Digitalising buildings and ensuring economical operations with solutions from SCHELL

8-minute read

In its study on the role of digitalisation in the construction sector, the German Energy Agency (dena) identified digitalisation as a significant factor for greater energy efficiency in both residential and non-residential buildings. Alongside optimisation options for water and energy efficiency, a key advantage of digitalisation buildings lies in the greater cost-effectiveness of building operations. This applies in particular to drinking water installations that are planned and operated responsibly. Where building operators digitalise key functions in the building’s sanitary facilities – such as by installing the digital SCHELL SWS Water Management System, for example – this relieves the Facility Management team of many routine tasks, freeing up their resources for other activities. In many cases, this can help to economise on staff expenditure. SCHELL has a range of solutions for the tradespersons, planners and architects involved in the digitalisation and responsible planning of a building.

Other SCHELL products are compatible with the integrated approach taken by SWS. As one example, the SCHELL COMFORT PT angle valve is equipped with a temperature sensor that measures the water temperature and transmits the data obtained to SWS digitally. This allows temperatures in the PWC and PWH lines to be checked: stagnation flushes can then be initiated automatically in the case of temperatures that are too high on the cold water side or too low on the hot water side. As a result, stagnation flushes can be triggered based on time or temperature. SWS also helps facility managers to comply with record-keeping requirements. All relevant data is stored in the form of tamper-proof CSV files on the SWS Server, and can also be exported as and when necessary.

The leak protection fitting adds an extra function to the SCHELL SWS Water Management System to combine hygiene with leak protection. The fitting is ideal for all buildings with fixed usage or holiday periods – such as councils, local authorities, schools, insurance companies and sports centres. The SWS leak protection fitting uses a calendar function to ensure that the drinking water system is always sealed off – either centrally or only in certain parts – when all of the users have left the building. The fitting opens and closes automatically to perform the stagnation flushes set up in the system. This ensures hygiene and safety are maintained even in the case of longer periods of absence – like long weekends, during school holidays, etc. For unscheduled opening of the fitting, the fitting can be operated with a switch or opened manually.

Please see our digital brochure for more information about SWS.

The innovative, browser-based SMART.SWS online service is an add-on for the SCHELL Water Management System. SMART.SWS provides remote monitoring and control functionality for SWS systems and fittings over an encrypted connection. From a single server to multiple installations, messages, calculated water consumption and much more can all be accessed via SMART.SWS. The options available to the respective user will vary according to the user role. This ensures that each user is given a user interface that is tailored to their user role and presents them with relevant data. Building operators can use SMART.SWS to monitor their properties and get facility management involved if necessary. Facility managers, in turn, can keep tabs on their own sphere of responsibility around the clock and proactively plan battery replacements for the fittings, for example. Mobile access to SWS as provided by SMART.SWS can save valuable time – and therefore cut personnel costs – in digitalised buildings.

SCHELL provides valuable infrastructure and solutions for tradespersons, planners, architects and operators wanting to digitalise their buildings. At the infrastructure level, SCHELL offers support with its BIM/CAD service that provides digital datasets for many fittings. This data can be accessed either on the BIM Portal or from the individual product pages.
At the product level, SCHELL offers a wide range of electronic fittings, whose parameters can be set conveniently using SCHELL Single Control SSC, for example. If the building automation system needs to be fully integrated with all key tapping points, then a deployment of the digital SCHELL SWS Water Management System is recommended. Comprehensive digital management of drinking water installations is provided by SWS and its innovative add-on, the browser-based remote admin solution SMART.SWS. SCHELL solutions ensure that the most important future requirements for building digitalisation in relation to drinking water installations can be implemented economically and sustainably with SCHELL.

Have questions about building digitalisation with solutions from SCHELL? Our SCHELL Service Team looks forward to hearing from you.