APH Ltd Deliver KNX-Based Smart Technology in a London Hospital Intensive Care Wing

Imperial College London’s QEQM (Queen Elizabeth Queen Mother) adult intensive care unit (AICU) has been moved into a new floor of an existing building.

The challenge for APH Ltd was to incorporate all the service requirements of such a sensitive space with the simple usability that is needed for 24 hour use by a constant rotation of care staff.

Project Summary

Full integration of all the essential building services (such as high number of DALI lighting, heating, ventilation, air conditioning, window blinds, patient TV entertainment screens, nurse station access & lighting controls, intelligent ‘privacy’ glass controls & over ninety motion sensors) in this busy and critical intensive care unit.

Reliability is not ‘optional’ in these surroundings.

The scope of the project was to cover all areas within the unit covering over 70 different rooms and spaces:

• 16 critical intensive care beds.

• Nurse stations, receptions, waiting areas and corridors

• Seminar rooms, teaching rooms and staff room.

• Staff changing/shower rooms, patient shower rooms and WC’s.

• Sitting rooms, interview rooms and all staff/consultant offices.

• Drug stores, equipment stores and all store rooms.

• Sluice rooms and laboratories.

Project Description

The KNX platform delivered a wide ranging solution from straightforward lighting control to more complex control of HVAC, patient TV’s and visitor door access control.

All functions are controlled from Gira InfoTerminalTouch touch screens with KNX interface.

A total of 21 touch screens have been installed - located adjacent each bed, each of the Nurse Stations and at other critical control stations such as Main Reception.

Top features

Heating, Ventilation and Air Conditioning are controlled via BACnet from the touch screens and communicate with the Central Building Management System (which is a complex TREND System).

DALI lighting control throughout (including wards, corridors, waiting areas, training rooms, staff rooms, stores, sluice rooms etc). Flexible brightness levels and energy saving.

Access control to wards, opening doors where necessary (for example in an emergency ‘crash’ situation).

Presence detectors and occupation detectors on corridors, rooms, stores, WC’s.

Venetian blind control for a total of 13 window areas (the blinds lift and tilt to adjust brightness and privacy)

‘Intelligent glass’ control for privacy between treatment rooms.

Control of overhead patient television and entertainment screens (via the Gira wall mounted touch screens). This removes the need for patients to touch any form of remote control whilst they are in quarantine.

Customer Comment

“We were surprised that there was such a comprehensive solution available. We had tried other systems in the past, but they were invariably not fit for such comprehensive applications.

On every occasion we asked more of KNX the answer was “Yes”. The end result is an excellent solution for the hospital, and has been operating faultlessly since being commissioned.”

‘Hospital M&E Services Manager’

APH ltd are proud to be associated with such a prestigious project on behalf of the NHS Trust.

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Photographs courtesy of Peter Faulkner