In today’s commercial property landscape, buildings aren’t static, they evolve. Developers expand precincts, tenants change, regulations shift and systems that aren’t designed for growth quickly become liabilities.
That’s why scalability isn’t a feature, it’s a requirement.
When Precinct Properties began development on the iconic Commercial Bay project at the base of Queen Street in Auckland, they needed more than just a energy monitoring system for a single tower. They needed a platform that could scale across multiple buildings, deliver data integrity across diverse tenancies, and evolve alongside future developments, including the adjacent 1 Queen Street site.
Direct Control stepped in as the building technology partner to make it happen.
Commercial Bay and Precinct’s vision
Commercial Bay is one of Auckland’s largest mixed-use developments, combining:
• A 40-storey commercial tower
• Ground-floor retail and foodcourt areas
• Hospitality venues and luxury hotels
• Office spaces across multiple buildings
A central cooling plant located in the main tower supports not just Commercial Bay but also future developments within the same city block, such as 1 Queen Street. This created a complex challenge:
How do you accurately allocate cooling costs and monitor thermal energy across different tenancies and buildings, all served by a shared central plant?
Engineering a scalable solution from the start
At Direct Control, we approached this challenge with a modular, future-ready mindset. From metering hardware to system architecture, every component was selected and configured to support both current performance and future growth.
Kamstrup MC603 energy meters
These highly accurate thermal energy meters were chosen for their:
• Modular communication options, including BACnet MS/TP for seamless integration into building management systems
• Proven reliability in commercial environments
• Compatibility with Green Star reporting and CMVP protocols
The Kamstrup MC603 paired with Ultraflow ultrasonic flow sensors delivered maintenance-free, high-precision monitoring across multiple zones.
Tridium Niagara BMS integration
The system was integrated into a Tridium Niagara-based BMS, offering a single point of visibility for:
• Live data from thermal meters
• Central plant performance
• Multi-tenant usage tracking
• Integration with future IoT or analytics platforms
This open-protocol foundation ensures that new equipment and data streams can be added without overhauling the system.
LoRaWAN ready architecture
While BACnet formed the backbone of the initial integration, we also designed the system to accommodate LoRaWAN-based metering and monitoring.
• This enables future expansion into:
• Remote or hard-to-reach zones
• Water metering systems
• IoT environmental sensors
With LoRaWAN, Direct Control can add wireless data points without disrupting existing infrastructure, ideal for buildings where access is limited or cabling is cost-prohibitive.
Seamless expansion into 1 Queen Street
As development continued, the same energy monitoring system was expanded into 1 Queen Street, a neighbouring building housing hotel and office space.
Thanks to the initial design, this expansion was:
• Quick to deploy using existing configuration templates
• Straightforward to commission with minimal disruption
• Fully integrated into the existing BMS and reporting stack
Every new meter followed the same rigorous commissioning protocol, ensuring accuracy and compliance from day one.
Built for compliance, transparency, and control
With increasingly stringent sustainability goals, we ensured every part of the system supports Green Star and CMVP-aligned documentation. Facility managers and developers now have:
• Full audit trails for performance
• Tenant-level energy visibility
• Trusted data for cost apportionment and reporting
This builds confidence with tenants, simplifies sustainability reporting, and ensures long-term operational transparency.
Why scalable system design matters
Whether you’re managing a single commercial building or a precinct of interconnected sites, designing for scalability:
• Reduces long-term integration costs
• Improves data consistency and performance
• Supports flexible tenant configurations
• Enables future technology adoption (like AI analytics or predictive maintenance)
With the right design principles, your building’s energy monitoring system can grow with your business, not hold it back.
Your partner for scalable energy monitoring system
At Direct Control, we don’t just install hardware, we solve real-world problems through thoughtful design, technical expertise, and systems thinking.
From shared infrastructure and mixed-tenancy metering to advanced integration with BMS platforms and IoT systems, we help property developers and building managers build smarter, more efficient spaces.
Planning a new development or upgrading existing systems?
Let’s talk about how we can design an energy monitoring system that scale with you.
