The Municipality of Amsterdam standardizes on mbNET for remote management of its buildings (Success story)

In our industry we sometimes find machines that have been working for ten, twenty, sometimes thirty years or more. But when we talk about buildings in a city, we are on a completely different scale. What's a decade or two when buildings can be centuries old?

Of course, today most buildings, whether old or new, are equipped with modern HVAC systems and building owners like to keep those costs under control. It is therefore very convenient to be able to manage them from one central place and this is where it all started a few years ago.

Among the buildings in the city of Amsterdam you could find a variety of HVAC systems from companies such as Priva, Siemens or Schneider Electric. Some were equipped with remote access capabilities, others were not, and it was difficult to keep track of which system should be used for which building.

The municipality of Amsterdam was looking for a solution to standardize the remote management of its buildings in a way that is both compatible with its IT security requirements and easy to install and operate by non-IT specialists. It was this complicated assignment that Opm bv took on.

Opm bv specializes in the supply of HVAC management systems and is active in the middle segment of the market. They supply factories, offices and control rooms worldwide. They deploy their competencies with flexibility and rapid response and create tailor-made solutions for each of their customers.

When Opmbv de MB connect line solution was first introduced to the Municipality of Amsterdam, it went through a series of approval rounds with nominated IT specialists and with the people who would ultimately be responsible for its maintenance. It is rarely the owner of the buildings who takes care of the maintenance; more often this is outsourced to a third party and the building owner delegates the access rights to the relevant supplier. This invariably leads to many people having access and many installations having to be managed. A nightmare to organize and maintain the security and integrity of the entire system.

After successfully passing IT assessment and security penetration testing, the building's management team approved the solution based on its overall versatility and user access control flexibility.

Today the MB solution is used in all buildings, both old and new and the same hardware even serves USB controllers & legacy serial ports. Each controller can have one alarm notification via a direct input on board the router that automatically calls for the operator's attention.

Third party access is now much better managed by built-in user access control, where users can only access the necessary components via a “hop service”, where only keyboard and mouse events are passed to the component's website or the VNC server. Users can interact with the component without actually having access to the site's network. Access to the network is only given to specific users, where and when they need it.

“A well-managed building is one where it becomes easy to achieve energy savings“, says Marco Frank, owner of Opm bv control and control technology, “This customized solution is very useful now, in these times of pandemic and confinement, because you can control all systems, including legacy installations, and implement corrections & optimizations, depending on the current occupancy, all from your home office. You save energy while maintaining staff safety and building security.“

For example, control and control technology

Opm bv control and control technology, located in Haarlem, is a specialized company in measurement and control technology. The company is the partner in realizing projects in the field of control technology and building management. Whether it concerns the entire process, advice, guidance or the implementation of a specific part of a project.

Opm bv can take care of your projects from the design to the selection and delivery of the field equipment, including the programming of the control equipment and the cabling of the cabinet, in accordance with the applicable standards and regulations.

Website: www.opmbv.nl