Project Profile: Shirley Smith High School

Designed with sustainability and flexible learning in mind, Shirley Smith High School caters to 800 students in the East Gungahlin region of Canberra, Australia. “Teachers can move walls and make changes very quickly. I think that's the key to meeting the young person's needs—that level of flexibility within the structure of the school,” said principal Rebecca Pearce of the new school in an interview with Our Canberra.

The facility features indoor and outdoor learning areas, a multipurpose hall, a double gym, and integrated spaces to support students’ individual learning needs. The building is named after Wiradjuri woman Shirley Smith, a social worker and humanitarian activist who was committed to justice and welfare for Aboriginal Australians.

Authorized Dealer IES Automation installed a Reliable Controls building automation system during construction of Shirley Smith High School. It’s an important component of sustainable building design that helps the school contribute to the Australian Capital Territory (ACT) government’s target of net-zero emissions by 2045.

As part of the ACT Climate Change Strategy, since 2020, 100 percent of electricity in the territory has come from renewable sources. The government’s net-zero emissions framework also sets such actions as making the switch to fully electric power for government buildings and facilities. Reliable Controls and IES Automation are proud to contribute to this goal at Shirley Smith High School, which earned a 4 Star Green Star rating from the Green Building Council of Australia.

IES Automation commissioned eight MACH-ProSys controllers expanded with 51 MACH-ProPoint modules to control fan-coil units in the facility. All units operate according to a schedule with optimum start/stop times, holiday exceptions, and space temperature setpoints. The MACH-ProSys is a fully programmable internet-connected BACnet-Building Controller with extensive network-routing capabilities and flexible hardware options.

The ACT Education Directorate connects to the building automation system using RC-WebView software, a browser-based building management solution that provides scalable visibility and control at a glance. RC-WebView empowers facility managers to edit and control operational schedules based on holidays, special events, individual room demands, or territory needs. To simplify IT management and improve data communications security, IES Automation installed RC-RemoteAccess software, a flexible BACnet Secure Network solution that doesn’t need additional routers or controllers and allows multiple VLAN configurations.

RC-Archive and RC-Reporter software give government staff easy access to energy management and building data. RC-Archive continuously downloads data logs to an industry-standard SQL database that delivers a comprehensive record of building performance, and RC-Reporter lets building managers extract intelligence from that data that empowers them to improve operational efficiency.