Building automation

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This article is about automation within commercial buildings. For automation within residences, see Home
automation.
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Building automation describes the functionality provided by the control system of a building. A
building automation system (BAS) is an example of a distributed control system. The control system is a
computerized, intelligent network of electronic devices designed to monitor and control the mechanical and lighting
systems in a building.
BAS core functionality keeps the building climate within a specified range, provides lighting based on an occupancy
schedule, and monitors system performance and device failures and provides email and/or text notifications to
building engineering staff. The BAS functionality reduces building energy and maintenance costs when compared to
a non-controlled building. A building controlled by a BAS is often referred to as an intelligent building system.

Contents
[hide]

1 Topology
2 Infrastructure
o

2.1 Controller

2.2 Occupancy

2.3 Lighting

2.4 Air handlers

2.4.1 Constant volume air-handling units

2.4.2 Variable volume air-handling units

2.4.3 VAV hybrid systems

2.5 Central plant

2.5.1 Chilled water system

2.5.2 Condenser water system

2.5.3 Hot water system

2.6 Alarms and security
3 Room automation
4 See also

4.1 Manufacturers

4.2 Protocols and industry standards

5 References

6 External links
[edit]Topology
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).
The primary and secondary bus can be BACnet, optical fiber, ethernet, ARCNET, RS-232, RS-485 or a wireless
network.
Most controllers are proprietary. Each company has its own controllers for specific applications. Some are designed
with limited controls: for example, a simple Packaged Roof Top Unit. Others are designed to be flexible. Most have
proprietary software that will work with ASHRAE's open protocol BACnet or the open protocol LonTalk.
Some newer building automation and lighting control solutions use wireless mesh open standards (such as ZigBee).
These systems can provide interoperability, allowing users to mix-and-match devices from different manufacturers,
and to provide integration with other compatible building control systems.
Inputs and outputs are either analog or digital (some companies say binary).
Analog inputs are used to read a variable measurement. Examples
are temperature, humidity and pressure sensor 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 a digital input would be a 24VDC/AC signal,
an air flow switch, or a volta-free relay contact (Dry Contact).
Analog outputs control the speed or position of a device, such as a variable frequency drive, a 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.
Digital outputs are used to open and close relays and switches. An example would be to turn on the parking lot lights
when a photocell indicate it is dark outside.
[edit]Infrastructure
[edit]Controller
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 purposefeedback 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.
[edit]Occupancy
Occupancy is one of 2 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.
[edit]Lighting
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.[1] 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.
[edit]Air handlers
Most air handlers mix return and outside air so less temperature change 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.
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.
[edit]Constant volume air-handling units
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
[edit]Variable volume air-handling units
A more efficient unit is a "variable air volume (VAV) air-handling unit," or VAV. 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 fixedspeed 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.
[edit]VAV hybrid systems
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.
[edit]Central plant
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.
[edit]Chilled water system
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.
[edit]Condenser water system
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.
[edit]Hot water system
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.
[edit]Alarms and security
Many building automation systems have alarm capabilities. If an alarm is detected, it can be programmed to notify
someone. Notification can be through a computer, pager, cellular phone, or audible alarm.

Common temperature alarms are: space, supply air, chilled water supply and hot
water supply.

Differential pressure switches can be placed on the filter to determine if it is dirty.

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.

Some valve actuators have end switches to indicate if the valve has opened or
not.

Carbon monoxide and carbon dioxide sensors can be used to alarm if levels are
too high.

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, or clogging strainers at pumps.

At sites with several buildings, momentary power failures can cause hundreds or thousands of alarms from
equipment that has shut down. 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 'by pass') might
resound at 10 minutes, 30 minutes, and every 2 to 4 hours thereafter until the alarms are resolved.
Security systems can be interlocked to a building automation system. If occupancy sensors are present, they can
also be used as burglar alarms.
Fire and smoke alarm systems can be 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
[edit]Room automation
Room automation is a subset of building automation and with a similar purpose, it is the consolidation of one or
more systems under centralised 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.
[edit]See also

Building Management System

Control engineering

Control system

Crestron

Digital home

Home automation

HVAC control system

Lighting control system

Smart environment

Testing Adjusting Balancing

Alerton Technologies

American Auto-Matrix

AMX, LLC

ASI Controls

Automated Logic Corporation

Beckhoff Automation

ABB Group

Carrier Corporation

Cisco Systems

Citect

Computrols, Inc.

Crestron Electronics, Inc.

Distech Controls, Inc.

Dynalite Intelligent Light Pty Ltd

Echelon Corporation

EnOcean

HomePLC

Honeywell

Iconics

[edit]Manufacturers

Invensys Building Systems

Johnson Controls Inc.

KMC Controls

LadderWORK

Novar Controls

Panduit

Priva

Reliable Controls Corporation

SAIA-Burgess Controls

Schneider Electric

Siemens Building Technologies

Staefa Control System

StarDraw control

TAC (building automation)

Teletrol Systems Inc.

Trane Global Control Systems

Trend Control Systems Ltd.

WAGO Kontakttechnik GmbH & Co. KG

Wonderware

[edit]Protocols and industry standards

ASHRAE (American Society of Heating, Refrigerating and Air Conditioning

Engineers) is an international organization for people involved in heating,
ventilation, air conditioning, or refrigeration (HVAC&R).

BACnet is a network communications protocol for building automation and control

systems that has been adopted worldwide as ISO 16484-5:2003.

S-Bus

CIBSE Chartered Institute of Building Services Engineers.

Dynet

Energy Star is program created by the United States government to

promote energy efficient consumer products.

EnOcean (batteryless, interoperable, wireless standard)

KNX, a system for Home and Building Controls

LonTalk is a protocol created by Echelon Corporation for networking devices. The

official ISO standard numbers for building automation worldwide are: ISO/IEC
14908-1, ISO/IEC 14908-2, ISO/IEC 14908-3, and ISO/IEC 14908-4.

Midac

OpenTherm

OpenWebNet

Universal Metering Interface (UMI) originally created by Cambridge

Consultants for use in Smart Metering devices and systems, this set of 3
standards was made open in order to promote the development of the smart
metering market and its interconnection with building automation.

ZigBee is a short range, low-powered wireless communication standard targeted

at Building Automation.

[edit]References

1.

^ "Lighting control saves money and makes sense". Daintree Networks.

Retrieved 2009-06-19.

[edit]External links

Key Elements in Intelligent Buildings

[hide]

e
Automation protocols
Process automation

BSAP

CC-Link Industrial Networks

CIP

Controller area network

ControlNet

DeviceNet

DF-1

DirectNET

EtherCAT

Ethernet Global Data (EGD)

Ethernet Powerlink

EtherNet/IP

FINS
FOUNDATION fieldbus (H1, HSE)

GE SRTP

HART Protocol

Honeywell SDS

HostLink

INTERBUS

MECHATROLINK

MelsecNet

Modbus

Optomux

PieP

Profibus

PROFINET IO
SERCOS interface

SERCOS III

Sinec H1

SynqNet

TTEthernet

RAPIEnet

OPC DA

OPC HDA
Industrial control system
OPC UA

MTConnect

1-Wire

BACnet

C-Bus

DALI

DSI

KNX
Building automation
LonTalk

Modbus

oBIX

X10

xAP

ZigBee

IEC 60870-5

DNP3

IEC 60870-6

Power system automation

IEC 61850

IEC 62351

Modbus

Profibus

ANSI C12.18

IEC 61107

DLMS/IEC 62056
Automatic meter reading
M-Bus

Modbus

ZigBee Smart Energy 2.0

Automobile / Vehicle

LIN

J1708

J1587

FMS

J1939

CAN

NMEA 2000

VAN

FlexRay

MOST

Keyword Protocol 2000

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