London Metropolitan University (LMU) – Multiple Campuses

London Metropolitan University needed proper visibility of where energy was being consumed across its buildings. Alpha Controls delivered a campus-wide metering installation: new three-phase multifunction meters fitted across multiple electrical panels — from main LV switchboards down to sub-distribution boards — in buildings across the campus.

Every meter was connected back to the central BMS, turning a collection of isolated panels into a single monitored energy network. Consumption is now tracked per panel and per building, with alarms and reporting handled through the BMS rather than manual meter reads.

Alpha Controls supplied and installed Eastron SMART X96-5E three-phase multifunction meters across the campus electrical infrastructure. Meters were mounted on panel doors and within distribution boards — positioned for easy local reading while keeping voltage and current connections made safely inside the panels, with every installation labelled and clearly identified.

With the metering in place, the communications side followed: an RS485 Modbus network was cabled panel to panel, daisy-chaining every meter back to the central BMS head end. Cabling was routed through existing containment where available, with new routes formed — including runs through raised floor voids — to bring panels and buildings across the campus onto the metering network.

The installed metering network comprises:

University campuses can't shut down to suit a metering programme. The meters were therefore installed onto live, energised distribution boards, with each panel connection carried out carefully and methodically to keep the electrical infrastructure undisturbed.

Once energised, each meter was verified on site — confirming live voltage and current readings per phase and a running kWh total — before being handed to the BMS integration stage. That panel-by-panel verification meant the network was proven healthy at every point before it was relied upon centrally.

The value of sub-metering comes from what you can do with the data. All meters were connected to the central BMS over RS485 Modbus RTU, giving the estates team live consumption tracking for every metered panel and building, alarm functionality on the metering network, and automated reporting from a single supervisory point.

With the metering hierarchy in place, the university can see where energy is being consumed across the campus, spot abnormal usage through BMS alarms, and report on building performance — the foundation for targeting efficiency works and evidencing savings against them.