AutomatedBuildings.com Interview - Richard Theron, National Sales Manager, FieldServer Technologies

He first started at FieldServer in 2001 and has a B.S. in Engineering Management from the University of Durban. He has worked in sales and engineering for several firms involved in protocol development.

FieldServer Technologies providing Cisco EnergyWise gateways to link building automation devices and systems to Cisco EnergyWise domain

Theron: Cisco EnergyWise is a Cisco network service that allows for energy monitoring and management. EnergyWise is an innovative architecture built into Cisco switches and routers enabling access for monitoring, reporting and reducing energy consumption across an entire corporate or institution infrastructure. Cisco EnergyWise enables the utilization of the network as the platform for energy command and control. IT networks using Cisco switches and routers are able to discover Cisco EnergyWise manageable devices, enabling energy management systems to monitor their power consumption and take action based on business rules to reduce power consumption while ensuring continued business productivity. Many devices including IP phones, computers, laptops, VDI terminals and PDU’s have access to the Cisco EnergyWise domain and are part of the network.

Theron: While many IT type devices have access to Cisco EnergyWise, many legacy building devices and non-Ethernet connected devices have been left out of the domain. This includes a significant number of energy consuming devices such as lighting, HVAC, access control and safety systems. Lighting accounts for an average of 38% of the building energy costs and HVAC energy usage accounts for an average of 20% of the building energy costs. Commercial buildings consume about 30% of the world’s energy. Thus, energy management and control for lighting and HVAC are of prime importance for overall energy conservation. Utilization of a FieldServer gateway with EnergyWise Endpoint protocol enables access of these third-party devices to the Cisco EnergyWise domain. Energy management systems can then provide monitoring and control based on the capabilities of the third party device. With FieldServer and the Cisco EnergyWise network, customers have the tools to consolidate monitoring and policy enforcement through the network across the enterprise. This consolidation enables more efficient policies to be developed and enforced and better data collection for decision makers. Customers can reduce energy costs and greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions, increase overall operating efficiency, and attain sustainable energy efficient business behavior. Energy management and building automation applications have been shown to reduce energy consumption by 20 to 60 percent.

[an error occurred while processing this directive] Sinclair: What FieldServer gateways are available for Cisco EnergyWise?

Theron: On the device side, any of the 100+ protocol drivers found in the extensive FieldServer driver library are available to use with the Cisco EnergyWise gateway, including BACnet MS/TP, BACnet IP, LonWorks, Metasys N2 by JCI, Modbus RTU, Modbus TCP, SNMP, EtherNet/IP and a wide range of proprietary and legacy protocols including fire alarm control panels and other devices. On the Cisco EnergyWise side, FieldServer gateways can offer the Cisco EnergyWise Endpoint protocol, a server driver that can bring multiple devices and networks using a variety of building automation protocols into the Cisco EnergyWise domain. FieldServer also offers the Cisco EnergyWise Management API gateway, a client driver allowing various energy management systems access to the data in the Cisco EnergyWise domain.

Sinclair: Have these new Cisco EnergyWise gateways been tested with Cisco EnergyWise?

Theron: The FieldServer Gateway has completed operational tests interfacing several building automation devices to Cisco’s EnergyWise domain and clients have been impressed with the capability of FieldServer in this application. FieldServer was at the recent CiscoLive Expo and Conference in Las Vegas demonstrating the seamless interface from various building automation devices to the Cisco EnergyWise domain. FieldServer is also closely working with JouleX, a Cisco EnergyWise based energy management and control system.

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