Case Study: Student Dormitory Varaždin
In early December 2017, the new Student Dormitory Varaždin was opened in the Croatian town of Varaždin. This is one of the most state-of-the-art buildings in Croatia. The student dormitory is a highly efficient passive building and the only public building in Croatia with the highest energy efficiency rating A+ at the moment.
The entire concept of the student dormitory is based on sustainable development and environmental conservation through zero emissions of harmful gases.
The ecological orientation of the building is proven by the use of rainwater for household use, waste separation and underground waste collection containers and a rooftop solar power system, which produces electricity for heating and cooling through water-to-water heat pump.
The building is equipped with a light control system with sensors in order to rationalise energy consumption.
The costs for the construction of the campus: €19,016,585, 85% of which was financed with the help of European subsidies.
The entire building uses state-of-the-art technology, connected into the building management system (BMS), which enables monitoring and control of the following data:
- room regulation (lighting, blinds, heating and cooling, sos)
- heating station (two heat pumps and three energy distributors)
- outdoor lighting
- gutter heating
- energy meters
- blinds in common rooms, regulated via the weather station
- solar power station
7 storeys
243 rooms
600 beds
15 kitchenettes
6 classrooms
6 common rooms
Andivi and its partner company Menerga have turned the student rooms into smart rooms. All 243 student rooms and the premises in the office part of the building are equipped with the Andivi NDV-Basic Silver door locks that enable contactless Mifare card technology.
The following indoor common areas of the student dormitory are equipped with Andivi NDV-WRFIDk external card readers that enable students access with their smart card:
- bicycle storage room
- garbage room
- laundry room
- garage and
- others.
Therefore the entire access control system can be combined as a whole as students can access their rooms and various common areas with only one card, without requiring any keys.
The same cards also function with the Andivi NDV-ESS2 card holder or energy saving switch, installed in each room to maximize energy savings.
The card holder switch is connected to the TRC-D smart controller, which the students can use to control the room temperature.
After students leave the door and take the card with them, the controller makes sure that the room temperature and convector ventilators’ activity go into economy mode, while the energy saving switch makes sure that the lights go off and the blinds are shut.
The construction lasted 18 months.
For even greater energy-saving the balcony doors are equipped with reed balcony sensors that sense if the doors are open or closed. If the balcony door is open, the TRC-D controller sets the cooling and heating into economy mode and prevents unnecessary use of energy. For example, if the room is heated in winter or cooled in summer and the door is open, a lot of energy is wasted.
All controllers and sensors are connected via U-MIO input/output units and the U-DDC controller into the building management system, meaning that the student dormitory operator can remotely monitor and control individual dorm rooms according to:
- room occupancy status,
- set and actual room temperature,
- room controller’s status: on or off,
- convector speed,
- position of blinds.
All this to increase energy savings.
Due to high energy efficiency of the building, the student dormitory in Varaždin should have 5 x lower energy costs and 7x less impact on the pollution of the environment than an average reconstructed building with a similar capacity.
Thanks to state-of-the-art technology and the desire to preserve the environment the student dormitory in Varaždin is one of the most modern buildings in this part of Europe.
