Controls Integration and the Path to More Efficient Buildings
Jonathan Soper, P.E.
Direct digital controls (DDC) have revolutionized the operation and control of building HVAC systems. In the relatively young industry of DDC many manufacturers have entered the market and there are numerous different types of proprietary systems installed. Building owners that operate a large portfolio of buildings need to work with DDC systems from many different manufacturers and must train building operators in a variety of different DDC systems, they must establish accounts with often several different DDC vendors, and the building owner rarely has a means to communicate centrally with the HVAC, electrical and other systems in their buildings.
This presentation will discuss technology options that are available today for integrating different types of pre-existing DDC systems; such options include Tridium, Richards Zeta and Field Server. The paper will describe the benefits to the building owner of a centralized, integrated controls system. The presenter will provide examples of controls integration projects that he has been directly involved in and which demonstrate how the process of integrating control systems from different vendors can empower the building owner to operate their buildings more efficiently for the long term. The examples will cover several different types of DDC system and integration paths and will also include an example of where wireless technology was used to connect several buildings on one campus.
Demand-Based Reset MechanismsReinhard Seidl
Control systems that rely on fixed setpoints to achieve stable operation achieve less efficiency than systems operating with variable setpoints. Typical examples of such setpoints are supply temperature for an air handler, supply pressure for an air handler, and chilled water temperature for a chiller plant.
Fixed setpoints are sometimes used on purpose to achieve stability, simplicity and reliability at the expense of efficiency. This may the case for critical facilities such as labs or clean rooms. There are also cases where the method of using variable setpoints is not implemented because it was not known to the designer, or because, more commonly, it is implemented incorrectly and turns out to be ineffective.
This seminar addresses the basic methods of re-setting setpoints to match the actual building or zone demand, and our experience in commissioning systems with demand-based resets to ensure that they work.
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