The 11,000 square-foot EWoffice Business Center in Costa del Este, Panama City,
Panama houses dozens of local businesses with over forty offices, shared boardrooms,
kitchens, lounges, and more. After the building’s owner and operating administrator
experienced the benefits of ELAN control in a nearby shopping centre, they called on
local technology integration firm Domotic Design to conceptualise and install a
comprehensive automation system of their own.

“The original scope of the project was to use an automation system to reduce
electricity consumption generated by lighting and HVAC, and lower the costs of
building operation,’ Domotic Design Owner and Project Manager Daniel Ramirez
Parma said. “Once we began building out the design, we recommended that they take
advantage of the other sub-systems ELAN can automate and control, like audio, video,
security, access control, intercom, motorised shades, and more. The end-result
satisfies our customer’s initial request, and provides tenants with one more reason to
rent space at the EWoffices Business Center opposed to other Panama City shared
workspaces.’

Domotic Design installed an ELAN gSC2 controller and ELAN g1 controller to anchor
the entire building’s system, along with two ELAN gTP7 and gTP4 touch panels for
one-touch audio and video control in centrally shared boardrooms. Remote access is
enabled by the ELAN App, installed on the building owner and manager’s smartphone
devices.

“Since the occupying businesses and the building’s managers use the ELAN system for
completely different reasons, we configured the ELAN touch panels with custom pages
that only allow tenants to control the audio and video,’ Ramirez Parma explained.
“Other involved systems throughout the entire building, like lighting, HVAC, and
security, are only accessible to the owners locally and remotely.’

As promised, ELAN automation significantly streamlines management of the building
for the owner and the operating administrator. Since the EWoffice Business Center’s
HVAC is entirely dependent on an adjacent cooling tower’s pumping system, the
corresponding cold water pumps do not function 24 hours a day and thus need to be
closely managed so as to not rev-up energy costs.

With ELAN, Domotic Design configured an automated HVAC system that turns on and
off on a strict schedule without any action needed on the manager’s part. Every day at
7:00 AM, the system enters “Home Mode,’ which manages the complex HVAC system,
as well as lighting and security. “Away Mode’ goes into full effect at 8:00 PM, which
safely powers down all systems.

“This new automation functionality is extremely helpful for building management,’
Ramirez Parma continued. “We configured the system to even send push notifications
to the owner and administrator alerting them that, on each day, everything turned on
and off on schedule. They can check in on HVAC as well as their security camera feeds
stationed around the building from anywhere in the world.’

Similarly, the building’s owner wanted to facilitate control of the lighting depending
on the day and time and based on the occupation of the offices. Domotic Design
integrated 16 loads of Lutron RadioRA2 lighting in the common areas into the ELAN
system to effectively manage when they powered on and off. “Lighting control
significantly reduces costs,’ Ramirez Parma added. “They never again have to worry
about a tenant leaving the light on overnight and driving up the electricity bill.’

The ELAN system also has enormous benefits for tenants occupying the space.
Domotic Design installed a Niles Auriel multi-room audio system, enabling occupying
businesses to stream audio and video instantly whenever desired. As Auriel is based
on the ELAN Control Platform, it was particularly easy to integrate. The system is
divided into four independent zones, including the building’s reception area, the coffee
lounge, and two board rooms — both of which have an integrated AppleTV and ELAN
video matrix for presentations. Different businesses can play their own music in
designated areas thanks to the multiple Auriel zones.

“The multi-room audio system creates a more pleasant environment for renters and
visitors,’ Ramirez Parma said. “They have full control over the content they’d like to
show in the boardrooms during the meeting, or during a break in the coffee lounge.
It’s so incredibly intuitive and easy to use.’

According to Ramirez Parma, ELAN was the best system for this particular project
because it was easily personalised to all of the customer’s needs, and it seamlessly
integrated with pre-existing technology in the building. “It wasn’t necessary to run
additional cables because ELAN integrated well with the pre-existing wires,’ he said.
“The building was already equipped with Honeywell Wi-Fi thermostats, which we were
easily able to integrate into ELAN with a HouseLogix driver. It was so easy to install,
configure, and now, it’s easy for the customer and their tenants to use.’