Phoenix Controls, a Honeywell business that provides precision airflow control solutions for critical environments, has launched the Critical Spaces Control Platform.
The platform uses automation to direct airflow via a specialised venturi valve in hospitals, laboratories, research facilities cleanrooms and other spaces.
This Phoenix Controls innovation “ensures a dynamically balanced system in a way that is both sustainable and energy efficient without compromising the safety and integrity of critical spaces,” said Conor Murray, Principal Consultant in 3dimension Cleanrooms and the current Chair of the International Confederation of Contamination Control Societies.
Dynamic airflow control and changing air change rates
Precise airflow management is essential in such areas because the slightest unexpected environmental change can have profound consequences, such as a researcher being exposed to harmful toxins due to lack of critical space containment, a patient contracting a surgical-site infection from airborne bacteria or a batch of medicine being wasted due to infiltration and cleanroom contamination.
With the Critical Spaces Control Platform, research, healthcare and high purity manufacturing spaces can improve their ability to prevent cross-contamination while lowering air change rates for efficient operation. It also supports Honeywell's alignment of its portfolio to the three compelling megatrends, automation, the future of aviation and the energy transition.
The new platform is centered around the venturi valve and can be programmed for each site’s tailored specifications to provide dynamic control in real-time and react quickly to environmental fluctuations. By integrating a specialised BACnet Controller onto the valve, the system offers critical environment managers key operating information and statistics on a single unified platform that requires minimal maintenance once programmed. It can also easily be monitored remotely through the new Phoenix Controls mobile app and Vision CE monitoring dashboard.
To help match energy consumption to actual need under real-time dynamic conditions, the solution offers additional functions such as a hibernation or setback mode
“Critical environments require precise conditions for maximum operating efficiency to help ensure occupant safety,” said Dave Rausch, Senior Critical Environment Specialist for Phoenix Controls. “By putting greater control and system insights directly into users’ hands, the platform can be customised to provide a higher level of performance and substantial outcomes for any critical environment.”
With the use of sensors and other peripherals, the platform can integrate with building control devices, offering a complete view of operations in a single building or across an entire campus. To help match energy consumption to actual need under real-time dynamic conditions, the solution offers additional functions such as a hibernation or setback mode, energy waste alerts and the ability to adjust airflow based on occupancy and usage requirements.
Grove City College, a liberal arts college located in Grove City, Pennsylvania, is a longstanding user of the Phoenix Controls’ system and will be integrating the Critical Spaces Control Platform to gain more operational control, system visibility and facility efficiency. The integration comes as part of the college’s extensive renovation of Rockwell Hall of Science, a 93-year-old building set to be home to new, state-of-the-art laboratories and classroom spaces for STEM students, including biology, chemistry and engineering.
“Air quality is paramount to the safety of our students and faculty who are working with potentially harmful chemicals in labs or classrooms,” said Susan Grimm, VP of Operations for Grove City College. “Phoenix Controls has been a trusted partner of ours for more than a decade and has provided extensive technical and engineering support. They have been instrumental in our renovation of Rockwell Hall, and we look forward to employing this new system to further automate and simplify critical functions to help us deliver a safer learning environment for our students.”