william tao & associates, inc. combines low voltage...

C A S E S T U D Y - C o n v e r g e I T

CONNECTING THE WORLD TO A HIGHER STANDARD

W W W . S I E M O N . C O M

William Tao & Associates, Inc. Combines Low Voltage

Cabling, BIM Modeling and Cable Sharing in their LEED

Platinum Plans

William Tao & Associates, Inc. (WTA) is a multi-disciplineengineering firm recognized as a leader in innovative andenergy-effective building systems. For over 40 years, St.Louis, MO, - based WTA has supported a global client basewith a wide range of engineering services includingmechanical/HVAC, electrical, plumbing, fire protection,building automation, structural/civil, master planning andcommissioning. So, when WTA decided to relocate theircorporate headquarters, they knew what they wanted – amodern, efficient and sustainable “smart building” thatwould both support their high-tech business needs and serveas a showcase for their design capabilities. Beyond know-ing what they wanted, they also had the expertise to designit themselves.

The most critical and aggressive goal is their pursuit of LEEDPlatinum certification. Developed by the US Green BuildingCouncil, the LEED green building certification program is arating system encouraging sustainable green building anddevelopment practices. Platinum certification is the top LEEDrating and based on extremely challenging requirements,recognizes only the highest levels of environmental and

health performance. Every facet of WTA’s design wouldneed to consider overall building sustainability.WTA’s green focus includes the low-voltage infrastructure.Often neglected in green building plans, WTA saw greatopportunity to improve the building’s overall efficiency withwise low-voltage cabling choices. As a smart building,WTA’s headquarters will deploy multiple building applica-tions, such as voice and data, video, lighting controls, secu-rity and HVAC controls onto a centrally managed system.Such centralized intelligent building automation systems cansimplify facility management, reduce operating costs and cutenergy use by up to 70%.

Traditionally, however, these low-voltage smart building sys-tems would run on separate and often proprietary cablinginfrastructures. HVAC controls would run on one system,security cameras on another, telecommunications on anoth-er, etc. WTA recognized the potential to further enhanceefficiency and reduce material and deployment costs by con-verging these separate technologies onto a common cablinginfrastructure.

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W I L L I A M TA O & A S S O C I AT E S , I N C



To help develop this converged low-voltage infrastruc-ture, WTA turned to Siemon, a leading global networkcabling company. Siemon’s ConvergeIT intelligentbuilding cabling solution was specifically created to helpbuilding owners, designers and contractors deploy a uni-fied building technology platform, providing WTAunique expertise on the structured cabling needs for sucha platform. (See Sidebar)

Working with Siemon, WTA designed a unified struc-tured-cabling based infrastructure supporting a widerange of low voltage applications, including voice, data,video, surveillance cameras, access control and more.This converged design reduces the cabling and pathwaymaterials needed to support their smart building systems– such material reductions are an important facet of LEEDcertification.

Additionally, Siemon helped WTA drive further materialreductions through the specification of their category 7ATERA cabling system. Through TERA’s unique “cablesharing” capability, up to four applications can be sup-ported over a single category 7A cable and outlet. Thestandards-accepted practice of cable-sharing is madepossible by the TERA connector's four quadrant design,which allows easy access to individual channel pairs viahybrid patch cords combining 1-pair, 2-pair and 4-pairnon RJ style TERA plugs terminated to appropriatelywired RJ-45 or RJ 11 Ethernet plugs. Because many low-voltage smart building applications are less bandwidthintensive and thereby supported by 1 and 2-pair connec-tions rather than the 4-pair connectivity required for high-speed data transmission, a single TERA channel couldreplace up to four traditional cabling channels. “Thecombination of TERA with Siemon’s ConvergeIT designmaximized the efficiency of the converged low-voltageplatform,” explained Steve Brohammer of Walker.“Instead of managing a bunch of different cabling typesand installing a separate cabling channel for each appli-

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Siemon’s ConvergeIT IntelligentBuilding Infrastructure

ConvergeIT is an intelligent building cabling methodthat supports the convergence of all low-voltagebuilding systems onto one integrated Siemon coppertwisted-pair or optical fiber structured cabling net-work. ConvergeIT supports:

Voice & Data• Networked computers and servers• Analog and VoIP phones• PBX and FaxA/V (Audio & Video)• CATV, satellite video, IPTV• HDMI, VGA, SVHS, composite/component A/V• In-house broadcast, paging, and intercoms• Indoor digital signageEnergy Management• Energy demand monitoring • Automated, demand-based energy controls • Smart Grid integrationLighting Controls• Automated demand-based lighting • Sensors • Smart switchesSecurity• CCTV (analog and IP-based) camera and monitors• Pan, tilt, zoom and remote powered devices • Motion, glass-break and audio detectors • Access control (card and biometric readersFire/Safety• Alarms • Fire, smoke and carbon monoxide detectors• Pull stations• Emergency lighting and pathway guidanceHVAC• Automated climate control • Temperature sensors• Air movers/ventilationWireless Devices• LAN’s• Scanners and readers (including RFID)




cation, we’re deploying one cable type and running upto four applications per cable.”

Beyond material-saving cable sharing, TERA also pro-vided support for high-speed data transmission.Offering bandwidth of 1000MHz, the category 7ATERA solution more than met WTA’s current performancerequirements and, supporting speeds in excess of10Gb/s, offered additional headroom for futureadvancements. WTA expects an immediate perform-ance impact. “As a full-service design firm, we workwith extremely large files,” explained Brohammer. “Wehave full 3D building models including mechanical,plumbing, electrical, structural information and more,with multiple specialist engineers often working simulta-neously on the same file, putting huge strain on the net-work. The extra bandwidth will ensure that we can han-dle it.” Walker’s Brohammer and Janice Christopherare confident that TERA’s additional headroom will sup-port WTA well into the future, and noted that this future-proofing element plays into the green message byextending the cabling lifecycle and reducing the materi-al waste associated with removing and replacing lower-performing systems.

While the implementation of converged, structuredcabling based low-voltage infrastructure offered a list ofbenefits, it also presented design challenges – especial-ly in light of WTA’s decision to renovate an existing facil-

ity rather than building new. “If it is done well, renova-tion is a more environmentally friendly option. Think ofit as recycling for buildings,” described Christopher ofWalker. “But, unlike designing a building from scratch,where you can holistically plan all of the systems togeth-er, a renovation forces you to design new systemsaround those already in place.” Fortunately, WTA’sextensive experience developing renovation designs fortheir clients left them well prepared.Building Information Modeling (BIM) technology a keytool in developing the design of the building’s manynew systems. The BIM process typically uses dynamicbuilding modeling software to combine multiple buildingelements and systems into a single, real-time 3-dimen-sional model of the entire building. In a new building,BIM allows designers to develop the most cost-effectiveand efficient buildings, helping detect system and struc-tural conflicts in the planning phase, before costly con-struction rework is necessary. This planning benefit car-ries into renovations as well.

WTA began by building models of the existing structure,then designing new systems to fit around what wasalready there. This included planning the new low-volt-age cabling infrastructure and pathways. Because mul-tiple low-voltage building systems would be convergedonto this cabling plant, its design needed to consider theplacement of equipment such as surveillance camerasand access control units in addition to voice and datadrops. Utilizing BIM capabilities simplifies this processby allowing WTA designers like Christopher andBrohammer to see potential conflicts and plan efficientsystem layouts in the early design phases. The infra-structure can be viewed a unified system rather a collec-tion of separate elements.

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WTA used BIM models provided by Siemon to plan theplacement and layout of network elements such as cablepathways, telecommunication closets and others. Includingnetwork infrastructure products such as racks, cable manage-ment, patch panel, Siemon’s library of BIM models allowedWTA designers to include specific product details in theirbuilding designs, further solidifying the accuracy of the finalplans. “Using BIM, we can look at the whole project atonce, with an amazing level of detail,“ stated Christopher.“From the largest structural elements to a single Siemon patchpanel, we have the whole building modeled before we breakground.”

Like WTA’s decision to implement a Siemon ConvergeIT-styleinfrastructure and utilizing category 7A TERA for its uniquecable-sharing capability and high-bandwidth future-proofperformance, the use of BIM technology also has a green ele-ment. The comprehensive building plans made possible byBIM can help cut material waste by helping identify efficientfloor plans, mechanical systems and pathways.

William Tao Associates new headquarters will open in 2011 and is expected to achieve LEED platinum certification.

To f ind ou t m ore abou t William TAO Associates .v is it : w w w.w m tao.com

For m ore in form at ion on Siem on ’s Conv ergeIT™P rogram , v is it : w w w.s iem on .com /conv ergeit

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The AmericasWatertown, CT USAPhone (1) 860 945 4200 USPhone (1) 888 425 6165 Canada

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