ENTERTAINMENT

Project Profile
No Fish Story: Chicagos Shedd Aquarium Combines Animals Quality of Life with the Cost Efficiency Benefits of Andover
Its hard to imagine any creatures loving freezing temperatures, high humidity, constant wind, and frigid water. But for a flock of rockhopper penguins at Chicagos John G. Shedd Aquarium, the harsh climate of their native Falkland Islands, located in the far South Atlantic, is exactly what they want. More importantly, its what they need to be healthy. Maintaining these conditions in an indoor setting is a challenge. In 1997, the facilities team at Shedd Aquarium decided they needed to upgrade their systems in the penguin exhibit area to meet that challenge. The air handling system they had at the time could hold the temperature to only 10 degrees of the setpoint, which was too much of a variation for the penguins. That all changed later in the year when Shedd began installing new air conditioning units controlled by an Infinity system from Andover Controls. The target was to stabilize the environment by holding the temperature to within 5 degrees of the setpoint. In fact, the Infinity system beat that goal the penguins now enjoy temperatures within one-half a degree of the setpoint. The result: they eat better, are healthier than ever, are back to their natural colors, and breed more. That application and the many that followed were the idea of Bradley L. Popovich, Sr., Shedds Vice President of Facilities Services. Formerly a data center manager for the Bank of America, Popovich brought with him a no-downtime, information technology-based approach to what previously was a manually controlled operation.

We were impressed with the simplicity of the Andover Controls system and how we could write the code for it ourselves in an English-language script. The fact that we could provide our own support, with engineering help from a local Andover Controls Representative, was a deciding factor for us. Bradley L. Popovich, Sr. Vice President, Facilities Services, Shedd Aquarium

Behind-the-Scenes Goals Popovich had three goals when he began evaluating environmental control systems: providing the animals living conditions that closely match their native environments, reducing operating costs and increasing efficiency, and providing an information database that would not only help the staff monitor and control conditions, but also provide valuable information that could be used for research. I had a data center attitude when I came here, Popovich recalls. I asked How can I get information quickly for my team? How can I help them

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make fast and correct decisions? And the most important question, Popovich goes on, was: How can we make this the best aquarium in the world? Early in 1997 Popovich began evaluating suppliers for environmental control systems, and after a thorough review, selected Andover Controls Infinity. We were impressed with the simplicity of the Andover system and how we could write the code for it ourselves in an English-language script, Popovich says. The fact that we could provide our own support, with engineering help from a local Andover Representative, was a deciding factor for us.

A Flexible Control System Backed by an Experienced Local Provider The experience of the Andover Rep, Integrated Technology Group (ITG) of Homewood, Illinois, was also a deciding factor in Popovichs decision. An aquarium is not an office building, he says. Our application required a lot of processing, and we wanted to monitor a large number of alarm points. ITG had experience with precise monitoring environments, and thats exactly what we needed. Animals cant talk to you, so if something goes wrong in their environment, we want to know it right away. Expandability was important as well, he goes on. We knew we would be doing other projects, and we wanted to be able to add on to the control system as quickly and easily as possible. Andover Controls gave us that flexibility.
Popovichs program was far-reaching and successful. After upgrading the environmental controls in the penguin exhibit, Popovich turned to other areas: maintaining the 2 million gallon marine mammal tank at a constant 50 degrees, keeping 750,000 gallons of water in the Philippines exhibit at a tropical temperature, stabilizing the water temperature and humidity in the Amazon Rising exhibit at 80 degrees and 80 percent, and controlling the water temperature for sensitive seahorses to within one-tenth of a degree. Despite the varied environments, aquarium visitors have to be comfortable, so the Andover Controls system keeps the air temperature in public areas at 70 degrees. In all, the system controls three chiller systems and heat exchangers, air handling units for private and public spaces, four boilers supplying five hot water zones, tank and ambient lighting, and the entire aquatic filtering and tank temperature control network. The Andover Controls system showed its flexibility when Shedd expanded its facilities in 2000. To support the new exhibits there and add new capabilities, Popovich selected Andovers new controller family, Continuum, because, he notes, Our plan is to use the latest equipment. Shedd will implement Continuum technology on all new projects, and Popovich plans to upgrade the existing Infinity system to a Continuum system in the future. In addition to the environmental control applications, Popovich and his team assembled a knowledge base by importing information from vendors Web sites and their own experience, and storing it on the Andover Controls system. The combination of extensive monitoring Shedd now monitors about 5,000 points throughout the facility, 2,000 of which are alarmed and 1,000 of which are critical and the ability to send an alarm to the aquarium staff by pagers and make that knowledge base

Shedd Aquarium Security

available at the same time, has helped minimize the time it takes to react to an alarm and fix the condition. When the alarm goes off, a pager gets the alarm, and we can get on a computer, click on the alarm, and get the information we need to fix it without looking at manuals or trying to find the documentation in our library, Popovich points out.
Creature comfort wasnt the Shedds only need. The Aquarium also selected Andover Continuum for security management in early 1999. One of the primary attractions for selecting Continuum was that the security system could be integrated seamlessly into their existing Continuum HVAC control system and provide the Aquarium a single system for critical alarm monitoring, access control, and photo-ID badging. Typical operations tasks were also simplified. The Operations team can monitor 36 doors and sets access privileges to 64 areas as well as critical HVAC setpoints throughout the facility all from one Andover CyberStation front-end workstation. In addition, training and support are provided for one system instead of several systems, saving Shedd time and money. The Continuum Security Management System is integrated into a Pelco 9760 CCTV system to provide camera call-ups automatically at the security console upon an alarm condition, duress event, or when a door is opened or a motion sensor is activated. Sixteen high-resolution color cameras throughout the Aquarium record digitally onto an Integral Technologies Digital Video Recorder.

Energy Costs Reduced 26 Percent The Andover Controls system has helped significantly reduce Shedds operating costs. For example, it enables Shedd to use outside air to cool the building and many of the tanks in the winter. Previously Shedd used three existing chiller plants to do this, an enormous power load. The Andover system has helped reduce wide variations in energy use, and resulted in a 26 percent reduction in energy consumption between 1996 and 2001, despite significant renovations and expansions over that time.

Another example of the Andover systems flexibility is the increased efficiency of the aquariums air handling units. When were recreating winter weather for penguins its summer in Chicago, and the air conditioners compressor coils would ice up, Popovich says. Before we installed the Andover system, wed have to manually open the air handlers doors and hose Andovers Continuum System down the coils until the ice was gone. But if it was a busy day and the staff couldnt get to it, there would be a pressure differential across the coils and the temperature in the penguin Shedd Has Instant Access exhibit would rise. Now, he goes on, if we get ice on the coils, the to System Data with Andover system automatically shuts the compressor off, closes the Andover s W eb Server Andovers Web dampers so warm air wont enter the exhibit, and sends warm water through the coils to defrost them. This takes just 15 or 20 minutes, and the animals never notice it because the temperature doesnt change.

Automated Backwashing Cuts Water Usage and Cost The Andover Controls system also has enabled Shedd to automate backwashing cleaning the filters that strain large particles out of the tanks. Before we got the system, backwashes were done manually on a fixed schedule, whether they were needed or not, Popovich says. The problem is that wed lose as much as 4,000 gallons of salt water through each of our 12 filters, and it costs us seven cents a gallon to make salt water. That problem was solved with an algorithm that enables the Andover system to track pressure differentials across each filter. When a filter is getting clogged, the pressure increases and the system automatically initiates a backwash. Fresh water from Lake Michigan, rather than expensive salt water from the tanks, is used to flush the filters, and the system times the sequence to keep the fresh water out of the salt water tanks. Previously, the water level in the main tank could drop by two or three feet during backwashes. Now, the water level stays within a half-inch, stabilizing the fish environment.

Andovers Web Server provides a simple interface for aquarists to change temperature setpoints, lighting, etc. for individual exhibits at the Shedd.

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PROJECT AT A GLANCE:
Andover Intranet Provides Staff with Environmental Data The Andover systems ability to monitor thousands of data points and control the environment to close tolerances has been a boon to researchers as well as animals. Data from approximately 5,000 points that the system monitors are updated every 15 minutes and stored in a database that the aquariums staff can access online through Shedds Andoverbased intranet. A Web Server is part of the Andover system, and it enables the aquariums marine biologists and aquarists to not only monitor live data from exhibits in real time, but also track historical data to help understand how environmental conditions affect animal health and behavior over time. Our philosophy is to make information available to anyone in the aquarium who needs it, Popovich says. Making it available through our intranet puts environmental data at their fingertips any time they want it, even from home. That lets them see whats going on, and tell us if something is getting out of range.
The Andover Web Server also gives the staff access to historical data. For example, if an animals behavior has changed, they can use the intranet to look back and see what the pH level, salinity, water level and temperature, or other factors were, and determine if any of them affected the animal, Popovich says. The Andover Controls systems flexibility also enables Popovich to think about new ways to make the animals lives better. Weve kicked around the idea of making snow, and one day we might be able to do that in the penguin exhibit, he says. Another possibility is getting current weather conditions from animals native habitats over the Internet, and have the system match those conditions. The Andover system gives us the advantage of letting our people think very much outside the box, Popovich notes. Popovich emphasizes that Shedds bottom line is providing the animals with a uniformly high quality of life. The aquariums success is exemplified by Granddad, an Australian lungfish. Granddad has thrived since he moved into the Shedd Aquarium in 1933, and is as happy as, well, a clam.
Project Type: Environmental Control and Security Management Project Name: Shedd Aquarium Location: Chicago, Illinois Market Segment: Entertainment Andover Equipment Installed: 10 Infinity AEclipse controllers 12 LCX 810 2 TCX 840 4 TCX 843 1 TCX 845 3 TCX 846 3 TCX 851 23 TCX 865 17 TCX 866 12 TCX 867 9 SCX 920 10 ACX 780 Access Controllers 1 Integral Technologies 16 Channel DVR 13 Continuum NetControllers, each with 32 I/O modules attached 3 CyberStation front-end workstations 1 SX 8000 Single-user front-end workstation Network: Shedd Aquariums Local Area Fiber Optic Backbone Applications: Environmental control Security management Data acquisition Alarm monitoring Third-party Equipment and/or Drivers: York chillers Lutron lighting system Number of Card Access Doors: 64 Number of Monitored Doors: 120 Number of Cardholders: 2000 Number of Monitoring Points: Approximately 5,000 Andover Controls Representative: Integrated Technology Group

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