Case Study: Penn State achieves lower carbon footprint and reliable smart-campus automation with RUCKUS Networks

Ruckus’ ICX Family Delivers More Efficient Connections

Penn State, a top-50 public research university with more than 300 buildings on its University Park campus and facilities across the state, needed a more reliable, energy-efficient network to support building automation. Their legacy flat Layer‑2 design and BACnet/UDP traffic caused frequent broadcast storms and lost control messages, leaving buildings offline and preventing reliable scheduling of HVAC and other building systems.

Penn State deployed Ruckus ICX switches—ICX 7750 at the core, ICX 6610/7450 at distribution hubs and compact ICX 6450/7150 12‑port L3 switches in each building—using OSPF and redundant links to isolate traffic and eliminate broadcast storms. The new architecture delivered scalable, fault‑tolerant control for hundreds of buildings, enabled predictable maintenance windows, reduced power consumption and carbon footprint, and saved the university millions of dollars.

Penn State

Tom Walker

Network System Administrator