Building Mission Critical Environments For Power Utilities

Tyler Bonner, Senior Vice President of Mission Critical Environments for Diversified, joined this episode of MarketScale’s Pro AV podcast to break down the building of mission-critical environments for power utility control buildings. Bonner’s 20-plus years in the technical innovation and critical environments field brought an expert’s perspective on the conversation.

“Over the past 10-to-12 years, there’s been a migration in the U.S. utility market toward sustainable transmission facilities due to the fact our grid is interconnected,” Bonner said.

Consistency in the build of transmission facilities is essential. The distribution side can vary due to the size of some areas – rural communities vs. large cities, for example. No matter the scale of the municipality, it is vital each has infrastructure capable of supporting a 24/7 operation.

Different considerations come into play when the environment is a 24/7 operation. If a situation, say a weather emergency, occurs, the building may be used by more people and for a more extended time than in a non-emergency. Noise dampening to ensure people can effectively communicate over the phone, rooms to rest and relax, and areas for different stakeholders to work together without everyone accessing the control room are all factors that go into today’s mission-critical environment designs.

Roughly 75% of the projects Bonner works on are remodels. The notable change in these environments, noted Bonner, is the technology.

“A lot of these dispatch and transmission facilities have been operating inside the same six walls for 15 years, and the technology changes in the new building brings a culture shift and operational shock for some of them,” he said.

A part of every project is training to ensure the people working in the new facility are comfortable using the latest equipment and technology.

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