The Building Automation System (BAS) is a fundamental component of the modern building. BASs are increasingly becoming a component in a building’s local area network (LAN). However, BAS manufacturers and installers have not become sufficiently fluent with IT structures, security requirements, protocols and integration to be able to work successfully with IT departments. This needs to change.

For any facility to be called a ‘Smart Building’, a BAS that has been utilized for at least part of its capabilities is a necessity. The capabilities of a BAS include intelligent control of not just the HVAC equipment, but also control of lighting, fire alarm, security, and utility metering systems amongst other domains. Intelligent control implies that all these domains be controlled by the BAS according to the organization’s changing needs and business objectives. Although improved tenant comfort, increased equipment efficiency, reducing energy costs and consumption are examples of common business objectives, they might be on different levels of an organization’s priority list.

There was a time not too long ago when control systems and equipment were entirely pneumatic and electrical. Some of our clients still have HVAC equipment in their buildings operated by pneumatic controls. However, the industry has transitioned towards Direct Digital Control (DDC) and the pace has picked up in the last decade. The way different BAS devices communicate has progressed towards an accepted standard: the BACnet communication standard. BACnet has evolved since its inception into many different varieties with the most popular being BACnet/IP as network standards move increasingly towards IP-centric solutions. Nowadays, almost all major HVAC equipment like chillers, pumps, fans, sensors etc are available with the ability to communicate via BACnet and oftentimes it’s included at no additional charge.

Interestingly enough, there are many building and facilities that have a BAS which is hugely under-utilized. Among the reasons for this are systemic issues in the construction industry that has favoured the approach of accepting lowest contract bids, resulting in contractors eliminating control points and/or cutting corners to save on installation costs so they can “win” the project without it affecting their bottom line profit. Another reason for not maximizing the potential of a BAS is that installations increasingly require integration between the organization’s IT infrastructure and BACnet protocol is either completely foreign or only peripherally understood by most IT departments. The functionality and security standards of BACnet have historically been unacceptable with BACnet services like device discovery which propagate throughout the entire network causing unnecessary traffic. Similarly, BACnet routers are often not manageable by the IT department which is undesirable.

In 2016 the BACnet standard was revised to include an IT Layer in the BACnet protocol stack. This layer allowed the BACnet application layer to exchange service messages and discover devices in the field using standard IP protocols like the WebSocket protocol and DNS-SD. Given these additions to the BACnet standard, it is imperative that BAS contractors installing these systems be well-versed in IT protocols and principles. This applies to mechanical HVAC contractors too as major equipment nowadays comes with smart controls and BACnet/IP connectivity.

Another update to the BACnet standard was the addition of semantic tagging to BACnet objects. Tagging allows for points and equipment to be classified with tags. If all devices and points are tagged, queries regarding specifics on point data will become much easier. For example, a query to return all supply air temperature points in all Air Handling Units in a building would become very convenient. This can be extended to an entire portfolio of buildings. Imagine being able to view the average power consumption of cooling equipment throughout your entire portfolio with one query. The addition of tagging will enable analytics services to provide building owners and their operations team with valuable insight into equipment operation and recommendations to improve building performance. Our company has been involved in collecting and analyzing data for well over a decade. We saw the value in data analytics long before anyone else and many companies have recently started to provide similar services.

In order for the feature of tagging to fulfill its potential, BAS and mechanical contractors need to understand the potential benefit of analytics and they need to work as part of a larger team that includes the building operations staff, property management and analytics service providers. Analytics service providers can provide valuable insight into equipment operation but cannot implement their recommendations without the endorsement of the building operations team or the contractors. In some instances, recommendations from analytics providers are rejected by the operations staff or the contractors, not because of the viability of the recommendations, but rather due to the notion that the work of the operations team and contractors will be in jeopardy if the analytics provider is correct. At times the reason is simply “there are no complaints so there is no need to change anything”. This kind of approach results in energy and/or money that could otherwise be saved if feasible recommendations are carefully assessed and implemented.

Given this update, building owners and property managers need to train their operations staff on IT skills so that they are more informed on how the BAS architecture integrates with the IT architecture. Ultimately, it is their responsibility to root out this kind of conduct by ensuring that all parties involved are well aware of each other’s objectives and motives at the onset, whether that is the beginning of a project or a long-term initiative. Contractors may be engaged in the building for a single project, but operations staff and analytics providers might be involved long-term and should share data and information with one another to achieve the business goals set out by property management.

One of the ways property management can achieve synergy between all parties is by leveraging their existing IT and building operations departments to cross train each other. Each department is best informed about the subtleties and complexities of their systems. Core principles of IT such as IP addressing, network architecture and security and of BAS controls such as communication protocol, BAS architecture and basic HVAC equipment operation can be introduced in these trainings so that each department can build their knowledge about the other from the ground up. If cross department training is not an option, subject matter experts in IT and BAS can be hired independently to provide training.

One important factor for success is understanding the value of getting both IT and the operations team to sit face to face and discuss each other’s challenges. This cannot be undermined. On many occasions we have found that a short face-to-face sit down with both departments can go a long way into resolving issues that would otherwise take weeks or months to resolve through conference calls and back and forth online communication. It is imperative that property management takes the responsibility of getting both departments to discuss their concerns and issues at the onset.

From the perspective of the consulting or contracting firms, business leaders need to ensure their project managers, engineers and technicians are aware of the benefits they can reap from an analytics provider. For example, technicians can benefit during installation and commissioning by verifying equipment operation, engineers can optimize their design calculations and parameters and project managers can manage their projects more efficiently with analytics feedback data. All parties can benefit from the large quantities of data being collected by the Analytics provider.

There are few online learning resources available that specifically deal with bridging this gap between building operations and IT. Until the industry governing bodies like ASHRAE develop training content and resources dealing with this topic, companies will have to bridge this gap themselves or by hiring independent subject matter experts in both fields. Recently, ASHRAE had an online webinar that discussed the role of Analytics to improve Building Performance. A panel of industry veterans explained the value of analytics and addressed the most common areas of concern. More content needs to be prepared and made available for the general public.

With the evolution of BACnet in BASs, the Internet of Things, Big Data and the need for analytics, building automation is intersecting more and more with IT. BASs have the ability for remote IP connectivity and various devices are accumulating data and need internet connectivity if this data is being stored in the cloud. Robust and secure internet connectivity needs to be ever-present in order to ensure data continuity and to minimize the risk of cyber threats. Understanding of IT topics such as networking, security protocols and integration strategies would be highly beneficial to building operators, BAS contractors and mechanical contractors to be more effective in maximising the full potential of Building Automation Systems. If you are a building owner or manager, we would encourage you to expose your operations staff to related learning sessions as a means to broaden their understanding of IT. If you are a mechanical or BAS service provider, we would encourage you to train some of your installers and project managers to be well-versed in IT so they can have an intelligent conversation with your client’s IT departments. It is our opinion that the convergence of BAS with IT is inevitable.

‍