learnd delivers a connected building management system for the corporate headquarters of the retail group.

About the site

Screwfix’s base of operations and call centre is in Yeovil, Somerset. Their headquarters, Trade House is an office building set over four floors, consisting of open plan and private office areas to floors 1 to 3. The ground floor consists of office, reception, canteen and kitchen areas. The main plant room is located in the ceiling space above the third floor. Their Contact Centre is adjacent to Trade House and consists of a main hall and offices set over two levels.

Fan coil unit controls

The solution at Screwfix incorporated the fitting of new heating and cooling valves (340), actuators, fan coil unit controllers (170), return air temperature sensors and room controllers. All valves, actuators and controls were specified, supplied and installed by learnd.

BMS upgrade

Screwfix’s heating and ventilation plant within Trade House was controlled using a Satchwell DC1100 and other Satchwell Optimisers. The Contact Centre used a Daikin A/C along with a Daikin interface and a Cylon BMS for the fresh air make-up system. Each of these were replaced, and the controls consolidated into a single NiagaraAX system with ISMA I/O and a Black Pear Interface for the A/C.

Disparate controls that are difficult to use can be a major headache for any business. Consolidating the controls into a single, open source system will make the environment much easier to manage at Screwfix.

Project Manager, learnd

An overview of the changes

  • 340 × FCU heating and cooling valves replaced
  • 170 × FCU controllers replaced
  • Cylon BMS and Satchwell Optimiser removed and consolidated into one NiagaraAX platform
  • The TRANE chiller is now controlled via Modbus
  • All HVAC plant is now optimised and controlled centrally in order to meet the required heating and cooling demand and ensure staff comfort.