July 3, 2002—Security Benefit Group, a financial services organization, has asked Johnson Controls to help ensure employee comfort and safety at its new 307,000 square-foot headquarters in Topeka, Kansas. Named as one of the 100 Best Companies to Work for in America by Working Mother magazine for six out of the past seven years, Security Benefit wanted to translate this commitment to its employees into the new office environment.
Working with the facilities design team at Security Benefit, Johnson Controls helped design and install an integrated facilities management system intended to develop a comfortable and secure environment. Key features of this project include the installation of more than 750 Personal Environments workstations—one of the largest single-site installations in Johnson Controls history—plus the integration of all mechanical systems using a Metasys building automation system.
The 625 employees at the company headquarters and 123 employees in a tenant-occupied office space will be able to adjust their individual workstation environments, including temperature, filtered air flow, lighting, and background noise masking. The Personal Environments workspaces are supplied by conditioned air in a raised floor that is pressurized by a series of overhead VAV boxes, located on each floor.
The Metasys system will provide centralized operation for all HVAC equipment such as chillers, boilers, air distribution systems, and pumping systems while maintaining adequate CO2 levels and performing tenant submetering. Additionally, the Metasys system will integrate with the building lighting system, power distribution system, fan and pump VFD’s, Trane chillers, Simplex fire alarms, and Eagle Technologies maintenance management software.
The new security system features include a total integration between the card access system, the intercom system, and the CCTV system to monitor unauthorized use and deliver alerts for viewing and response by the security staff.
Security Benefit officials anticipate increased employee productivity due to the installation of the Personal Environments workstations. A study conducted by the Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute for Architectural Research showed that employee productivity climbed 16 percent at West Bend Mutual Insurance Co. in Wisconsin, with a 2.8 percent increase directly attributed to the installation of the individually controlled environments.
