Building management system

A building management system (BMS) or a (more recent terminology) building automation system
(BAS) is a computer-based control system installed in buildings that controls and monitors the
building’s mechanical and electrical equipment such as ventilation, lighting, power systems, fire
systems, and security systems. A BMS consists of software and hardware; the software program,
usually configured in a hierarchical manner, can be proprietary, using such protocols as C-
Bus,Profibus, and so on. Vendors are also producing BMSs that integrate using Internet
protocols and open standards such asDeviceNet, SOAP, XML, BACnet, LonWorks and Modbus.

Contents
[hide]

 1Characteristics
 2Benefits of BMS
o 2.1Building owner
o 2.2Maintenance companies
o 2.3Additional benefits
 3See also
 4References

Characteristics[edit]
Building management systems are most commonly implemented in large projects with extensive
mechanical, HVAC, electrical, and plumbing systems. Systems linked to a BMS typically represent
40% of a building's energy usage; if lighting is included, this number approaches to 70%. BMS
systems are a critical component to managing energy demand. Improperly configured BMS systems
are believed to account for 20% of building energy usage, or approximately 8% of total energy usage
in the United States.[1][2]
In addition to controlling the building's internal environment, BMS systems are sometimes linked to
access control (turnstiles and access doors controlling who is allowed access and egress to the
building) or other security systems such as closed-circuit television (CCTV) and motion detectors.
Fire alarm systems and elevators are also sometimes linked to a BMS, for monitoring. In case a fire
is detected then only the fire alarm panel could shut off dampers in the ventilation system to stop
smoke spreading and send all the elevators to the ground floor and park them to prevent people
from using them.

 Illumination (lighting) control

 Electric power control
 Heating, ventilation and air-conditioning (HVAC)
 Security and observation
 Access control
 Fire alarm system
 Lifts, elevators etc.
 Plumbing

 Closed-circuit television (CCTV)

 Other engineering systems
 Control Panel
 PA system
 Alarm Monitor
 Security Automation

Benefits of BMS[edit]
 Good control of internal comfort conditions
 Possibility of individual room control
 Increased staff productivity
 Effective monitoring and targeting of energy consumption
 Improved plant reliability and life
 Effective response to HVAC-related complaints
 Save time and money during the maintenance.
Building owner[edit]

 Higher rental value

 Flexibility on change of building use
 Individual tenant billing for services facilities time saving
 Remote monitoring of the plants (such as AHU's, fire pumps, plumbing pumps, electrical supply,
STP, WTP, grey water treatment plant etc.)
Maintenance companies[edit]

 Ease of information availability

 Computerized maintenance scheduling
 Effective use of maintenance staff
 Early detection of problems
 More satisfied occupants
Additional benefits[edit]

 Data is consolidated onto a single system to improve reporting, information management and
decision-making. Integrating and managing the HVAC, energy, security, digital video and life
safety applications from a single workstation allows facility-wide insight and control for better
performance.
 Increased operational savings – Efficient resource deployment can result in reduced operational
costs, empowering operators, simplifying training and decreasing false alarms.
 Energy efficient – Real-time view into facility operations and deep trend analysis provide data-
driven insight to optimize your energy management strategies and minimize operational costs.
 Flexibility to grow and expand – The powerful combination of open systems protocols and a
scalable platform means the BMS can help support growth and expansion of the system in the
future.
 Reduced risk – Strategic mobile or desktop control, exceptional alarm management and
integrated security solutions helps to see the big picture, helping to speed up response time and
mitigate risks for the property, people and business.
 Intelligent reporting – Comprehensive reporting with functionality for customizable reports
delivers greater transparency into system history and promotes compliance.
BMS deals with energy demand management. EDM integrates energy policies and regulations in to
overall company operations. It incorporates energy targets into overall business strategies. EDM
conduct management reviews and establishes a system to collect, analyse and report data related
energy consumption and ensure correctness and integrity of that data.
See also[edit]
 Building automation
 Direct digital control
 Total energy management in hvac
 Building Controls Industry Association

References[edit]
1. Jump up^ Advanced Sensors and Controls for Building Applications: Market Assessment and
Potential R&D Pathways (Brambley 2005)
2. Jump up^ Energy Consumption Characteristics of Commercial Building HVAC SystemsVolume III:
Energy Savings Potential (Roth 2002)

2.Building automation
3. 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,and improve life cycle of utilities.
4. 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][2]
5. 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.
6. A building controlled by a BAS is often referred to as an intelligent building,[3] "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 purpose-specific
protocols (like X-10 or those from Johnson Controls, Honeywell, Siemensor 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 standards-based 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 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.
7. 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.

VAV MEANS : Variable air volume

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 24 V DC 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 high-level
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
integratepowerline networking over AC circuits, power over Ethernet low-power DC circuits, high-
bandwidth wireless networks such asLTE 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-and-match
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 wirelesssensors.

A digital input indicates if a device is turned on or not. Some examples of an inherently digital input
would be a 24 V DC/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 I-P
(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]
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 third-party systems (i.e. a stand-alone AC
system) into a central Building automation system).

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 optimized
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 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.[4] 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 can be based on the field bus Digital Addressable Lighting
Interface (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 or 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 water-
supply 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.[5] 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 afan 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 systemand 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 towers 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. 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. Because the variable frequency drives rarely ever run at 100% and
spend most of their time in the 40% output range, and because 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.[6]

Alarms and security[edit]

All modern building automation systems have alarm capabilities. It does little good to detect a
potentially hazardous[7] 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.[7] 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 excessmethane 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.

Direct digital control

Direct digital control (DDC) is the automated control of a condition or process by a digital device
(computer).[1][2] DDC is considered by many to be a more modern, granular and responsive update to
older HVAC control systems based upon PLCtechnologies. In those older PLC based systems, each
 zone was self-sufficient and contained all of the instrumentation and control elements needed to
consider analog and digital inputs and then take actions according to rules. The complexity came
from the desire to expand these 'zones' from a few dozen points and a handful of controlled
elements to much broader building-wide systems. Connecting PLCs together becomes complex, and
the creation of rules which would be loaded individually into each PLC impractical.
DDC on the other hand takes a more centralized network-oriented approach. All instrumentation is
gathered by various analog and digital converters which use the network to transport these signals
to the central controller. The centralized computer then follows all of its production rules (which may
incorporate sense points anywhere in the structure) and causes actions to be sent via the same
network to valves, actuators, and other HVAC components that can be adjusted.

Contents
[hide]

 1Overview
 2History
 3Data communication
 4Integration
 5In HVAC
 6See also
 7References
 8External links

Overview[edit]
Central controllers and most terminal unit controllers are programmable, meaning the direct digital
control program code may be customized for the intended use. The program features include time
schedules, setpoints, controllers, logic, timers, trend logs, and alarms.
The unit controllers typically have analog and digital inputs, that allow measurement of the variable
(temperature, humidity, or pressure) and analog and digital outputs for control of the medium
(hot/cold water and/or steam). Digital inputs are typically (dry) contacts from a control device, and
analog inputs are typically a voltage or current measurement from a variable (temperature, humidity,
velocity, or pressure) sensing device. Digital outputs are typically relay contacts used to start and
stop equipment, and analog outputs are typically voltage or current signals to control the movement
of the medium (air/water/steam) control devices. Usually abbreviated as "DDC".

History[edit]
A very early example of a DDC system meeting the above requirements was completed by the
Australian business Midac in 1981-1982 using R-Tec Australian designed hardware. The system
installed at the University of Melbourne used a serial communications network, connecting campus
buildings back to a control room "front end" system in the basement of the Old Geology building.
Each remote or Satellite Intelligence Unit (SIU) ran 2 Z80 microprocessors whilst the front end ran
eleven Z80's in a Parallel Processing configuration with paged common memory. The z80
microprocessors shared the load by passing tasks to each other via the common memory and the
communications network. This was possibly the first successful implementation of a distributed
processing direct digital control system.

Data communication[edit]
When DDC controllers are networked together they can share information through a data bus. The
control system may speak 'proprietary' or 'open protocol' language to communicate on the data bus.
Examples of open protocol language are BACnet (Building Automation Control Network), LON
(Echelon), Modbus TCP/IP and KNX.

Integration[edit]
When different DDC data networks are linked together they can be controlled from a shared
platform. This platform can then share information from one language to another. For example, a
LON controller could share a temperature value with a BACnet controller. The integration platform
can not only make information shareable, but can interact with all the devices.
Most of the integration platforms are either a PC or a network applliance. In many cases,
the HMI (human machine interface) or SCADA (Supervisory Control And Data Acquisition) are part
of it. Integration platform examples, to name only a few, are the Tridium Niagara AX, Trend
Controls,TAC Vista, CAN2GO and the Unified Architecture i.e. OPC (Open Connectivity) server
technology used when direct connectivity is not possible.

In HVAC[edit]
DDC is often used to control the HVAC (heating, ventilating, and air conditioning) devices such as
valves via microprocessors using software to perform the control logic. Such systems receive analog
and digital inputs from the sensors and devices installed in the HVAC system and, according to the
control logic, provide analog or digital outputs to control the HVAC system devices.[1]

These systems may be mated with a software package that graphically allows operators to monitor,
control, alarm and diagnose building equipment remotely.

See also[edit]
 Building automation
 SCADA
 Programmable logic controller
 Fieldbus
 GE Fanuc Intelligent Platforms
 Safety instrumented system
 Industrial control systems
 Industrial safety systems

References[edit]
1. ^ Jump up to:a b Samuel C. Sugarman (2004). HVAC Fundamentals. The Fairmont Press. ISBN 0-
88173-489-6.
2. Jump up^ James R. Leigh (1987). Applied Control Theory. IET. ISBN 0-86341-089-8.
External links[edit]
 Role on DDC Systems in Building Commissioning
 DDCTalk.com - Information, news, and resources related to Direct Digital Control of Buildings.
 ddc-online.org - Provides information on control system manufacturers and their products.