ED Modular is EllisDon’s Prefabrication and Modular division located in Stoney Creek, Ontario. The ED Modular building is a 300,000 sq/ft facility where they make steel-ribbed offices and other building blocks. They partnered with Argentum to provide a superior, more energy efficient, and less expensive electrical system for ED Modular’s relocatable prefabricated/modular residential suites, manufactured in the ED modular facility. The solution provided them with capital expenditure savings of 50%, and operational expenditure savings of 30%.
In January 2020, ED Modular vice-president Xavier Toby said this about the new ED Modular plant,
"The plant will be the biggest modular building facility in Canada...It is really about bringing a new technology and a new building method to the industry" - Xavier Toby
A large part of their innovation efforts included ensuring that the power systems for their buildings were able to reduce energy consumption for tenants, and installation costs for ED Modular. This is key to reducing the cost of producing modules, and the cost of operating them in the field. In order to achieve this, they partnered with us here at Argentum to provide a superior, more energy efficient, and less expensive electrical system for ED Modular’s relocatable prefabricated/modular residential suites.
At Argentum, we decided that implementing our full Digital Current system would be the best solution to fulfill EllisDon’s request for a more energy efficient and less expensive electrical system. For this solution, we implemented our Power over Ethernet (PoE) DC distribution system, wireless sensors, wireless switches, and digital twin software thus creating a centralized intelligent automation system for all connected devices.
The devices in the suite connected to our system were LED light fixtures, motorized roller shades, the HVAC system (Slim fan coil unit and 6-way valve), and an electric door strike for keyless entry.
We integrated these loads with our digital twin software, and installed wireless occupancy and IEQ (Indoor Environmental Quality) sensors.
Including these sensors in our solution allows ED Modular to automate electrical loads based on collected sensor data, giving them the ability to optimize energy consumption for building performance and tenant comfort.
For example, now they can control energy use based on room occupancy, time of day, and the tenant’s preferences on environmental factors such as temperature and humidity. Additionally the IEQ sensors provide the ability to further automate LED lights and motorized roller shades using daylight harvesting metrics.
As a result of implementing our combination system of DC power, PoE, IoT technology, and digital twin software, the ED Modular space has saved about 50% in capital expenditure costs for these systems. As for the system’s operational expenses, the client is saving roughly 30% in energy and maintenance costs for lighting and HVAC. They were able to save so much in CapEx because a standard PoE system would’ve been roughly 50% more expensive than our hybrid PoE solution, and our system does not require conduit or mechanical protection for wires on low-voltage runs.
The client’s OpEx savings came from a roughly 20% reduction in energy consumption across their lighting and HVAC systems, as well as the benefit of our system extending the lifetime of their LED light fixtures. Now, their LED light fixtures will last for roughly 100,000 hours. LED fixture lifetime extension is an inherent benefit of DC power distribution and, if you’d like to learn more about it, we’ve written an entire blog post on the topic.
In addition to the cost and energy saving benefits of our solution, our IEQ sensors also allow the client to monitor air quality and light quality. Because these sensors are placed in multiple locations, ED Modular can also monitor and remedy any temperature differences within the unit, which leads to more uniform temperature throughout the suite. These sensors also provide the client with the potential to see returns from savings on energy costs for lighting by implementing daylight harvesting.
All in all, since the implementation of our system, they have been able to save energy costs, reduce emissions, improve tenant comfort, and decrease the frequency LED fixtures need to be replaced.
Unlike with traditional PoE, we were able to use normal LED lights, and no expensive ethernet switch it required
No conduit/mechanical protection needed for low voltage cable runs
44 Gerrard St. E,
Toronto ON
M5B 1G3
739 D'Arcy St.,
Cobourg ON
K9A 0H6
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