Large railway station for automation
HERMOS Group combine data points for regulators, switches and sensors from various manufacturers
People rushing to catch a train at Berlin Central Station have little time to admire the building technology of this major hub where more than one thousand local, regional and long-distance trains interconnect. The station also offers about 15,000 square metres of commercial space. Heating, ventilation, lighting, sun shade – all of it works fully automatically, just like the fire and smoke detectors and the lift and escalator controls. This complex grid of actuators, switches, sensors and controllers from diverse manufacturers is monitored by the hardware and software of the HERMOS Group.
The group includes the Hermos AG, based in Mistelgau, Franconia, near Bayreuth and the Hermos Systems GmbH, based in Dresden. The company has also maintained an office in Berlin Adlershof for the last six years. The site was chosen for its proximity to customers and good connections to the autobahn, says Office Manager Guido Raabe. The technology park also offers good contact and cooperation opportunities thanks to the many different kinds of companies there.
“Our business area is automation technology”, says Raabe. That spans across building technology and industrial and infrastructure facilities worldwide and – something that sets us apart – regardless of manufacturer or product. The secret behind this is the software developed by the Hermos AG: ”FIS#energy”(Facility Information System). FIS makes it possible to reconcile the systems, switches and junctions of any number of manufacturers.
One spectacular example is “The Squaire”, the enormous 200,000 square metre area which covers the ICE station at the Frankfurt Airport and represents one of the largest office properties in all of Germany. Hermos installed the measurement, control and regulation systems, as well as the process control technology for the heating, ventilation and central air conditioning and the room automation. Fully automating the control required Hermos to combine around 500,000 data points for regulators, switches and sensors from various manufacturers.
One of its largest customers is the Bahn AG, which has already automated around 700 railway stations with Hermos technology and is having the company install security lighting for high-speed tunnels. “To date we’ve outfitted 56 tunnels with a total length of about 130 kilometres”, says Raabe. As an example of other industrial projects, the office manager cites the Templin biogas plant. However, the company has also automated historical buildings, like Castle Freudenstein in Freiberg.
By Paul Janositz for Adlershof Special
www.hermos.de