Executive Tower

Reliable Controls Authorized Dealer AC Applied Technologies installed a Reliable Controls system during a retrofit of the building in 2017.

At the start of the retrofit project, the building had few mechanisms in place for the integral control of lighting and air conditioning. AC Applied Technologies integrated a new Reliable Controls system with the existing older building controllers.

AC Applied Technologies designed the HVAC system at the Executive Tower using three EIA-485 buses and RC-Studio software to integrate MACH1, MACH2, MACH-ProZone, and MACH-Pro1 devices with three chillers, 64 air-handling units with electric reheat coils, two generators, and over 1,100 control objects. Powerful, freely programmable MACH-ProCom controllers communicate over an Ethernet LAN to regulate the lighting on each floor from a central point.

Today building operators use RC-Studio, a multivendor, multiprotocol integration solution for database, alarming, scheduling, trending, and sequence-of-operation programming, to monitor and control the HVAC and lighting systems. Because the Executive Tower is a symbolic building with a public purpose, its air quality, comfort, and system stability are often referenced for new construction projects in the region.

One of the biggest challenges of the project was to facilitate network communication through a bus that passes through areas in the building with a lot of electrical noise. Prior to the retrofit, the electrical panels had floating ground references, which caused failure at certain points along the network. After several tests, AC Applied Technologies stabilized the network using filters and reconnected the system to a single ground reference with help from the building’s electrical contractor. 

After the building control system retrofit, yearly energy costs were reduced by an impressive 25–30 percent.

The building control system “helps with energy savings by managing occupancy, lighting, and equipment operation and keeps all areas of the building comfortable,” said security consultant Agustín Sánchez. “AC Applied Technologies provides good service and security against any event that may arise from both operation and training in the use of the system.”

Reliable Controls and AC Applied Technologies were thrilled to install a simple, flexible, sustainable building control system in the building that houses the office of the president of Uruguay.