristic being the possibility for remote supervision and management.

THE CHALLENGE

The greatest difficulty of the project was to choose an extended, fully configurable and flexible system that would be able to be standardized in a such way, that would enable easy and, most importantly, cost-effective installation in such a wide network of different stores.

This system would have to be an “end to end”, “turnkey” solution that would ensure the overall implementation in the case of possible future additions and interventions. Furthermore, all the different manufacturers and technologies of each control subsystem (air-conditioning, lighting, refrigeration, energy, alarm) had to be integrated into a single environment that would facilitate control and management.

THE SOLUTION

Delphis Group, the company in charge of the installation and maintenance of AB’s refrigeration and air-conditioning systems, and Zarifopoulos SA, with lots of experience in BEMS and automation installations, were chosen to implement the above solution. The system chosen to undertake this difficult task is called Honeywell Arena – HAWK Integrated System. A system, fully manufactured in Germany and its function is based on the latest technology building automation protocol called BACNet.

ARENA is a state-of-the-art software which is based on the Niagara Framework, which has come to replace the use of an SQL database, resulting in quicker and more efficient management of large volume of data. It is also a web-based application, which makes it is easily accessible via a network or even a smartphone device.

Its main characteristic and advantage is the integration capacity of many open protocols, as well as many proprietary protocols, through the cooperation of Niagara with numerous 3rd party manufacturers. The software is complemented by the new platform Energy Analytics, which receives data straight from ARENA and takes over the difficult work of analyzing the energy using KPIs and Normalization, as well as Reporting.

On a store level, the powerful controllers of the HAWK range were used, which have a management capacity of a large number of Software or Hardware signals, thanks to their powerful processor. They can read and immediately manage all the well-known open building automation protocols without using gateways, offering stable and fast communication.

VALUE FOR THE CLIENT

The Centralized Control and Building Energy Management system was upgraded to the latest technology. Our substantial experience in third-party system installation and provision of specialized mechanics combined with the energy management system ENERGY VISION NX, now allows for the centralized monitoring and the optimization of energy consumption at the more than 80 renovated stores.