The Sinclair Building was built in 1929 and is on the National Register of Historic Buildings.

FORT WORTH—When complete, the Sanger Building will have more than 2,000 lights powered using Ethernet cables and thus will be dubbed the first intelligent building in Texas. In addition, Fort Worth is soon to be home to the first hotel, a Marriott Autograph (formerly the Sinclair Hotel), to use power over Ethernet/POE technology to power all of its lighting.

Developer Farukh Aslam, who is remodeling both buildings, is bringing innovative technology that has not yet been used in this area to help conserve energy use throughout the building.

The Sanger Building was built in 1923 as Sanger Brothers department store and is now a residential building with 59 lofts and ground-floor retail. The neighboring Sinclair Building is an Art Deco building built in 1929 that is on the National Register of Historic Buildings.

Merriman Anderson/Architects is the architect and interior designer for the Sanger Building and the architect for the Sinclair Building/Marriott. The firm is coordinating with the owner and MEP engineers to help implement this technology throughout the buildings. Merriman Anderson/Architects did not have to create extra spaces for the POE equipment when designing the Marriott renovation.

“Oftentimes in historic building projects, it can be challenging to find space to designate for equipment such as generators while dealing with historic guidelines for the design,” Patrick Hazard, Merriman Anderson/Architects senior associate, tells GlobeSt.com. “With this project, the change to an energy storage system allowed the removal of fueling, venting and ducting requirements within the building, freeing up usable space in the project, and not requiring any redesign in space for the system, with it being roughly the same size as a typical diesel generator.”

The benefits of POE are numerous. It uses no more than 60 volts, making it safe and easy to install even by a non-contractor. Instead of running power and data, POE requires less material and less labor.

Computers have individual IP addresses and can locate each other's networks. Each light fixture can find its own network, which allows each switch to be reprogrammed instead of rewiring a whole room.

An energy storage system is used as back-up power instead of a generator. It is quiet, requires less space than a generator and is easier to accommodate in a land-locked facility, especially a historic building.

In the Sanger Building, this POE technology will power all lighting and motorized shades and drapes. The owner is confident that guest room variable refrigerant flow air conditioning units, minibars and up to 55-inch televisions can soon be powered using POE technology.

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