Riyadh/KSA: For the past 40 years, Somfy has invented, designed and created controls and motors for openings and closures in residential and commercial buildings. With our automatic controls, facades become bioclimatic: solar protections react to weather variations offering occupants greater comfort while saving energy.
Somfy will supply an advanced control solution for the shades system at Princess Noura Bint Abdul Rahman University. The order is won for Saudi Bin Ladin Group' package in the project; Saudi Bin Ladin is one of the main contractors in this prestigious development.
We are very proud to contribute in the world's biggest university. We believe the project will be a reference project in Saudi Arabia in the Green Building industry.
The project calls for the construction of a new university for women. The university is expected to cover 8 millions square meters and is located on King Khalid International Airport Road, north of Riyadh. The total built up area is around 3 millions square meters. The university will include administration buildings, faculties, a 700-bed student hospital, laborites, Research centers, and a residential area that include accommodation for students and staff. The capacity of the university is around 26,000 students.
The system to be supplied is Somfy's animeo KNX; an intelligent system based on the KNX protocol for automation in buildings and will allow the shades in the building to act and react according to the external weather conditions and students comfort needs, playing a key role in the creation of bioclimatic façades. By optimizing the management of light, sun and shade in buildings, Somfy solutions actively improve the health and well-being of the occupants, while also reducing energy consumption from HVAC and Lighting systems.
The animeo KNX motors controllers will make use of the animeo KNX external weather stations to measure the external radiation and to give real data reading; with communication with the lighting and HVAC systems the animeo KNX will position the shades in a way to be able to:
1. Control glare, contrast and daylight vision therefore securing visual comfort for the students. The LUX levels considered by Somfy in the design are based on the recommended upper level of LUX by LEED, and according to IESNA (Illuminating Engineering Society of North America) Indoor Lighting Recommendations.
2. Create a synergy with the artificial lighting system to allow more daylight while maintaining the recommended LUX levels inside the rooms, the management of natural & artificial light will for sure secure energy saving from lighting.
3. Block long wave radiation (Infrared) creating significant thermal comfort and therefore energy saving from HVAC.
The way of managing the above is based on a list of priorities to be treated in the integration.
Increased natural light with automatic solar protection may reduce artificial lighting needs by 50% to 80%.
When fitted with Somfy solutions, the result is a decreased dependence on heating and air conditioning, the use of air conditioning can be reduced by 28%.
Natural light management, Dynamic Insulation and natural ventilation are three areas of expertise that are unique to Somfy and make an effective contribution to a building's economical performance.
Our solutions are simple and suitable for all types of buildings. Somfy works with others in the building sector to create environmentally-friendly solutions. Each day, our network of 5,400 employees offers ongoing help and assistance to businesses in more than 50 countries.
animeo is a range of automatic systems for managing a building openings and sun protection devices, which contributes to the development of bioclimatic façades. animeo solutions allow you to take control of air, sun and shade, providing improved natural light and ventilation management and Dynamic Insulations for façades.
With animeo by Somfy:
- The building's energy performance is improved: heating and air conditioning costs are reduced.
- The occupants' visual and thermal comfort is optimized.
- The sun protection devices last longer.
Whatever the size of the building, its architectural configuration, the type of façade and sun protection devices or the number of zones to be controlled, there is always an animeo solution to suit every requirement.
The Somfy solution adopted at Princess Noura Bint Abdul Rahman University is aimed to respond to the major concern of creating energy-performant buildings that provide occupants with maximum comfort.
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© Press Release 2010
