explore the BusinessNet
Smart metering for Barnet College
Story
Eaton’s industry-leading Smart split-metered distribution boards will provide energy metering to the latest requirements of the UK Building Regulations, Part L2, in a new energy-efficient college building in North London. MITIE Engineering selected the Smartboards to provide low voltage distribution throughout Barnet College’s new Wood Street campus. Meanwhile, Eaton’s 400A Mempower busbar risers were selected to carry power to riser cupboards on each floor.
A total of 26 Smartboards are used in the building which will provide state-of the-art teaching facilities for 4,000 students and 255 staff. The innovative boards incorporate dual metering facilities so that lighting and small power loads can be metered separately in accordance with Building Regulations Part L2.
A major reason for selecting the Eaton boards was the fact that the unique Smart meter provides a separate reading for each of the grouped loads, explains Mark Cordell, MITIE’s Project Manager. Alternative designs generally provide one measurement for the total board load and a separate measurement for one of the grouped loads; this means that values for the second grouped load have to be calculated. Eaton’s Smart meter provides visual readout and remote indication of a range of parameters (including kWh, voltage, current, power factor and maximum demand) for the grouped loads and total board load.
The four-storey Barnet College building has risers at either end. 400A Mempower MP busbar trunking brings power to the riser cupboards at each floor. The five-bar system provides a separate clean earth facility for the computer installations in the building.
A variety of board sizes has been used in Barnet College from 6+4 TPN ways to 14+10 TPN ways. Each riser cubicle includes two Smart boards which provide power for lighting and other services on the adjacent floor areas. Cable feeders supply power to further distribution boards in the core of the building. These will all be linked into a BMS system.
Building Regulations Part L2 call for energy sub-metering so that 90% of the estimated annual consumption can be assigned to specific end-use categories, such as lighting, in new and refurbished buildings. This means that final distribution boards which supply lighting and small power must have separate measurement of both load groups. Eaton has responded with a range of solutions including distribution boards with integral metering and separate meterpacks for use with conventional distribution boards.
Eaton’s split metered distribution boards are available in Type A (single-phase) and Type B (three-phase) form with up to 14+12 outgoing TPN ways. The unique dual-channel Smart summing meter is used in conjunction with a high-integrity 15kA busbar with embedded voltage transducers. This offers a more compact solution than designs which use current transformers, and higher integrity than soft-wired split-busbar designs. The Smartboards incorporate high-integrity clean earth facilities as standard.
Barnet College is one of the largest Further Education colleges in the country with campuses in High Barnet, Colindale and New Southgate offering a wide range of courses for 25,000 learners. The old Wood Street premises were becoming costly to maintain but the new building will offer a modern sustainable, energy-efficient environment. The site is being landscaped in sympathy with the historic Tudor Hall in the centre of Barnet. Main contractor for the project is Vinci Construction UK Limited.
In another educational building project in Barnet, MITIE is installing another 16 of Eaton’s Smart split-metered distribution boards in the new East Barnet Secondary School.
