Before the new solution was implemented, daily visits were required to control and monitor heat and hot water, says Kristoffer Grennberger, co-owner and integrator at TKA Styr & Regler. For us at TKA, it was essential to offer a comprehensive solution with the latest technology. The systems must be easy to control and monitor and at the same time provide the opportunity to collect data from the properties. In this way, operation and maintenance can be handled more efficiently and simplify the work for the technicians, says Kristoffer Grennberger.
TKA Styr & Regler AB was founded in 2000 and specialized in building automation control. In recent years, they have noticed an increasing demand for their products and services from property owners.
– Today, many property owners want to make sustainable energy investments. By offering new technology, we help our customers to use their resources smarter. As a result, the lifespan of the properties will be longer, the negative impact on the environment will decrease while the costs will be lower – for everyone, says Kristoffer Grennberger.
One of the property owners who want to invest in sustainability is Victoriahem. Victoriahem manages 38,000 homes in 30 municipalities in Sweden and focuses on acquiring, owning, and refining homes, primarily in million housing programme areas. When Victoriahem wanted a complete heating solution with the latest technology, they turned to TKA.
TKA has worked with Regin's products for a long time and therefore developed a new heating solution based on Regin's freely programmable control system EXOcompact – which was connected to Regin's Building Management platform, Arrigo. Victoriahem liked the proposal with the platform Arrigo to visualize and manage data, which resulted in TKA becoming the first in Sweden to start using the Arrigo platform.
Since the heating systems were connected to the Arrigo platform, measurement, data collection and control can now be managed remotely through the cloud. With room sensors in each apartment integrated into the system, it is possible to collect the average temperature from apartments served by several substations.
Arrigo creates commitment to save energy
In the Arrigo application, each technician has a login where they can see alarms and take instant action from their mobile phone or computer, without having to visit the actual property. The operations manager uses Arrigo to control energy consumption and monitor statistics for each substation. Based on the statistics, changes can be made to the operating schedule, saving energy from both short- and long-term perspectives. The heating curve can be shifted, and the heat can be controlled individually for each building. The communication with the properties enables both measurements of hot water consumption and heat regulation at a distance.
– The most significant benefit of the tool is, of course, that it saves energy. It is also an important benefit that the tool has a simple interface that is easy to navigate. We have also noticed that the technicians' commitment to saving energy has increased. The reason for this is that the platform provides such a good overview and is easy to use. Moreover, we have reduced our working hours, as we handle most of the work remotely.
Aiming for a future with smart buildings
The trend, in general, is increased building automation with smart connected homes. Therefore, it is important to us that we can offer our customers the benefits of Arrigo. It also feels safe that many of Regin's products are developed and manufactured in Sweden, concludes Kristoffer Grennberger.
