Project Profile: Les Mills Christchurch

Inspired by a desire to help people fall in love with fitness, New Zealand Olympic track-and-field athlete Les Mills opened his first gym in 1968. From its origins as a small gym in Auckland, the Les Mills brand has grown into a global movement with 12 fitness clubs across New Zealand and Australia, 23 programs licensed in 20,000 fitness clubs worldwide, and a team of 140,000 instructors who deliver group classes to over 6 million people a week. The company is driven in part by a commitment to corporate social responsibility and has donated millions of dollars to environmental causes, including partnering with UNICEF.

Reliable Controls Authorized Dealer IES Group ugraded the building automation system at the Les Mills Christchurch facility, which includes controls and peripherals for seven air-handling units that serve three gyms, changing rooms, and support-staff areas. Before the upgrade, the facility was not set up to use the cooling capabilities of its air-handling units or remotely monitor the domestic hot-water system or supply and return fans.

IES installed eight MACH-ProSys devices with a mix of MACH-ProPoint expansion modules to control the air-handling equipment at Les Mills Christchurch. The MACH-ProSys is a flexible, fully programmable BACnet Building Controller with onboard inputs and outputs and extensive networking options. Eight SPACE-Sensor Temperature devices with a mix of CO₂ and relative humidity sensors measure and control humidity, CO₂ and temperature throughout the facility. The CO₂ sensing technology in the SPACE-Sensor Temperature is a stable nondispersive infrared sensor not subject to the short-term drift found in other air-quality sensors. Facility managers benefit from energy savings with CO₂ sensing, as ventilation is based on actual occupancy rather than the design occupancy of the space.

IES used RC-Studio software to integrate mechanical equipment and implement control strategies that optimize comfort and energy efficiency in the gym. Today building managers can efficiently manage the control system over the internet using RC-WebView software, an easy-to-use browser-based solution that combines the power of enterprise tools with a simple interface accessed by a secure single sign-on. With this building automation system upgrade, the hot-water system and supply and return fans are now monitored and controlled remotely thanks to RC-RemoteAccess software, a scalable, affordable BACnet Secure Network solution. And with the continuous downloads of building data logs provided by RC-Archive software, facility managers have a comprehensive record of performance.

This project offered a few distinct challenges for IES: commissioning and testing a new building automation at a live site with minimal disruptions for clients and working under strict safety protocols brought about by the COVID-19 pandemic. It provided a unique opportunity to customize building control based on fitness-class schedules and develop a tailored environment for a particular class.

Les Mills prioritizes sustainable initiatives in the operation of its fitness clubs, including 100 percent renewable energy, recycling stations, eco-friendly products and suppliers, LED lighting and smart lighting controls, low-flow shower heads, solar hot-water heating, and EV charging stations. Reliable Controls and IES Group are pleased to support Les Mills’s sustainability goals with this upgrade to the building automation system in Christchurch.