A retail area of more than 20,000 m², an average of 10,000 visitors per day, and approximately 200 employees per week: anyone wanting to keep energy consumption under control at Famiflora needs more than just common sense. In Mouscron – where Belgium's largest garden center is located – Qbus has been doing the thinking behind the scenes since 2016. From automatic lighting to temperature control in the aquarium: Facility Manager Brecht Vander Beken calls the system "indispensable for our entire organization".
Famiflora is Belgium's largest garden and decoration center, with branches in Mouscron, De Panne, and Eeklo (in collaboration with Hermie). The center offers a wide range of plants, garden furniture, decoration, and pet food, complemented by a food hall. Annually, Famiflora receives over 3 million visitors, including from France.
"We chose Qbus and quickly realized we couldn’t have selected a better solution."
The sun directs the light
The next step? Complete DALI control. “Soon, we will individually control all lighting fixtures via DALI controls. In a plant zone with little daylight, we use UV lights. The solar calendar is integrated into the Qbus system, allowing us to fully regulate the UV lights based on it, thus avoiding the need for expensive skylight investments. We have installed light meters on the roofs of our greenhouses to completely align the lighting intensity with the available sunlight: the more sunlight, the lower the intensity of the supplementary electric lighting.”
The most frequently used app on Brecht’s smartphone is without a doubt Qbus Control. “In a building that’s constantly evolving, you need to respond quickly to changing circumstances — you simply can’t rely on an installer for every adjustment. With Qbus Control, I dim lights, adjust temperatures, and deactivate zones wherever I am. The interface is so intuitive that even a new team member can get started within five minutes.”
“For more advanced programming, I use System Manager III on my computer,” Brecht adds. “That’s where I create scenarios and assign user rights. This allows our technical team, for example, to switch power to sockets on or off themselves, without affecting the rest of the system.”
Energy for Every Fish
The new extension – an aquarium section of 7,000 m² – is also controlled by Qbus. “Qbus takes the lead, particularly in terms of temperature regulation and water heating. Additionally, their software is crucial for creating ideal living conditions for all fish and reptiles.”
The energy management for the external stores on the site is also handled via Qbus. “Thanks to Qbus, we know in detail how much energy each of those tenants consumes, allowing us to provide them with a very accurate invoice each time. We will use the very dynamic system in the future to gain an even better overall understanding of our integrated power supply story.”
Technical Data Sheet
Project Type: Retail – garden center with food, pets, aquarium & store rental
Location: Famiflora Mouscron (expansions in De Panne and Eeklo)
Systems: 3x Qbus Controller, Qbus Control app, System Manager
Applications: Lighting (DALI, individually controlled), night lighting & outdoor lighting, ventilation, heating, auxiliary heating, parking (barriers and fountain), aquarium and terrarium climate, energy management per zone/user, transparent re-billing to external tenants
Integrations: Light sensors, solar calendar, UV lighting, energy distribution per circuit
Management: Fully self-managed (via app & System Manager), with delegated rights for employees