If you are a building owner, engineer, or HVAC contractor you hear terms like open verses proprietary building controls system and Lon and BACnet. These concepts and terms can be a bit daunting. Thanks to Honeywell’s national account manager and technical control wizard, David Witherspoon, these concepts just got a whole lot easier to understand. Check out David’s presentation by clicking

here. David takes concepts like Lon,BACnet and other communication protocols, and makes them easy to understand. David also demonstrates how system architecture looks. This process integrates access and security, lighting, and energy monitoring with the building automation controls system creating “single seated control” over the entire building. Single seating removes the necessity of  looking at different software packages for each individual building controls systems ( lighting, HVAC, access and security). Instead,  users are able to use one graphical software package to look at all systems simultaneously.

These efficiencies and advantages are made available through open system platforms like Honeywell Webs and Niagara. All major controls manufacturers have access to open systems, so a building owner should never have to be held hostage to a “proprietary” or closed building automation system.

Building owners beware, just because a building automation control system can speak Lon or BACnet, does not mean that the system is truly open.

To be truly open the building owner should insist on the following:

1) Multiple factory trained contractors must be able to work on the system ( giving the owner service choices after the system has been installed)

2) Controller programming tools must be available to the building owner and service contractors. ( Just because the system is open at the network      level does not mean the system is open if the building owner has to go to one source ( proprietary) to get a replacement field level controller)

3) Make sure that the building owner has access to the same training as the staff that the control manufacturer’s technicians receive. ( there  are controls manufacturers that offer training on their building automation system that is different than the training their techs get, the result being  you as an owner are still stuck with calling the control vendor for service work putting you back in a choice less situation.

The message here is that open systems mean choice, and choice is good for a building owner.

In todays control world all control manufacturers offer “open solutions”. Only a few truly offer “open”  building automation control systems. With a network of independent distributors and factory trained building automation controls contractors, Honeywell is the best example of a company that offers a building owner the real “open” building automation controls solution.

For more information on open building automation systems, check out my  Stromquist Radio interviews with two of the countries leading experts on open systems and building integration, Scott Cochrane and Brian Turner

For even more information on open building automation systems, including Honeywell, Johnson Controls, building controls system integration and energy sub metering, contact the control pros at Stromquist & Company (Georgia or Florida). Other locations can find controls expertise from one of our affiliates at Controls Group North America.

Control Trends has added a new feature called Control Talk. Control Talk is a new way to bring our viewers the chance to see and hear from the best minds in the HVAC, DDC, and Industrial Controls Market. Think of it as a cross between Stromquist Radio and Stromquist TV.

In episode 1 I interview Vern Peterson of MOV training.

Vern is such a great instructor that we bring him to Atlanta twice a year to teach the Tridium AX certification course and we still have people on the waiting list. Vern travels the country teaching and you can click here to view classes he has scheduled.
Vern is a fascinating individual and he is very gracious in sharing his knowledge about controls and open systems on the first episode of Control Talk.

In that this is the first attempt at using the video interview format the quality is not quite as good as it will be on future episodes of Control Talk. We learned on this one and the next ones will be better.

Stay tuned for more interviews on Control Talk. Episode 2 will be an interview with Angie Jarvis from Functional Devices ( the inventors of the RIB relay).

With energy costs constantly rising and the desire to conserve energy, the need for “green” or sustainable buildings is critical. Due to changes in technology not only is it possible, it is expected on new construction projects and has gotten much easier and affordable to retrofit existing buildings. At the heart of theses changes is the adoption of open communication protocols such as Lon and BacNet by controls manufacturers and open framework and  software by companies like Tridium. This combination is leading a change in what is possible for building owners.

So what do you need to know to take advantage of this new technology?As a building owner the first thing you need to be aware of is how the controls industry has changed with the advent of open control protocols and how to leverage your options. For many years every control manufacturer had its own communication protocol. Honeywell systems spoke C Bus, Johnson Controls spoke N2 and so on. What that meant to you as a building owner was that whoever won on bid day was who would be controlling your building for a very long time. If you were not happy with your control system, the cost to change the system was so high that it was too expensive to change. This has changed with the Tridium and Honeywell AX systems that allow different manufacturers’ controls to talk on the same network. So if your system is open you have options that a closed or propriety system does not allow. The key is you must make sure to ask for a truly “open system.” To make sure you know what to ask for listen to theses interviews with Scott Cochrane and Brian Turner, who are two of the leading experts on open systems.

The second thing, which is great news for  building owners, is in the past you would have a different system and different software for your access security and your lighting controls. Now these systems have adopted open protocols that allow you to integrate all these different building functions into one software front-end, giving you “single seat building control.”  In addition to all the savings on hardware and software, you can create energy saving control strategies that were not possible in the past. Imagine, your key card access is now integrated with your HVAC and lighting systems in such a way that when someone enters the building the system is smart enough to know who the person is and turns on only the lights that lead to their office and in their office. When that person reaches their office the temperature is set for their preference. The system will also keep track of how long they are in the building and can even produce a monthly bill for off hours usage. For more on how integrating these systems can save energy be sure to check the interviews with Roger Rebennack Part One and Part Two.

With new open system technology the building automation system becomes the hub around which new energy savings strategies revolve. If you are in Georgia or Florida and would like more information on how to save energy in your building(s) contact  Stromquist & Company. All others can contact one of our affiliates at Controls Group North America.

Stromquist & Company is committed to saving our customers energy. Our part is to provide great control solutions from companies like  Tridium, Honeywell and Johnson Controls. Did you know how much money you could save ??? Check this video out and see

Stromquist & Company works with the tridium niagara open framework bring building owners intergration solutions through our contractor partners. It has gone from just open HVAC control systems to intergrating lighting and access controls. Check out this video to get a feel for where the controls industry is heading it is amazing.