Audio Visual Case Study

U.S. Green building council (USGBC)

Corporate Conference Rooms & Digital Signage System

AVS designed and built a system that controls and monitors the audio and video products used in conferencerooms and lobby areas in the U.S. Green Building Council's (USGBC) Headquarters offices located in Washington, D.C.

The design goal of the A/V system was to meet LEED certification for the USGBC part of the building.  The system uses ENERGY STAR compliant products whenever applicable, and when an ENERGY STAR product was not available, automated power management was used to power down devices when not in use.  The following areas are equipped with A/V capabilities:

• Fifth Floor - One large and two medium divisible conference rooms; Lobby area; Game Room; and Cafe Area
• Sixth Floor - One small conference room and one medium divisible conference room

All rooms have a local A/V control system that are networked together to provide monitoring and automated shutdown of systems after normal working hours.  Crestron's RoomView Monitoring software was used to view and control the power aspects of all rooms along with the scheduling of room usage from a single location.  These systems are connected to the buildings’ automation system to provide the ability to detect occupants in any room to prevent the shutdown of a display while the room is in use.  A connection to room motion sensors allows each of the systems to shut-down after a set interval of no action within the room.

When video sources such as laptops or DVD players are connected and powered on, the system for that room automatically turns on and routes the device to the display(s).  Once the device is disconnected or turned off, the system automatically powers down the display(s) and the related equipment to conserve power usage.

Wall-mounted LCD displays with built in ATSC tuners, and wall-plates equipped with one computer (VGA) and one composite video input (both with audio connections) that connect to the displays are used throughout USGBC’s facility.  A central RF signal distribution system was deployed to allow for Cable TV to be sent over standard RG-6 coax cabling to each flat panel display or equipment rack.

Divisible Conference Rooms

There are three medium-sized and one large conference room each of which can be used as one large room or be divided into two smaller rooms using a removable wall.

There are wall-mounted connection plates and floor boxes on each side of the room.  The audio system is configured into two zones - one for each side of the room through eight ceiling-mounted speakers. System control in each room is performed via touchpanels.  An in-wall 12-button control panel located on each side of the room, controls functionality when in divided mode, and an eight-inch wireless touchpanel, with a table top docking station, controls system functionality in combined mode.

In divided mode, the two sides of the room act independently.  Each side is able to route any source connected to either of the two input plates on that side to the display.  Audio from the selected source plays in that side of the room.  When in combined mode, all four input plates throughout the entire room are available for routing to the displays.  Any display source may be routed to either of the displays.  The audio system plays source audio selected via the touch panel interface on all speakers in both zones.

Medium Conference Rooms
The sixth floor Medium Conference Room and two Medium Conference Rooms on the fifth floor all have identical functionality.  Fifty-two inch LCD displays are located in each of the two sections that makeup the rooms.  The two medium conference rooms on the fifth floor have the ability to share sources for audio and video with the Large Conference Room, Lobby and Cafe Area areas.

Large Conference Room
The fifth floor large conference room has a 65-inch LCD display on each side of the room.  It has a 6000 lumen projector mounted from the ceiling and a 161-inch diagonal motorized projection screen on one end. Wall-mounted connection plates are located on each side of the room.

Audio and video being played in the Large Conference room can also be shared via the displays in the two 5th floor medium conference rooms, as well as the Lobby and Cafe Area areas.  Twelve ceiling-mounted speakers distribute playback audio throughout the room.  The audio system is configured in two zones – one for each side of the room.   Additionally, a wireless handheld/lavaliere microphone combination system is integrated for each side of the room to capture audio for voice reinforcement.

In divided mode, the flat-panels are the designated displays and the projection system is the designated display in combined mode.  Eight-inch wireless touch panel interfaces are located on each side of the room to control system functionality when in divided mode.  In combined mode the flat-panel displays do not automatically turn on but can be manually powered on from the touch panel; the audio system plays in both zones; and system functionality is performed using either one of the wireless touchpanels.

Small Conference Room -Sixth Floor
The Small Conference Room on the sixth floor has a single 52-inch LCD display with integrated speakers, that play the associated audio, and a wall-plate that connects to the display. An in-wall 12-button control panel controls system functionality.

Game Room and Cafe Area
Both the game room and the cafe area each contain a 52-inch LCD display with integrated speakers.  Wall-plates connect source media to each display, including an HDMI connection to allow for attaching a video gaming console such as an Xbox or Wii to the system.  Each room has an in-wall 12-button control panel to manage all system functionality.

Digital Signage System

Lobby Area

There are 52-inch LCD displays with integrated speakers located in the Lobby Area and in a hallway near offices to display various media and information. Twelve ceiling-mounted speakers in the lobby and cafe areas are configured into two separate zones, and are controlled from the receptionist's desk.  A wired 6.4" touch panel interface, installed at the reception desk in the lobby controls all system functionality in the Lobby Area, as well as audio in the café area.

Displays in the lobby, hallway and Cafe Area areas can display the following sources: cable television; a five-disc DVD player for standard definition playback of prerecorded DVDs/CDs; and feeds from the medium and large conference rooms.

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