Building automation is the automatic centralized control of a building's heating, ventilation and

air conditioning, lighting and other systems through a Building Management System or Building
Automation System (BAS). The objectives of building automation are improved occupant
comfort, efficient operation of building systems, and reduction in energy consumption and
operating costs.

Building automation is an example of a distributed control system - the computer networking of

electronic devices designed to monitor and control the mechanical, security, fire and flood safety,
lighting (especially emergency lighting), HVAC and humidity control and ventilation systems in
a building.[1]
BAS core functionality keeps building climate within a specified range, provides light to rooms
based on an occupancy schedule (in the absence of overt switches to the contrary), monitors
performance and device failures in all systems, and provides malfunction alarms to building
maintenance staff. A BAS should reduce building energy and maintenance costs compared to a
non-controlled building. Most commercial, institutional, and industrial buildings built after 2000

include a BAS. Many older buildings have been retrofitted with a new BAS, typically financed
through energy and insurance savings, and other savings associated with pre-emptive
maintenance and fault detection.
A building controlled by a BAS is often referred to as an intelligent building, "smart building",
or (if a residence) a "smart home". Commercial and industrial buildings have historically relied
on robust proven protocols (like BACnet) while proprietary and poorly integrated purposespecific protocols (like X-10 or those from Honeywell, Siemens or other major manufacturers of
smart thermostats, etc.) were used in homes. Recent IEEE standards (notably IEEE 802.15.4,
IEEE 1901 and IEEE 1905.1, IEEE 802.21, IEEE 802.11ac, IEEE 802.3at) and consortia efforts
like nVoy (which verifies IEEE 1905.1 compliance) or QIVICON have provided a standardsbased foundation for heterogeneous networking of many devices on many physical networks for
diverse purposes, and quality of service and failover guarantees appropriate to support human
health and safety. Accordingly commercial, industrial, military and other institutional users now
use systems that differ from home systems mostly in scale. See home automation for more on
entry level systems, nVoy, 1905.1, and the major proprietary vendors who implement or resist
this trend to standards integration.
Almost all multi-story green buildings are designed to accommodate a BAS for the energy, air
and water conservation characteristics. Electrical device demand response is a typical function of
a BAS, as is the more sophisticated ventilation and humidity monitoring required of "tight"
insulated buildings. Most green buildings also use as many low-power DC devices as possible,
typically integrated with power over Ethernet wiring, so by definition always accessible to a
BAS through the Ethernet connectivity. Even a passivhaus design intended to consume no net
energy whatsoever will typically require a BAS to manage heat capture, shading and venting,
and scheduling device use.

Contents
[hide]

1 Automation system
2 Buses and protocols
3 Types of inputs and outputs
4 Infrastructure
o 4.1 Controller
o 4.2 Occupancy
o 4.3 Lighting
o 4.4 Air handlers
4.4.1 Constant volume air-handling units
4.4.2 Variable volume air-handling units
4.4.3 VAV hybrid systems
o 4.5 Central plant
4.5.1 Chilled water system
4.5.2 Condenser water system
4.5.3 Hot water system
o 4.6 Alarms and security
5 Room automation
6 Domotronics
7 See also
o 7.1 Manufacturers

o 7.2 Protocols and industry standards

8 References
9 External links

Automation system[edit]
Main article: Building management system

The term "Building Automation System", loosely used, refers to any electrical control system
that is used to controls a buildings heating, ventilation and air conditioning (HVAC) system.
Modern BAS can also control indoor and outdoor lighting as well as security, fire alarms, and
basically everything else that is electrical in the building. Old HVAC control systems, such as
24VDC wired thermostats or pneumatic controls, are a form of automation but lack the modern
systems flexibility and integration.

Buses and protocols[edit]

Most building automation networks consist of a primary and secondary bus which connect highlevel controllers (generally specialized for building automation, but may be generic
programmable logic controllers) with lower-level controllers, input/output devices and a user
interface (also known as a human interface device). ASHRAE's open protocol BACnet or the
open protocol LonTalk specify how most such devices interoperate. Modern systems use SNMP
to track events, building on decades of history with SNMP-based protocols in the computer
networking world.
Physical connectivity between devices was historically provided by dedicated optical fiber,
ethernet, ARCNET, RS-232, RS-485 or a low-bandwidth special purpose wireless network.
Modern systems rely on standards-based multi-protocol heterogeneous networking such as that
specified in the IEEE 1905.1 standard and verified by the nVoy auditing mark. These
accommodate typically only IP-based networking but can make use of any existing wiring, and
also integrate powerline networking over AC circuits, power over Ethernet low power DC
circuits, high-bandwidth wireless networks such as LTE and IEEE 802.11n and IEEE 802.11ac
and often integrate these using the building-specific wireless mesh open standard ZigBee).
Proprietary hardware dominates the controller market. Each company has controllers for specific
applications. Some are designed with limited controls and no interoperability, such as simple
packaged roof top units for HVAC. Software will typically not integrate well with packages from
other vendors. Cooperation is at the Zigbee/BACnet/LonTalk level only.
Current systems provide interoperability at the application level, allowing users to mix-andmatch devices from different manufacturers, and to provide integration with other compatible
building control systems. These typically rely on SNMP, long used for this same purpose to
integrate diverse computer networking devices into one coherent network.

Types of inputs and outputs[edit]

Analog inputs are used to read a variable measurement. Examples are temperature, humidity and
pressure sensors which could be thermistor, 4-20 mA, 0-10 volt or platinum resistance
thermometer (resistance temperature detector), or wireless sensors.
A digital input indicates if a device is turned on or not. Some examples of an inherently digital
input would be a 24VDC/AC signal, current switch, an air flow switch, or a volta-free relay
contact (Dry Contact). Digital inputs could also be pulse type inputs counting the frequency of
pulses over a given period of time. An example is a turbine flow meter transmitting rotation data
as a frequency of pulses to an input.
Analog outputs control the speed or position of a device, such as a variable frequency drive, an IP (current to pneumatics) transducer, or a valve or damper actuator. An example is a hot water
valve opening up 25% to maintain a setpoint. Another example is a variable frequency drive
ramping up a motor slowly to avoid a hard start.
Digital outputs are used to open and close relays and switches as well as drive a load upon
command. An example would be to turn on the parking lot lights when a photocell indicates it is
dark outside. Another example would be to open a valve by allowing 24VDC/AC to pass through
the output powering the valve. Digital outputs could also be pulse type outputs emitting a
frequency of pulses over a given period of time. An example is an energy meter calculating kWh
and emitting a frequency of pulses accordingly.

Infrastructure[edit]
Controller[edit]

Various components that make up a building automation system

Controllers are essentially small, purpose-built computers with input and output capabilities.
These controllers come in a range of sizes and capabilities to control devices commonly found in
buildings, and to control sub-networks of controllers.
Inputs allow a controller to read temperatures, humidity, pressure, current flow, air flow, and
other essential factors. The outputs allow the controller to send command and control signals to
slave devices, and to other parts of the system. Inputs and outputs can be either digital or analog.
Digital outputs are also sometimes called discrete depending on manufacturer.
Controllers used for building automation can be grouped in 3 categories. Programmable Logic
Controllers (PLCs), System/Network controllers, and Terminal Unit controllers. However an
additional device can also exist in order to integrate 3rd party systems (i.e. a stand-alone AC
system) into a central Building automation system).
PLC's provide the most responsiveness and processing power, but at a unit cost typically 2 to 3
times that of a System/Network controller intended for BAS applications. Terminal Unit
controllers are usually the least expensive and least powerful.
PLC's may be used to automate high-end applications such as clean rooms or hospitals where the
cost of the controllers is less of a concern.
In office buildings, supermarkets, malls, and other common automated buildings the systems will
use System/Network controllers rather than PLC's. Most System controllers provide general
purpose feedback loops, as well as digital circuits, but lack the millisecond response time that
PLC's provide.
System/Network controllers may be applied to control one or more mechanical systems such as
an Air Handler Unit (AHU), boiler, chiller, etc., or they may supervise a sub-network of
controllers. In the diagram above, System/Network controllers are often used in place of PLCs.
Terminal Unit controllers usually are suited for control of lighting and/or simpler devices such as
a package rooftop unit, heat pump, VAV box, or fan coil, etc. The installer typically selects 1 of
the available pre-programmed personalities best suited to the device to be controlled, and does
not have to create new control logic.

Occupancy[edit]
Occupancy is one of two or more operating modes for a building automation system.
Unoccupied, Morning Warmup, and Night-time Setback are other common modes.
Occupancy is usually based on time of day schedules. In Occupancy mode, the BAS aims to
provides a comfortable climate and adequate lighting, often with zone-based control so that users
on one side of a building have a different thermostat (or a different system, or sub system) than
users on the opposite side.

A temperature sensor in the zone provides feedback to the controller, so it can deliver heating or
cooling as needed.
If enabled, Morning Warmup (MWU) mode occurs prior to Occupancy. During Morning
Warmup the BAS tries to bring the building to setpoint just in time for Occupancy. The BAS
often factors in outdoor conditions and historical experience to optimize MWU. This is also
referred to as Optimised Start.
An override is a manually initiated command to the BAS. For example, many wall-mounted
temperature sensors will have a push-button that forces the system into Occupancy mode for a
set number of minutes. Where present, web interfaces allow users to remotely initiate an override
on the BAS.
Some buildings rely on occupancy sensors to activate lighting and/or climate conditioning.
Given the potential for long lead times before a space becomes sufficiently cool or warm, climate
conditioning is not often initiated directly by an occupancy sensor.

Lighting[edit]
Lighting can be turned on, off, or dimmed with a building automation or lighting control system
based on time of day, or on occupancy sensor, photosensors and timers.[2] One typical example is
to turn the lights in a space on for a half hour since the last motion was sensed. A photocell
placed outside a building can sense darkness, and the time of day, and modulate lights in outer
offices and the parking lot.
Lighting is also a good candidate for Demand response, with many control systems providing the
ability to dim (or turn off) lights to take advantage of DR incentives and savings.
In newer buildings, the lighting control is based on the field bus DALI. Lamps with DALI
ballasts are fully dimmable. DALI can also detect lamp and ballast failures on DALI luminaires
and signals failures.

Air handlers[edit]
Most air handlers mix return and outside air so less temperature/humidity conditioning is needed.
This can save money by using less chilled or heated water (not all AHUs use chilled/hot water
circuits). Some external air is needed to keep the building's air healthy. To optimize energy
efficiency while maintaining healthy indoor air quality (IAQ), demand control (or controlled)
ventilation (DCV) adjusts the amount of outside air based on measured levels of occupancy.
Analog or digital temperature sensors may be placed in the space or room, the return and supply
air ducts, and sometimes the external air. Actuators are placed on the hot and chilled water
valves, the outside air and return air dampers. The supply fan (and return if applicable) is started
and stopped based on either time of day, temperatures, building pressures or a combination.
Constant volume air-handling units[edit]

The less efficient type of air-handler is a "constant volume air handling unit," or CAV. The fans
in CAVs do not have variable-speed controls. Instead, CAVs open and close dampers and watersupply valves to maintain temperatures in the building's spaces. They heat or cool the spaces by
opening or closing chilled or hot water valves that feed their internal heat exchangers. Generally
one CAV serves several spaces
Variable volume air-handling units[edit]
A more efficient unit is a "variable air volume (VAV) air-handling unit," or VAV.[3] VAVs
supply pressurized air to VAV boxes, usually one box per room or area. A VAV air handler can
change the pressure to the VAV boxes by changing the speed of a fan or blower with a variable
frequency drive or (less efficiently) by moving inlet guide vanes to a fixed-speed fan. The
amount of air is determined by the needs of the spaces served by the VAV boxes.
Each VAV box supply air to a small space, like an office. Each box has a damper that is opened
or closed based on how much heating or cooling is required in its space. The more boxes are
open, the more air is required, and a greater amount of air is supplied by the VAV air-handling
unit.
Some VAV boxes also have hot water valves and an internal heat exchanger. The valves for hot
and cold water are opened or closed based on the heat demand for the spaces it is supplying.
These heated VAV boxes are sometimes used on the perimeter only and the interior zones are
cooling only.
A minimum and maximum CFM must be set on VAV boxes to assure adequate ventilation and
proper air balance.
VAV hybrid systems[edit]
Another variation is a hybrid between VAV and CAV systems. In this system, the interior zones
operate as in a VAV system. The outer zones differ in that the heating is supplied by a heating
fan in a central location usually with a heating coil fed by the building boiler. The heated air is
ducted to the exterior dual duct mixing boxes and dampers controlled by the zone thermostat
calling for either cooled or heated air as needed.

Central plant[edit]
A central plant is needed to supply the air-handling units with water. It may supply a chilled
water system, hot water system and a condenser water system, as well as transformers and
auxiliary power unit for emergency power. If well managed, these can often help each other. For
example, some plants generate electric power at periods with peak demand, using a gas turbine,
and then use the turbine's hot exhaust to heat water or power an absorptive chiller.
Chilled water system[edit]

Chilled water is often used to cool a building's air and equipment. The chilled water system will
have chiller(s) and pumps. Analog temperature sensors measure the chilled water supply and
return lines. The chiller(s) are sequenced on and off to chill the chilled water supply.
A chiller is a refrigeration unit designed to produce cool (chilled) water for space cooling
purposes. The chilled water is then circulated to one or more cooling coils located in air handling
units, fan-coils, or induction units. Chilled water distribution is not constrained by the 100 foot
separation limit that applies to DX systems, thus chilled water-based cooling systems are
typically used in larger buildings. Capacity control in a chilled water system is usually achieved
through modulation of water flow through the coils; thus, multiple coils may be served from a
single chiller without compromising control of any individual unit. Chillers may operate on
either the vapor compression principle or the absorption principle. Vapor compression chillers
may utilize reciprocating, centrifugal, screw, or rotary compressor configurations. Reciprocating
chillers are commonly used for capacities below 200 tons; centrifugal chillers are normally used
to provide higher capacities; rotary and screw chillers are less commonly used, but are not rare.
Heat rejection from a chiller may be by way of an air-cooled condenser or a cooling tower (both
discussed below). Vapor compression chillers may be bundled with an air-cooled condenser to
provide a packaged chiller, which would be installed outside of the building envelope. Vapor
compression chillers may also be designed to be installed separate from the condensing unit;
normally such a chiller would be installed in an enclosed central plant space. Absorption chillers
are designed to be installed separate from the condensing unit.
Condenser water system[edit]
Cooling tower(s) and pumps are used to supply cool condenser water to the chillers. Because the
condenser water supply to the chillers has to be constant, variable speed drives are commonly
used on the cooling tower fans to control temperature. Proper cooling tower temperature assures
the proper refrigerant head pressure in the chiller. The cooling tower set point used depends upon
the refrigerant being used. Analog temperature sensors measure the condenser water supply and
return lines.
Hot water system[edit]
The hot water system supplies heat to the building's air-handling unit or VAV box heating coils,
along with the domestic hot water heating coils (Calorifier). The hot water system will have a
boiler(s) and pumps. Analog temperature sensors are placed in the hot water supply and return
lines. Some type of mixing valve is usually used to control the heating water loop temperature.
The boiler(s) and pumps are sequenced on and off to maintain supply.
The installation and integration of variable frequency drives can lower the energy consumption
of the building's circulation pumps to about 15% of what they had been using before. If that
sounds hard to believe, I'll explain, and we can do the math. A variable frequency drive functions
by modulating the frequency of the electricity provided to the motor that it powers. In the USA,
the electrical grid uses a frequency of 60 Hertz or 60 cycles per second. Variable frequency
drives are able to decrease the output and energy consumption of motors by lowering the
frequency of the electricity provided to the motor, however the relationship between motor

output and energy consumption is not a linear one. If the variable frequency drive provides
electricity to the motor at 30 Hertz, the output of the motor will be 50% because 30 Hertz
divided by 60 Hertz is 0.5 or 50%. The energy consumption of a motor running at 50% or 30
Hertz will not be 50%, but will instead be something like 18% because the relationship between
motor output and energy consumption are not linear. The exact ratios of motor output or Hertz
provided to the motor (which are effectively the same thing), and the actual energy consumption
of the variable frequency drive / motor combination depend on the efficiency of the variable
frequency drive. For example, because the variable frequency drive needs power itself to
communicate with the building automation system, run its cooling fan, etc., if the motor always
ran at 100% with the variable frequency drive installed the cost of operation or electricity
consumption would actually go up with the new variable frequency drive installed. The amount
of energy that variable frequency drives consume is nominal and is hardly worth consideration
when calculating savings, however it did need to be noted that VFD's do consume energy
themselves. Due to the fact that the variable frequency drives rarely ever run at 100% and spend
most of their time in the 40% output range, and the fact that now the pumps completely shut
down when not needed, the variable frequency drives have reduced the energy consumption of
the pumps to around 15% of what they had been using before.[4]

Alarms and security[edit]

All modern building automation systems have alarm capabilities. It does little good to detect a
potentially hazardous or costly situation if no one who can solve the problem is notified.
Notification can be through a computer (email or text message), pager, cellular phone voice call,
audible alarm, or all of these. For insurance and liability purposes all systems keep logs of who
was notified, when and how.
Alarms may immediately notify someone or only notify when alarms build to some threshold of
seriousness or urgency. At sites with several buildings, momentary power failures can cause
hundreds or thousands of alarms from equipment that has shut down these should be
suppressed and recognized as symptoms of a larger failure. Some sites are programmed so that
critical alarms are automatically re-sent at varying intervals. For example, a repeating critical
alarm (of an Uninterruptible power supply in 'bypass') might resound at 10 minutes, 30 minutes,
and every 2 to 4 hours thereafter until the alarms are resolved.

Common temperature alarms are: space, supply air, chilled water supply, hot water supply.
Pressure, humidity, biological and chemical sensors can determine if ventilation systems have
failed mechanically or become infected with contaminants that affect human health.
Differential pressure switches can be placed on a filter to determine if it is dirty or otherwise not
performing.
Status alarms are common. If a mechanical device like a pump is requested to start, and the
status input indicates it is off, this can indicate a mechanical failure. Or, worse, an electrical fault
that could represent a fire or shock hazard.
Some valve actuators have end switches to indicate if the valve has opened or not.
Carbon monoxide and carbon dioxide sensors can tell if concentration of these in the air are too
high, either due to fire or ventilation problems in garages or near roads.
Refrigerant sensors can be used to indicate a possible refrigerant leak.

Current sensors can be used to detect low current conditions caused by slipping fan belts,
clogging strainers at pumps, or other problems.

Security systems can be interlocked to a building automation system. If occupancy sensors are
present, they can also be used as burglar alarms. Because security systems are often deliberately
sabotaged, at least some detectors or cameras should have battery backup and wireless
connectivity and the ability to trigger alarms when disconnected. Modern systems typically use
power-over-Ethernet (which can operate a pan-tilt-zoom camera and other devices up to 30-90
watts) which is capable of charging such batteries and keeps wireless networks free for genuinely
wireless applications, such as backup communication in outage.
Fire alarm panels and their related smoke alarm systems are usually hard-wired to override
building automation. For example: if the smoke alarm is activated, all the outside air dampers
close to prevent air coming into the building, and an exhaust system can isolate the blaze.
Similarly, electrical fault detection systems can turn entire circuits off, regardless of the number
of alarms this triggers or persons this distresses. Fossil fuel combustion devices also tend to have
their own over-rides, such as natural gas feed lines that turn off when slow pressure drops are
detected (indicating a leak), or when excess methane is detected in the building's air supply.
Good BAS are aware of these overrides and recognize complex failure conditions. They do not
send excessive alerts, nor do they waste precious backup power on trying to turn back on devices
that these safety over-rides have turned off. A poor BAS, almost by definition, sends out one
alarm for every alert, and does not recognize any manual, fire or electric or fuel safety override.
Accordingly good BAS are often built on safety and fire systems.

Room automation[edit]
Room automation is a subset of building automation and with a similar purpose, it is the
consolidation of one or more systems under centralized control, though in this case in one room.
The most common example of room automation is corporate boardroom, presentation suites, and
lecture halls, where the operation of the large number of devices that define the room function
(such as videoconferencing equipment, video projectors, lighting control systems, public address
systems etc.) would make manual operation of the room very complex. It is common for room
automation systems to employ a touchscreen as the primary way of controlling each operation.

Domotronics[edit]
Domotronics Dom-o-tronics Domus (Latin for house) -o- tronics (Electronics) deals with
the interdisciplinary interaction and intelligent networking of building, energy and
communications technology in modern especially larger buildings with complex requirements.
The aim of the Domotronics is to create buildings, which guarantee optimal comfort, provide a
healthy environment, integrate numerous services such as security, communication, HVAC and
assistance systems and respond to the occupants and environment through specific sensors for
light and heat etc. and automated controls. Especially suited to large buildings where passive

controls may be inadequate or impractical they have also become popular in modern luxury
houses.