Full control at Oslofjord Convention Center

Guard Automation has delivered its largest-ever control and monitoring solution to the Oslofjord Convention Center, managing over 150,000 active tags.

With more than 150,000 active tags, this represents the largest control and automation solution ever delivered by Guard Automation. The project, which Guard entered in early 2017, was completed in 2020 as a fully expanded conference and event hotel designed to host major international events.

Today, the massive facility includes 1,600 hotel suites, a state-of-the-art conference center with space for up to 10,000 guests, a massive indoor sports arena combining a football field and ice hockey rink, a water park, and a 20,000 m² underground parking facility spanning two floors.

Control System Providing a Visual Overview

To manage such a massive and complex facility, operators rely on GuardControl (a SCADA system) as the top-level operating platform. The user interface provides interactive building layouts, enabling operators to drill down from a macro-view of the entire complex directly into individual hotel suites to view real-time graphical data.

At the suite level, the system monitors and regulates room temperature, fresh air supply, and occupancy status. To optimize energy consumption, unoccupied suites automatically enter a "hibernation mode" (dvalemodus) that reduces heating and ventilation to baseline levels.

Underneath the user interface, industrial PLC systems continuously monitor and log active signals from pump controls, ventilation fan drives, energy meters, and carbon monoxide exhaust fans in the parking garage.

Integration with Booking and Access Systems

A key to the facility's operational efficiency is the tight integration between GuardControl and the hotel's booking and access systems. When large events are scheduled, the system prepares rooms automatically based on registration data.

For example, if 5,000 guests are arriving for an event, the system gradually heats and ventilates the selected rooms ahead of arrival. This smart, phased load balancing distributes the energy demand over time, preventing sudden, costly peak load surges on the local district heating plant.