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Intelligent building automation can provide a more comfortable working environment for employees. Also, room climate automation saves energy and reduces operation costs. But what happens when devices cannot communicate with each other? 

Forest Eco Systems Ltd in Gloucestershire, UK turned to Contemporary Controls Ltd (CCL) in Coventry to resolve a communication issue between devices in an office automation system–an automation control unit and a fan coil unit (FCU) operated as BACnet servers and hence could not read/write to each other. Contemporary Controls’ BASC-22CR BACnet/IP Client/Server provided the communication bridge to synchronise operation of both devices. 

Building Automation Tool Optimizes Room Temperature

Forest Eco Systems was looking to read and write to/from a Siemens controller DXR2.E09-101A using a Loxone Miniserver in a control panel built by Zmart Hohm Ltd, also in Gloucestershire.

According to Zach Meek, Renewables Manager, Forest Eco Systems, “The Loxone Miniserver is an intelligent building automation tool which looks at a lot of variables to determine which rooms need heating and the most efficient way to heat them.”

The control unit uses motion sensors to determine which rooms are occupied and if they require heating. It detects if any windows or doors are open, and then tries to passively heat the room using solar gain – by raising or lowering the blinds – before activating the hybrid air source heat pump. It will also try to passively cool the rooms by lowering the blinds. The control unit also tracks the trajectory of the sun to optimally cool the space without obstructing the occupants’ view.

“The unit includes a self-learning program, so it calculates if it’s more cost effective to increase the fan speed or flow temperature, and extracts data to monitor system performance,” said Meek.

BACnet Controller Operates as a BACnet Client

“The problem was the integration between the automation control unit and the FCU that operate using BACnet.” The FCU delivered the points list – room temperature, cooling setpoint, max fan speed, etc. – but these values were not visible within the Loxone configuration software.  

The BASC-22CR provides both the BACnet/IP server and client capability. The BACnet client feature can read/write points from/to multiple BACnet server devices at an affordable price, allowing communication between BACnet server devices without the need for expensive supervisor or head-end devices. 

Users can read/write points served up by devices on the BACnet internetwork over Ethernet or Wi-Fi with the use of Network Variable (NetV) Sedona components. NetV components allow the BASC-22CR to read/write Analog/Binary Input, Value, and Output BACnet object types in its wiresheet.

©Contemporary Controls

Figure 2 NetV Sedona components allow the BASC-22CR to read/write data from the Siemens FCU and the Loxone Miniserver.

With this solution, the BASC-22CR reads data from the Siemens FCU and submits (writes) it to the Loxone server. Then, the Loxone server makes the calculation, the BASC-22CR reads the Loxone points list and sends (writes) the values to the FCU. 

“The BASC-22CR, plugged into a LAN port at the office site, provided the exact solution we needed,” said Meek. “We can now read and write commands to and from both devices.”

Author: 

Michal Papierz| EMEA Operations Manager (Sales & Marketing)

Contemporary Controls Ltd