The term “building automation” refers to the centralized management of a building’s many systems, including its lighting, heating, ventilation, and air conditioning. Building management systems (also known as BMS) and building automation systems are responsible for their operation (BAS).
The comfort of building occupants, the effectiveness of building systems, and the reduction of energy consumption and running costs are all goals that may be accomplished with the implementation of building automation. Through this article, we will be learning the nature of building automation systems and how they function.
What is Building Management Systems
The building management system (BMS), also referred to as a building automation system (BAS) or a building energy management system (BEMS), is a computer-based control system that is installed in buildings to control and monitor the building’s mechanical and electrical equipment, such as ventilation, lighting, power systems, fire systems, and security systems. Other names for a building management system include building automation system (BAS) or building energy management system (BEMS).
Most of the time, building management systems are deployed in large-scale projects with complex mechanical, HVAC, and electrical infrastructures. Systems that are connected to a BMS generally account for forty percent of a building’s total energy consumption; if the lighting is included, this percentage exceeds seventy percent. The use of BMS systems is an essential component of effective energy demand management.
Features of Building Management System and How it Works
A Building Management System (BMS) monitors, oversees, regulates, and reports on the various intelligent building technology systems. Access control, video surveillance, fire alarms, control of HVAC systems, programmable lighting, and electric power management are some of the systems that might be included in these. The following are some of its primary functions:
- Supplying information on supervised building functions, which may include but is not limited to current status, archived historical information, summaries, analyses, displays, and reports on control and management functions.
- The process of identifying, communicating, and responding to alarms and other circumstances
- Monitoring and reporting of diagnostic information on system functions, nodes, devices, and communication networks
- The interaction between the many apps used in smart buildings
- On the operator’s workstation, these systems will normally show the following responses:
– A Recap of the Warning
– Displays for group control as well as group trends
– Shows the current state of communications
– Configuration of the system’s parameters
– Archiving past events and access to them
– Contextual outline and breakdown of periods
– Point information for each and every one of the preset points
Benefits of a building management system
You are effectively transforming your office into an intelligent building by connecting the many pieces of mechanical and electrical equipment located throughout the space to this system. Numerous advantages are available to your company, and one of the best ways to take advantage of them is to have the capacity to regulate and monitor every facet of your facility effectively.
The following are some of the advantages:
- The primary purpose of a BAS is to exercise command and supervision over the many different systems that make up your building. A BAS can decrease the amount of wasted energy by monitoring the amount of energy that is used and then utilizing advanced diagnostic tools and information about how much energy is used. A BAS may cut down on the overall expenditures of running machinery by as much as 15 percent on average.
- Because building controls can integrate a large number of the systems in your building, as well as regulate and monitor those systems, gaining access to the information you want is both quicker and simpler.
- For the vast majority of companies, downtime is not an option. Buildings such as hospitals, data centers, and other important establishments simply cannot afford to have their construction equipment fail. One of the essential benefits of purchasing a BAS is the ability to identify potential problems far in advance of any potential downtime.
- Regardless of how well manufactured or well-tuned a piece of machinery is, there will come a time when it has to be replaced. However, if you do preventative maintenance on your equipment, you may prolong its lifespan significantly. The controls can inform you when there is a problem with any of your equipment, giving you the opportunity to arrange maintenance before it is necessary to do full-scale repairs.
Best building management access control
Who is allowed into a building or room, and at what time is it managed by an access control system? It is common practice to install access control systems at the building’s entrances, gates, inner doors, and elevators to restrict access to those areas to those who have been granted permission.
The primary objective of access control is to improve both the safety of a facility and the convenience of its occupants. This is accomplished by restricting the entry of illegal individuals into a property while simultaneously facilitating the passage of authorized individuals.
With the help of Schneider Electric’s EcoStruxure Security Expert, you can keep your building’s people and assets safe. An integrated solution for role-based physical access control and intrusion detection combines your facility’s security infrastructure and building management systems.
The following are the three major models of access control:
- Discretionary access control, often known as DAC, is the type with the fewest limitations on who may use it. It allows many property administrators or company owners to determine who is allowed entry to particular building sections, rather than giving that authority to a single professional security guard.
- The mandatory access control, sometimes abbreviated as MAC, works well in environments with high levels of security and stringent confidentiality requirements. Establishing access permissions is a responsibility that can only be delegated to a single system administrator, such as the Chief Security Officer of a corporation.
- Users in a system using role-based access control (often abbreviated RBAC) are each given a role, and their permissions are determined by the roles they have been given. The authority to delegate responsibilities and control access is vested in the administrators of the building.
Applications of a building management system
Let us have a look at some applications of integrating building management systems:
- Individual-level control of appliances (like air conditioners, etc.). Suppose an employee works outside normal business hours or on holiday, for instance. In that case, he may use the interface shown on the IP Phone screen to operate the HVAC system in the conference room.
- Unified dashboard and reporting for monitoring/controlling BMS & Network systems with multiple access levels depending on user/admin profile.
- Tracking of the real-time energy use of all buildings from a centralized location to determine energy consumption trends and identify (potential) areas for improvement.
- Internet and mobile network users may be notified in real-time of any incidents or crises that exceed the parameters of a threshold that has been previously established. Web-based control of BMS and Network devices by technicians, even when they are working from home or other distant places.
- Developing intelligent structures that can self-regulate all primary systems, increase energy efficiency, and concurrently reduce the risk of failure is a goal of this research area.
4 Limitations of Building Management System (BMS) Data
BMS data’s limitations in terms of cost, ongoing value, breadth, and scalability are not compatible with future buildings.
- During the year 2004, the average price of a sensor was $1.30. It is anticipated that the average cost of a sensor will be $0.38 in the year 2020. Sadly, the cost reductions in sensors have not resulted in a considerable fall in the cost of installing a complete BMS system.
- The value of data collection is directly proportional to the insights that may be extracted from it. Regarding building management system (BMS) data, insights often entail optimizing equipment schedules, set points, and system configurations. By recognizing, for instance, that the heating, ventilation, and air conditioning (HVAC) system is operating even when the building is vacant, a building may be able to significantly reduce the amount of money it spends on operating expenses caused by the consumption of utilities.
- It is crucial for you to know that the maintenance schedules of office and multifamily buildings are subject to change and that these schedules are not always put back into place after the work is completed. This is a major problem that can cause significant increases in operating expenses and put the well-being and comfort of tenants in peril.
- Using data from a BMS to optimize a portfolio of buildings has several drawbacks, the most significant of which is that it is not naturally scalable. It’s possible that every building in the portfolio uses the same BMS vendor, but it’s implausible that this is the case. Because every vendor will have its own unique proprietary data protocol, it will be necessary to create and manage a wide variety of various connectors and procedures.
How to Select a Building Management System for Your Organization
When selecting a building management system, often known as a BMS, it is crucial to understand how it exchanges information with digital devices such as controllers, meters, input/output boards, and computers. This is true for choosing the best BMS for your organization.
The specifics are crucial because some business management systems utilize languages or technical protocols that force you to use the proprietary technology offered by their provider.
If you use such protocols, you and your customer may be required to pay higher fees for software and hardware that is only available from a single vendor or from licensees of that vendor.
Visit https://www.se.com/th/en/ if you have any further inquiries about the benefits of building automation management systems.
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