Integrating multiple manufacturers into a modern HVAC control solution.

Good Indoor Air Quality (IAQ) is a vital component of a healthy indoor environment and can help schools reach their primary goal of educating children. Hopkinton Middle School was looking to upgrade the school building's boiler and HVAC control systems to not only continue to provide an excellent learning environment to its students but also to gain control of their energy consumption and lower costs before the school reopened in fall of 2022.

FMC in its initial assessment determined that the school had two HVAC control systems, each with their own user interface. There was an older Honeywell LonWorks system and newer Distech Controls equipment controlling a segment of the school. Not only is this a maintenance nightmare, but the systems did not communicate with each other, which resulted in sub-standard indoor air quality and excessive energy use.

The district ended up with one control platform for a building that had four. Different tenants, different controllers, different eras of equipment — all talking now, all tunable from one place. The new sequences run tighter than the old ones, which shows up on the utility bill.

From the facilities team's perspective: one login, one interface, one phone number to call when something drifts. From the classroom's perspective: air that's comfortable, quiet, and not a distraction. Both sides matter in a middle school.