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Advances in building management systems seem to be arriving thick and fast, with increasingly intelligent software making building control a highly advanced field. But are these technological leaps really what users need? What is the point of buyers being locked into purchasing one system, or paying heavily to ensure greater compatibility? Surely this is what the systems should be doing.

Today, the building management systems market is a mature one with a myriad of manufacturers. They provide solutions that are fully configurable or programmable and with more than enough control points for most applications. Many systems also offer the ability to network, peer to peer, but this is still proprietary.

And this highlights one of the biggest shortcomings of the range of products on offer – currently, there is no single open standard, language or protocol that allows bems to communicate and talk to each other easily, regardless of manufacturer or configuration.

Anyone involved in the field of building management systems will have come across names such as BACnet and LonWorks. Those advocating common standards do cite these as a way forward for the industry. BACnet has been adopted by ASHRAE, and most vendors in the industry support this BACnet.

BACnet defines how building control systems can communicate with it. In theory BACnet is independent of any manufacturer. However it has its disadvantages, largely because it requires vendors to enable the communication between BACnet and other systems - so it cannot truly be called a common language, more like a guide to translation.

LonWorks is a group of products developed by the Echelon company. It has its own communications protocol called LonTalk. Users must include a proprietary communications chip to implement the system. Again, however, communication between different manufacturers' equipment is difficult because LonWorks doesn't offer a common language.

Engineers involved in buildings with all but the simplest control systems have to familiarise themselves with a new range of vocabulary.

The development of these separate systems also means that any equipment manufacturer has to maintain multiple gateways to the various 'open' systems, which is a costly and inelegant solution for everyone.

If we take a look at the IT industry, the same criticism could have been made around twenty years ago but today, Ethernet Transmission Control Protocol / Internet Protocol (TCP/IP) ie the common language of the internet, provides a single agreed open standard. This allows millions of computer users to talk to each other over the global network that is the internet, regardless of the origin or equipment manufacturer.

It could be argued that TCP/IP is the only system that works world-wide and some bems – manufacturers are coming round to this fact and trying to develop systems that operate using this protocol.

Open sesame
The reason that it is important to develop such an open system is that it allows a building user overall monitoring and control of the equipment and environment in their building. It's also in a straightforward and standard presentation. The software can be arranged to look like any other Windows-based program so it's intuitively easy to use. As an operator, you simply don't need to get involved with the electrical engineering or architecture of the system, you just need to understand how to operate the programmes on the computer.

This will become increasingly important as new building regulations and European legislation force the energy-efficient management of buildings upon us all. ÐÇ¿Õ´«Ã½ owners need to find ways of optimising the performance and energy efficiency of both their plant and building. They don't want to save cash on energy, only to see it spent in large amounts on footing the IT bill for ensuring that disparate building control systems work together to make an effective single bems system.

Another problem is cost. BEMS are often too expensive because they are simply over engineered and over complicated for the requirements of the vast majority of buildings. Many users don't need and don't use 90% of the functionality and systems are often the electronic equivalent of taking a sledgehammer to crack a nut.

ÐÇ¿Õ´«Ã½ management systems have largely been designed with bigger buildings in mind. They can deal admirably with multiple plant from a range of manufacturers that generally have no generic controllers.

But owners of small and medium buildings still want and have a need for some monitoring and control. With today's offerings from the bems industry, these owners are faced with the cost of either a full solution or nothing at all, there isn't really a middle way.

Small and medium buildings typically need a scaled down bems solution to enhance functionality and reduce running costs – but this is very difficult to find.

The lack of a common language for building management systems is a major hurdle in greater use of such systems - and to more efficient buildings.

The middle way
We can therefore see a requirement for an intermediate system. And and the bems industry also needs to resolve the issues of open standards; the integration of capital plant; cost and complexity; and compliance with future legislation to help safeguard future growth.

Any intermediate system solution will need to use embedded technology at the plant level. It would have to connect with internet protocol or languages such as HTML (HyperText Markup Language) and XML (Extensible Markup Language) or open standards (Ethernet, IP, web browser).

Plus the system should be an enabler for web site asset management and should be able to link from local area networks to wide area networks to the global network that is the web. This would mean that organisations with property worldwide would be able to monitor and control every one from a single site.

There is also a fundamental requirement that any solution should be able to match legislation drivers covering energy (monitoring and control); commissioning and maintenance (integrated); and equipment cradle-to-grave initiatives, such as the European Waste of Electrical and Electronics Equipment Directive, (the so called WEEE directive).

Like it or not, all of these are coming and manufacturers need to provide answers that match the legislative requirements and allow for bems that are future-proof.

The industry therefore needs to seriously review itself and the products that it is offering to enable it to provide one common language for the system. It needs to find a way to deliver the differing levels of service and varied functionality that the majority of building owners require, both for now and into the future.

Manufacturers moving forward
Some building management system manufacturers have begun to get to grips with the capability of the internet. They have realised that a common language is vital, and are making their products web-ready. For example, Trend has recently introduced its IQ3xcite. There is a web server built into the product, designed to communicate via Ethernet which is a low cost, fast and reliable data network.

While bems manufacturers start to get to grips with these challenges, equipment manufacturers are also looking at the internet as an answer to communication problems. Mitsubishi Electric has introduced an easy to use, web enabled control system for its range of City Multi and Mr Slim air conditioning products.

The company's new G50 control system, which was launched last September, allows users to remotely control and monitor up to 50 units of packaged air conditioners. This can increase to up to 2000 by connecting multiple G50 controllers across an Ethernet network.

Using standard Internet technology (Microsoft Internet Explorer) the manufacturer has provided a simple and flexible control system for air conditioning systems. It enables the plant to be controlled from a PC, and by using a standard Microsoft programme as the basis, the system is operated in a way that is now familiar to all computer users.

The G50 also uses new machine-to-machine communication technology which means that the unit can send a signal to a mobile phone when it requires servicing. The programme also notes which part is needed in the event of a breakdown.

Interestingly, mobile phone companies now regard machine-to-machine (m2m) messaging as a major area of growth for their services in the future, indicating increased use of such technology.

With the growth in internet linked plant equipment, it's important that manufacturers consider the ease of installation from the IT point of view. Simple socket connections make linking to the network easy.

Operators of the G50 can also monitor multiple sites remotely from a single computer thereby saving on valuable time and travelling expense and leading to vastly increased customer service.

The benefits of well controlled buildings are many. They include more efficient use of energy, and also better monitoring facilities for owners and occupiers. One of the major hurdles to greater use of these systems is a relatively easy to use form of communication, which works with all manufacturers' building services plant, and doesn't cost and arm and a leg to install.