Minerals supplied globally from smart Derby HQ

Scenariio is delighted to announce completion of a major project in Derby, transforming the offices of LKAB Minerals to make it one of the smartest buildings in the East Midlands.

 

LKAB Minerals is internationally active in the minerals market and holds a leading position within a number of product applications. It is part of LKAB, a Swedish state-owned company and one of the world’s leading producers of highly upgraded iron ore products, producing close to 27 million tonnes of iron ore products.

 

Based in a longstanding building in the heart of Derby’s industrial cluster on Raynesway, LKAB were keen to bring the offices in the building up to modern standards, improving the site as a place to work, focussed on employee wellbeing. Seeking support in how best to approach the project, and being open to ideas and technology, they asked Scenariio to focus on lighting, AV, connectivity and data as part of the wider office refurbishment. They wanted to achieve their aims on wellbeing whilst aligning with their corporate sustainability responsibilities.  

 

Scenariio proposed a smart lighting solution of 120 lights that would deliver key data metrics alongside state-of-the-art AV and office connectivity equipment, delivered with their partner, Coodart.

 

Before commencing works, they spent time working with LKAB to demonstrate why PoE lighting is the best choice. By removing drivers from lighting fixtures and locating them in a comms room, data cables carry only SELV, meaning there is no 240v power running through the ceiling void. This extends the life of fixtures and removes elements of lighting that are subject to failure whilst reducing maintenance costs and the impact of electrical equipment in voids.

 

In addition to the delivery and operational benefits, LKAB understood the value, efficiency and control that the smartengine lighting system could deliver and placed it at the centre of their plans. Scenariio was able to design a PoE lighting system that worked in a space that would undergo major refurbishment, and also provided the IT network infrastructure and structured cabling that would drive it.

 

Smartengine focusses on daylight harvesting and occupancy-based operation using a dense sensor network. By doing this, it is able to help LKAB reduce energy consumption by up to 90% against their previous lighting. The lighting also ensures the wellbeing of building users and improved accuracy and productivity, whilst fully integrating into meeting room technology that was installed in all 4 meeting rooms.

 

Importantly, the use of PoE lighting helped to reduce the carbon footprint of the project due to reduced delivery times and a faster installation compared to traditional lighting, due to the requirement for fewer materials that PoE offers.

 

The infrastructure requirements included a total recabling of the building, a total refresh of their comms room including decommissioning the old network, repositioning their existing cabinet, repatching their network switches, installing a new network cabinet and air conditioning system in the room. The project resulted in a fresh installation of 280 Commscope Cat6 data outlets.


A full wireless survey was undertaken over the entire site, including the production facility, allowing us to design a high-quality Cisco wireless solution for LKAB Minerals resulting in fast, efficient connectivity for all employees.


Aiding LKAB in their office move, our engineers were on hand to support LKAB's IT teams in completing the desktop cabling and assisting with the installation of desks, monitors and other IT equipment. This continued into day 1 of occupancy where we were on hand for any issues as they arose.

 

184 sensors are currently monitoring occupancy, temperature, humidity and CO2 levels, alongside light levels, power consumption and motion. This is all done in real time and facilitates a better working environment and enables space planning to an informed, evidence-based level.

 

Moving forward, LKAB are already investigating the potential for monitoring car park occupancy, using the Insiight bespoke data dashboard and looking at other ways to use the available data to improve their workplace.

 

Samantha Bucknall, UK Group Performance Manager at LKAB Minerals, said “The Scenariio team are very professional, knowledgeable and easy to work with which has helped to make the project such a success. As we move forward, we expect to bring the technology implemented in Derby to future refurbishments.”

 

Russell Webster, Operations Director at Scenariio, said “We are pleased that our relationship with the team at LKAB Minerals has allowed us to deliver a smart building that puts sustainability and wellbeing at the heart of their operations. This project is a great example of how combining high quality infrastructure and smart building technology delivers outstanding results and is an exemplar for our region.”

 

For further information please contact Tom Erskine, Business Development Director, Scenariio at te@scenariio.com.