Written by Deepan Patel, Industry Manager- Infrastructure
You might think as a building owner or facilities manager your building is functioning well and there aren’t any visible issues. So why bother making changes right!? The building automation system (BMS) is doing its thing! Just like a few decades ago when it was first commissioned. Why introduce unnecessary unwanted costs?
While these thoughts might be understandable, you could be potentially missing out on the significant savings in costs and system optimisation of making it a modernised smart building. Gartner predicts our BMS sector will see the high growth on the Internet of Things (IoT) and connected devices adoption.
1. Why traditional BMS is no longer robust enough
Legacy BMS systems is becoming increasingly obsolete amid today’s rapid technological advancements. This obsolescence is seen from both software & hardware. In our digital era, obsolete building automation systems quickly reach their limits in delivering sufficient and timely building data – given high costs and complexity. Most traditional BMS systems lack the scalability needed to support granular feedback sensors and expanding functionalities.
Phoenix Contact has a powerful solution originally born in the PLC industrial world. Since its solutions were built around robustness within hardware and software design, we have taken our solutions to make them meet this same demand in the BMS industry.
The ILC2050 BI controller offers robustness in hardware and its Niagara platform offers the great robustness from a software aspect built around a known, fast growing industry standard in the BMS sector.
HVAC control, lighting, security and fire systems are increasingly employed to augment building functionalities. Yet, these systems are often disconnected from each other and also from the central BMS. The IO modules are connected directly with each module being 12mm in footprint. Some of these technical advantages further complement the ILC 2050 BI:
- Connect to 63 terminals directly
- Best for Retrofit installations
- Reduced time and cost in commissioning
- Support your application using our extensive couplers
- Improve security by isolating networks
- Easy identification with colour coded modules
- Ability to have remote IO stations to distributed IO using same IO modules
2. How IoT is reshaping the BMS sector
The BMS sector is due for a makeover. It would, however, be a grave mistake to think that streamlining legacy BMS unavoidably costs you a fortune. With the explosion of IoT technologies, you can tap into boundless possibilities to optimise your buildings without incurring shocking costs.
Hassle-free BMS upgrades for extended functionalities
Phoenix Contact is one of the leaders of innovative solutions offering complex and well-integrated solutions for the BMS industry. Coupled with robust, scalable and IoT connectivity, we can be deployed across the facility to capture comprehensive IoT data across multiple systems using all types of Protocols such as MQTT, REST API, OPC, BACNet, Modbus TCP/IP, etc. into diverse building functions and distributed assets.
Project + is Phoenix Contact’s solution to providing the industry with a very intuitive design tool to configure your BMS requirements.
3. Configuring your solution
Project+ was born to overcome challenges when it comes to requirements needed for projects. Nowadays we retain so much information, but it is common to forget things! Say you had a part number missed or incorrectly entered, or how about knowing what power supply to use? What about what size of the panel you need or when you need an extra power module to support the IO modules? What about pricing?
As Design/Electrical managers we face many of these challenges in today’s world. Project+ addresses these! To start using our free Project+ software, download it here.
If you would like more information do not hesitate to contact Deepan on 07908 485011 or email dpatel@phoenixcontact.com
