Integration /

Connecting to a world of smart devices

Integration

Ensuring your Building Management System (BMS) has the ability to interface with the diverse array of 3rd party systems is vital to being able to extend and upgrade your systems throughout the life-cycle of the building, as your needs change. It allows clients to choose from a large range of providers or solutions to get the best solution to suit the buildings requirements and not having to be locked into one sole provider thus giving you sustanded flexibility going forward.

Typically, integration of systems is done via protocol conversion or by utilising products with built in industry standard communication protocols such as LON, BACnet, Modbus, M-bus or SNMP. Todays range of advanced controllers have significantly increased the flexability in which integrating multiple system together can be achieved and modern centralised software platforms can directly interface with with third party systems via purpose built software drivers.

With the ever increasing number of manufactures embedding 'smarter' controllers into their products, the need for successful integration between plant systems and the central Building Management System has never been so important. At Palcon Energy Services Ltd, we have significant experience in integrating numeruous systems using both standard protocols, advanced integration controllers and custom TCL (Trend Custom Language) programs to provide cost effective solutions to our customers.

The future with M2M and IoT

M2M (Machine to Machine) technology is not new. The technology emerged in the 1970's and as the name describes is all about the direct communication between machine and machine. Proactive human involvement is seldom part of the one or two-way process. But how does this relate to the Building Management Sector?

A number of companies embraced M2M as a solution for building smart metering systems and for use in smaller buildings, where costs do not warrant full scale centralised supervisory systems, but still need to maintain a level of integration between devices.

Today, these principles have evolved and brought with it IoT (Internet of Things) embedded devices. Where as M2M utilised directly or cellular connected devices as seen in the Building Management market, IoT is based on IP connectivity and with it a network of physical devices, vehicles, home appliances and other items embedded with electronics, software, sensors, actuators, and connectivity which enables these objects to connect and exchange data directly. The figure of online capable devices increased 31% to 8.4 billion in 2017 and industry experts estimate that the IoT will consist of about 30 billion objects by the year 2020.

What this means for Building Management Systems in the future is yet to be seen, but being partnered with some of the leading developers in this market, Palcon Energy Services Ltd will be at the forefront of technology, which is set to transform the way buildings are controlled and operated.

Systems we work with

BACnet

Modbus

M-bus

LONworks

KNX

MP Bus

Dali

Crestron

Lutron

Daikin

EnOcean

Zigbee