This paper analyzes the Building Management System for a property. All buildings have some form of mechanical and electrical services in order to provide the facilities necessary for maintaining a comfortable working environment. These services have to be controlled by some means to ensure comfort conditions. Basics controls take the form of manual switching, time clocks or temperature switches. Here if Building Management System is introduced, we are able to get a comfortable working environment in an efficient way. Building Management Systems (BMS) comprises a massive variety of technologies, across commercial, industrial, institutional and domestic buildings, including energy management systems and building controls. (Gary Mills 2004-2009)
A Building Management System (BMS) is a computer-based control system installed in buildings that controls and monitors the building’s mechanical and electrical equipment such as ventilation, lighting, power systems, fire systems, and security systems. Manual work consumes time and energy and there are always chances of human errors. Technology and new systems are always changing with time and therefore it is very important for any property to keep up to date with the new technology and system. A BMS plays a vital role in any hotel or any business property. (Native Systems 2011)
Building Management Systems (BMS) are computer based systems which control and monitor building services automatically. These services include heating, air conditioning, ventilation, boilers and lighting and the data collected can be used to develop quantitative energy consumption improvement targets. There are two main types of BMS, centralized and distributed intelligence. Centralized systems control all the connected services from a single computer interface. Distributed intelligence systems use local intelligent outstations (each controlling part or the whole of a building or service) that feed data to a central unit for collection and analysis. Energy savings of up to 25% could be possible compared to independent control of individual services. The level of savings and benefits depends primarily on the extent of the control system installation. A fully integrated system that controls energy management systems, security, disaster prevention, office automation and telecommunications systems from one centralized unit would be up to 50% more expensive but could produce a higher level of savings. (ABI Research 2012)
BMS refers to a system that uses sensors, controls and activators. All these use an electronic digital processor to implement control algorithms and have the capability of communicating with other controls. The BMS term covers all control elements, including hardware, controllers, any linking network and central controllers. Generally, a control system consists of three basic elements: sensor, a controller and a controlled device. The organization of these various control elements into a comprehensive BMS is called the system architecture. Each component in this architecture is connected with each other via a communication system. The communications network is characterized by two important parts: Physical medium which transports the signals such as wire, optical fiber, radio and protocol - a set of common language rules for the communication signals. (Mustafa, H. and Bansal, 2002)
In BMS, many protocols have been developed but not all have been used. Before, Protocols were developed by manufacturers themselves. But now standardized protocols are being practiced. One of the major advantages of using a BMS network with a standardized operating protocol is the degree of compatibility that may be achieved between the control equipment because of a using a “single seat workstation”. BAC net is one of the highly used protocols in BMS that can be used to integrate building automation and control products from different manufacturers into a single cohesive system. (Newman M, 1996)
Building management systems provides various functions such as automatic on and off switching of plant which can base upon time, type of the day and environmental conditions, monitoring of plant status and environmental conditions in which building personnel can be alerted to alarm conditions in time to take corrective action, energy conservation tool; along with good building design and efficient HVAC plant, the BMS plays a important role in the prevention of energy waste and reducing the environmental impact of the building. BMS also provides various summaries, logs and reports. This information will be helpful for future costing and services. This information can also provide value added services to residents so that the perceived value of the tenancy is increased. For example, after hours air conditioning use can be accurately monitored, recorded and automatically invoiced where appropriate. Moreover, BMS also has remote monitoring capabilities in which from a single location an individual can obtain information such as temperatures, pressures and equipment status, indicating how well the building is running. This central location is not limited geographically as well. It also detects faults diagnosing process of the building system. BMS also has the ability to integrate building systems by running more efficiently, reducing cost and increasing the productivity of the facility staff. (Building Management System 2010)
Building Management System can benefit the property in various factors. Building owner has advantages on higher rental value, flexibility on change of building use and also individual tenant billing for services. Facilities manager can benefit in numerous ways such as central or remote control and monitoring of building operations, low operating cost, efficient use of building resources and services, high productivity, rapid alarm indication and fault diagnosis, good plant schematics and documentation. Building tenant/occupants can benefit by effective monitoring and targeting of energy consumption, good control of internal comfort conditions, possibility of individual room control, increased staff productivity, improved plant reliability and life and effective response to HVAC-related complaints. Maintenance Companies will also benefit from BMS in various ways such as ease of information availability problem diagnostics, computerized maintenance scheduling, effective use of maintenance staff, early detection of problems and ultimately more satisfied occupants. (http://www.adt.co.uk/bms/bms-solutions)
Installing and buying Business Management System for a property is a very vital investment. Systems are extremely expensive and complex. There are chances of causing interruption to the operation. Managers must be sure when they buy the best BMS suitable for the property. Building Management Systems controls the energy cost and reduces energy waste and labor costs without affecting the comfort of the tenants. It also integrates the buildings functions and operations in one system. (Native Systems 2011)
While selecting the appropriate BMS for the property; supplier’s reputation, the systems life in the existing market, training involved with the system on operation and maintenance for the employees and the suppliers guarantee on the system must be kept into major consideration. The BMS cannot take the full responsibility for the operation and maintenance problems. It cannot overcome operational problems such as lack of planning on the maintenance but it can improve the efficiency of the day to day operation of the company or property. (Newman M, 1996)
The property may install a new Building Management System considering various factors such as high energy use, inability to adapt building systems to changing occupant requirement, low maintenance productivity and lack of coordination between building systems. The selected Building Management System must be capable of accommodating future trends in the respective industry easily, so that facility managers in the future can adopt new features into their systems without facing huge bill. This is possible by upgrading the Building Management System according to the company or property’s requirements. (Mustafa, H. and Bansal, 2002)
Building Management Systems must be integrated in a property for various numerous reasons. A single source of information is provided by the modern BMS systems. To work in a well-coordinated manner, one system is integrated is subsystems in the building. The facility’s professionals can view all systems and facilities from one work station with the help of central BMS, single seat interface. From one common interface, the information can be viewed, assed and assessed which helps the facility in running more efficiently and at a lower cost while improving the productivity of the staffs. The facility managers can gain precise information they need to achieve such as monitoring, alarming, diagnostics, maintenance, initial troubleshooting and energy analysis. The property is running more efficiently and at a lower cost if the information is shared between the systems. (ABI Research 2012)
The building systems can target occupant comfort efficiently and quickly with the help of system integration. An integrated system delivers more efficiently and lowers the costs. System integration extends the Building Management Systems capabilities for data collection, archiving, networking and decision making to other building systems which allows the Building Management System to tap into strengths of other equipment that are often under-utilized. The organization gets more mileage out of its investment in equipment. Facility professionals are being challenged to do more with the same or fewer resources example staff reduction; a hiring freeze; the need to expand business without increases in staff. The result is that the productivity gains are coupled with operating cost savings. Today’s Business Management System design is based predominantly on open system technology, which means that the Business Management System can communicate as needed with a variety of other systems and applications in a facility that communicate using different protocols. This gives the organization the ability to select components and system retrofits in a price-competitive environment. Freedom of choice can bring savings on initial and operating costs. For many organizations, this final benefit is the biggest of all. An experienced integrator can put it all together and make it work, from design and installation through commissioning and customer turnover. A single source of responsibility and one point of contact are also valuable assets when a problem arises. A single source of responsibility means a triple play of efficiency, cost effectiveness and productivity. (Mustafa, H. and Bansal, 2002)
Business Management System improves quality of built environment, efficiency of workstations, while allowing great savings in energy consumption. With the introduction of the various security and life safety systems like Smart Access control, smoke detector, fire alarm and fire sprinkler, the environment can be made much easy and fear free to work with. BMS also provides an acceptable level of temperature and humidity and safe guard against odors and indoor pollutants. It also creates a sense of habitability through air movement, ventilation and temperature variation. It furthermore allows the occupant to control and modify conditions to suit individual preferences. (Thomas’s notes)
In this 21st century with the advent of the various artificial intelligent systems the work places becomes very cozy to work with. It has changed the entire working environment leading to the increased output and also reducing the running cost to a certain extent. With the advent of microprocessors, computer-based control systems have become the rule in most commercial and industrial buildings, generating significant energy savings while improving system performance, operability and reliability. No doubt Integrated and interoperable building systems are the wave of the future. In the near future it may bring more integration to all building systems and not only for the HVAC systems. It will also include lighting controls, security, elevators and even fire safety. The Internet will further play a significant part in this process. (Mervi Himanen, VTT Building and transport 2003)