Advancing Building Automation Systems Through Integrated Data Communications
In Part 1 of a continuing series, author Ed Ritchie discusses BACnet’s data communications protocol and network solutions toward the integration of building automation systems. Our author explores business energy advantages in improved energy efficiency with a higher return on investment when facility managers adopt this widely-recognized standard among communication protocols. Follow Ritchie’s in-depth series as he explores many advantages of BACnet and technology solutions for building automation and control systems.
A New Era of Energy Efficiency (Part 1) By Ed Ritchie
BACnet protocol allows HVAC control, lighting control, access control, fire detection systems, and other associated equipment to all speak the same language.
Products and services for building automation systems that save energy are entering a new era as the technology evolves in performance and sophistication. But with so many offerings, the age-old problem of compatibility and integration can short circuit savings and efficiency gains. Yet, there is a solution that all building and facility managers should be aware of. It’s called BACnet, a data communication protocol for building automation and control networks. Essentially, we’re talking about software code, so what does that mean to the choice and use of building automation systems and related products? Well, about 75 words on BACnet’s history should lay the groundwork, and then we’ll talk to some industry experts to see how you can benefit from this standard and why it’s so important to maximizing energy savings and efficiency.
BACnet is an American national standard, a European standard, a national standard in more than 30 countries, and an ISO global standard. Developed under the auspices of the American Society of Heating, Refrigerating and Air-Conditioning Engineers (ASHRAE), the protocol is supported and maintained by ASHRAE, and supported by BACnet International, an organization that encourages the use of BACnet in building automation and control systems (BAS) through interoperability testing, educational programs, and promotional activities.
BACnet International gained more than 15 new corporate members in 2013, and according to the organization’s president, Andy McMillan, the momentum continues to grow because there’s a surge of automation systems and peripherals hitting the marketplace.
“Building owners, operators, and facility managers want to see all the devices coming into the system on a standard communications network,” says McMillan. “In the earlier days, the focus was on companies that built control systems for building automation, but now we’re seeing an expansion of the companies that make devices for these control systems.”
Accommodating the wide variety of automation devices is advantageous for BAS providers, according to Ben H. Dorsey III, Sr. VP of marketing, LEED Green Associate KMC Controls, New Paris, IN. “BACnet has emerged as the predominant communication protocol among all the manufacturers of building automation systems, and that has tremendous benefits for building owners and facility professionals,” says Dorsey. “It’s an open interoperable standard, so if you install devices from different manufactures that work with BACnet, they can all communicate with one another and are visible under a user interface. Now building owners can have any number of manufacturers or contractors and service providers.”
Interoperability allows BAS to move beyond simple standalone operations such as controlling equipment with routines that turn things on and off. “When we start to connect those devices together we enter the realm of automation,” explains Dorsey. “By automating an entire system such as the HVAC we gain certain efficiencies in energy and operational costs. The next level is integration of systems where you’re taking those automated systems and integrating them with a lighting system, or security, or a life safety system. And the last level is data analytics and data information that can be added to an automated and integrated system to show a building owner this valuable data for analysis.”
The value of that data can be impressive. In the case of Headway Technologies, a TDK subsidiary located in Silicon Valley, CA, senior facility manager, Dan Burris, reports that working with KMC Controls’ systems resulted in a direct cost savings that topped $800,000 per year, and achieved a return on investment (ROI) in 10 months. The project focused primarily on the facility’s air handling units, composed of 20 standard and 52 recirculating units that supply and recirculate air at the disk drive manufacturing plant. A secondary issue concerned water usage and conditioning for chilled water, hot water, and steam, needed for domestic and production purposes. These issues were addressed with variable frequency drives for appropriate motors and valve changes for higher control levels. All told, electricity usage dropped more than 10%, from a continuous demand of 5.4 MW to 4.7 MW.
Reducing electricity usage more than 10% garnered the attention of Pacific Gas & Electric, and the utility awarded Headway’s efforts with a rebate check that exceeded $633,000. It was noted as the largest of such rebates given within Silicon Valley to date.
