Allianz Campus İzmir was opened in 2018. The building, which was completed in a very short time of one year, has a horizontal structure. The 3-floor Allianz Campus consists of an indoor area of 20.000 sqm built on a gross area of 17.000 sqm. Due to the pandemic, there are only administrative and security personnel in the building, where there are normally 750 employees. The LEED Gold-certified Allianz Campus was designed as a smart building to both reduce the costs and increase the comfort of the employees. The fire detection, access control, CCTV, emergency announcement and lighting automation systems of the building and the integration of these systems with each other were undertaken by EEC.
We researched many companies in the selection of the fire, security and automation systems of the Allianz Campus. After determining our criteria for the automation systems to be used at the Allianz Campus, we questioned and analyzed each step. As a result of our analysis, we, as Allianz, started to cooperate with EEC Company, which fulfills our criteria, based on our desire to select the best.
Technically, the safety of our building is our first priority at the Allianz Campus. The capability to upgrade the fire detection system is also one of our critical priorities. In fact, this priority is true for all automation systems. The systems that we use must be smart and flexible, suitable for today’s conditions, and fulfill our technical needs. We meet all these needs with the systems that we use.
Our fire detection system has not reported any major incidents since its installation. It is a pleasure for us that the system has acted in harmony with the scenarios created by us during the installation. We hope that there will not be an incident that might cause our fire detection system to be activated.
The safety of our coworkers is very important for us. Therefore, we selected all security measures and our access control system by keeping this priority in mind. We searched for many different technologies, but chose to proceed with a more classic and standard solution. We are also pleased that our partners at EEC are able to configure roles with multiple alternatives through this program used by us.
As Allianz, we place great importance on the environment and nature. We manage the energy that we use efficiently and protect nature by supplying energy from renewable sources. The building of the Allianz Campus has the LEED Gold certificate, and we are striving to obtain the Platinum certificate. We were awarded the Green Office Diploma and the ISO 14001 certificates from the WWF. The support that we provide for the environment and the rules to protect nature are critical for us. While planning all of our projects, we adopt the protection of the environment as our priority. Our approach regarding this issue is "The more efficient and renewable energy we use, the more we support nature."
As Allianz Turkey, we started not to insure coal works and not to renew the policies for these works according to the rules determined in 2018 under the Allianz Group’s "Climate Change Program". As we basically adopt this point of view, the importance of automation becomes evident for us.
We use automation licenses over 5000 control points, and we plan to multiply the KNX device to increase these numbers. We think we can further develop the automation side. We know that our infrastructure is also suitable for this development. We are trying to build a structure that is even more environmentally-friendly and consumes less energy. We are currently at the top and strive to ensure that our current needs are fulfilled efficiently and with minimum costs before reducing our expense items. We make continuous improvements to implement projects that increase efficiency. Such projects are exciting for us. I would like to talk about two of our projects that we will implement in the near future:
Heating water with solar energy,
Recycling rainwater.
According to the advice of our company and our security consultants, we operate the building with the optimum number of security guards during the pandemic period.
The most useful property of our management platform is flexibility and adaptability. Technically, we can operate the building with 5 to 6 people in pandemic conditions. Thanks to our automation system, we conduct the technical and security operations with only one person, controlling the entire building from our head office. This does not only reduce personnel costs, but also enables us to use our resources with maximum efficiency. It is very important that we take control of our entire building through our security system, from the fence alarm system to the cameras by which we can monitor the surroundings of the building in very high resolution, and we can currently handle this situation easily.
Our emergency announcement and public address system is very successful in taking quick action. The system is quickly activated without any interruption in case of fire and emergency. Also, thanks to this system, we broadcast classic music for our coworkers during lunch time. I can say that we are very satisfied with the technical infrastructure of our security systems.
We selected all our technical materials among the products of EEC. When we need a service from EEC, we receive quick support from them after opening a service request. We are cooperating with EEC in harmony, and I can say that we are a good team. When we assess the last year that we have cooperated with EEC and take the quality of the services we have received as a reference, I can easily recommend the company to all facilities.
We have decided to cooperate with EEC thanks to their successful work and service quality in the installation of our Allianz Teknik building in Istanbul that was launched after the Campus. We are satisfied with EEC during our cooperation at our Allianz Technical building for the last one year.
Due to the pandemic that suddenly entered our lives in 2020, the workplaces have undergone a radical change. We physically stopped working at the Allianz Campus. However, the security of the building and the surroundings is important for us and we are protected against the risk of fire at a high level. We also care about the smooth operation of the automation systems, and we ensure this operation with the support of EEC.
We conducted a very comprehensive study while designing the building. We expected it to take 1 to 2 years for the fire and security systems to be installed and fully activated. Low voltage control systems are the last systems installed within the building. EEC started its activities at our building after the works of all other companies were completed, and enabled all systems to operate in a short time, from the fire and automation systems to the security. I can say that after the installation, we are satisfied with the period of fulfillment and development of our technical demands. Again, I would like to praise EEC for not only taking but also maintaining the relevant actions– which is the most important factor in my opinion – during the entire technical process.
I would like to underline that we are also satisfied with the after-sale services. Our approach is to build good cooperation with ALL OUR STAKEHOLDERS at all times. We believe in the power of common mind, and we are pleased to grow our business with our stakeholders.
The backups of our systems are stored at our Allianz Campus building, so we have carefully considered all possible scenarios and implemented them with zero error tolerance. We received rapid and immediate approval from the organization that inspected our fire detection systems. This is a testament to the fact that we are doing the right things. As a result, we are currently using and operating our building with pleasure, and we are working in the building with confidence.
