For several years, the Korsavad School in the Municipality of Simrishamn experienced problems with their ventilation. Finally, the situation became so severe that the school was threatened with closing, which would in turn affect more than 600 students.
The project to save the school was carried out by the company Lindsténs Elektriska, in collaboration with the Municipality of Simrishamn.
“We got rid of the old control system, replacing it with a new solution in just two months. That way, we did not have to close down the school. Thanks to the inherent simplicity of Regin’s CLOUDigo cloud-based solution, we could carry out the project without a single programmer or other consultant being present, despite some of the control scenarios being quite complex”, says Jimmy Linde, Technician at Lindsténs Elektriska.
The installation consisted of 20 air handling units, complete with substations. All existing I/O modules were removed together with all other unnecessary equipment and replaced with a new solution. This solution was based on the Corrigo control system connected to a cloud service, in order to facilitate both future service and spare parts stock management. Much of the surrounding technology, such as contactors and relays, could be kept in place.
“Now, the system is user-friendly, making it easy to carry out complex tasks. This also makes it easy for us to train staff”, says Jimmy Linde.
A big problem with the previous system was that it was unstable, giving rise to a lot of breakdowns.
“This new solution created a simple, yet robust system - which is easy to adapt and highly stable from an operating standpoint”, says Benny Andersson, Energy Strategist for Simrishamn Municipality.
The solution did not only create a fine-tuned system, but also cut energy consumption in half during certain operating months. During the summer, the school had almost no energy consumption at all. By using night setback - that is, by lowering the temperature when no one occupies the building - energy use was further reduced.
A total of six projects, in Saudi Arabia, Vietnam, Italy, Spain and Sweden, were nominated - all competing for three awards in the Regin Energy Saver Awards. And it was Lindsténs who won the award for the “Ready-Steady-Go Installation of the Year”.
“We are very proud to receiving an award for this project, which has contributed to many improvements for teachers, students and other employees at the Korsavad School. Everyone deserves a good indoor climate”, says Jimmy Linde.
The jury’s motivation
The award goes to a project that shows the possibility to achieve great improvements of indoor climate and energy savings by using modern HVAC technology in an easy way. Sometimes, it is the simple tools that enable smart solutions, leading to low engineering costs for an advanced solution. The short implementation time and cost-efficiency of the project show that there is no excuse not to improve the indoor climate, save energy and contribute to a sustainable future.