Controls
Don’t settle for an interpreter
Today’s Premiership football managers may have to give instructions to numerous players whose first language is not the same as their own. Sometimes they can communicate through a second language that they both speak, or sometimes all communication has to be through an interpreter. While this works, it would be much more efficient if everyone spoke the same language; and that is where we are with building management systems (BMS) at the moment
E
ven just in air conditioning, every manufacturer has its own control systems, using its own control
language, none of which are directly compatible with the BMS systems used by a growing number of facilities managers (FMs). The problem is multiplied when you add in lighting, alarms and all the other systems typically controlled from a BMS. Gone are the days when those in charge of the services in a large office building or complex would be happy with a myriad of different controls for different systems throughout the premises. Of course, there are ‘gateways’, such as
BACnet/IP and Modbus which can be used as interpreters between individual systems and BMSs, but these are yet more pieces of kit that have to be purchased, programmed, maintained and repaired. The real way forward is to get rid of the
interpreters altogether and all speak the same language, eliminating mistranslations and misunderstandings. In other words, building services manufacturers and IT companies have to get together and adopt a common control protocol for all types of equipment. This is what we are used to in other areas.
We may have dozens of completely different apps on our mobile phones, but they all use the same two operating systems, iOS or Android. We live in a plug-and-play compatible world, but most building services are still in the bespoke one. FMs want to sit in front of their computer screen and be able to control and program all their building services at the click of a mouse button. Of course, this can be done, but every project is a bespoke installation and there are always compromises. The world is now going even further and leaving the PC behind. We have all seen the ads for Hive, where domestic heating, lighting and other appliances can be controlled over the internet from an app on a mobile phone. This is what we should be offering to our customers; not just as individual
www.heatingandventilating.net Roberto Mallozzi, managing director of Gree UK
customers, but as part of a completely compatible building services industry. While I have concentrated on BMSs, it is not just
large customers who would like this kind of option. For smaller companies, we offer WiFi control over the internet with the Gree U-Crown split systems, which can already, be controlled from an app on a mobile or tablet. We are moving in the right direction, but there is still a long way to go. While energy efficiency and performance are still important to the air conditioning industry and its customers, the performance of individual brands is not that much different from each other. Brand
The real way forward is to get rid of the interpreters altogether and all speak the same language, eliminating mistranslations and misunderstandings
names are obviously still a factor, but more and more contracts are being won on the basis of price and service. How the systems can be controlled and with what BMS systems they are compatible is part of that service offering. Air conditioning, and other building
services, engineers are just that, engineers, but installing systems, especially in large installations, is becoming a real computer game. The vast majority of engineers are doing an excellent job of educating themselves to deal with these new circumstances, but working towards true compatibility will make installations easier and much more cost effective. As far as end users are concerned, they just
want to be able to control the equipment from a convenient device as easily as if they were standing next to it, and it is up to us, as equipment manufacturers and distributors, to work with the controls and wider IT industry to achieve that. It may be difficult, when we are all operating
under commercial rivalries and, there is natural reluctance to co-operate with a competitor, but doing so will pay dividends for the industry as a whole. We have to standardise our speeds and languages as much as possible, and I will be lobbying Gree to use its massive research and development facility in China to move towards this aim. • The author is Roberto Mallozzi,MD of Gree UK
March 2017
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