Energy neutral and 'smart' police station

Cooling and heating rooms with climate ceilings

Klimaatservice Holland BV and Elektroservice Holland BV provided the installations for the new Drechtsteden-Buiten police station in Papendrecht. The building is not only energy-neutral, but also equipped with all kinds of smart solutions.

Consulting firm Deerns prepared the specifications for the project. Based on those guidelines, Klimaatservice Holland and Elektroservice Holland designed the installation. Seven sealed wells with a depth of 140 meters were drilled, in which heat and cold are stored. The building itself is cooled and heated via a heat pump. Tino den Besten, project leader at Klimaatservice Holland: "The building is equipped with climate ceilings. These are steel ceilings with thin pipes on top. Water flows through these that can heat or cool as needed. In places where this ceiling is not possible, we placed underfloor heating and cooling. This complete system has the highest comfort class and is also energy efficient." 

The work on the floors has been completed. Now it is the turn of the technical area. Next, two heat pumps will be installed: one well heat pump that runs year-round and is connected to the wells and one air-to-water heat pump. The latter is on the roof and is intended to assist when additional cold or heat is needed.   

Pilot project for smart building

For the client, Police Netherlands, this project is a pilot for the application of smart building in police stations. So in terms of electricity, it is not just about power supply and lighting. Dirk de Kruijf, project leader at Elektroservice Holland: "All installations in the building are linked together and can be read out remotely. There are two touchscreens in the building, which users can use to switch lights on and off and control the heating. This is monitored in the cloud stored with a backup in the building itself. Failures in the elevator, for example, can also be seen on this. In addition, the ceilings are equipped with sensors, which switch the lighting based on presence and daylight intensity.    

Temperature and CO2 levels are also monitored. Is the CO2 level too high? Then more ventilation is provided. In the future, all this can also be controlled per room with a smartphone. With this, you can also reserve meeting rooms or search for colleagues." 

On the roof of the new police station will be 181 PV panels, with the possibility of connecting batteries to them for power storage in the future. In addition, the police will electrify its fleet of vehicles, so Elektroservice Holland is installing six double charging stations on the premises. The building is prepared for the connection of an emergency generator so that work can continue if the power fails. Because all systems are linked together and can be monitored remotely, part of the service can also be done remotely.

Additional solution

The project is going well, although the planning has of necessity been adjusted in the interim. Den Besten: "It was already an ambitious schedule and there were some interim changes. Among other things, things sometimes turned out to be different than expected when converting from engineering to execution. In addition, like everyone in the construction industry, we had delivery problems with materials. For example, not even a delivery time of the pumps was mentioned. Nevertheless, we work pleasantly together in the execution. Working on police stations is not foreign to us." De Kruijf: "Our Technical Management Department has the maintenance of the buildings of three police regions. So we visit the police more often as installers. Not only for maintenance, but also for renovations and installation modifications. As a result, we know the organization and can respond well to their specific requirements and wishes."