Energy/ Building Management companies
Energy/ Building Management companies
(OP)
Hello,
I am investigating companies to supply systems for energy and building management. These systems would collect data and control the HVAC equipment at up to 40 current buildings and any future new construction. Honeywell, Siemens, Johnson Controls have been some names that have come up so far. Any experiences or input would be appreciated.
Thank you in advance.
I am investigating companies to supply systems for energy and building management. These systems would collect data and control the HVAC equipment at up to 40 current buildings and any future new construction. Honeywell, Siemens, Johnson Controls have been some names that have come up so far. Any experiences or input would be appreciated.
Thank you in advance.





RE: Energy/ Building Management companies
Last year our 3 chillers lost the ability to 'talk' to Metasys. As our Metasys translator cards are now "obsolete", we had to pay J/C $19K to custom make 3 little PC cards to allow our chillers to communicate with the rest of their system. Getting them to respond to other than the most severe failure is almost impossible. It's like they only want to show up when they can demand the really BIG BUCKS. Getting them to provide routine service has been impossible.
Twice in the last year, Metasys ordered 12" CW flow valves fully shut causing extreme overheating and overpressure in our chillers. Each time we were within just a fraction of a Lb of bursting rupture discs where we would have lost the complete charge of refrigerant. J/C cannot offer a reason for the spurious control action, much less a fix. So we have disconnected all operating air to those valves and in doing so, given up any efficiency J/C insisted they would provide.
This year we installed Honeywell digital controls on our boilers. I must say that they are completely trouble free and reliable.
Which ever make you select, make sure to first check out their record.
RE: Energy/ Building Management companies
RE: Energy/ Building Management companies
RE: Energy/ Building Management companies
Depending on your general location in the midwest, I may be able to help you with that.
RE: Energy/ Building Management companies
RE: Energy/ Building Management companies
To summarize, all most all of the control systems will perform the same or nearly similar functionality. I few will be quicker, a few pennies cheaper or have an added whistle or two. I would look for a company that has experience in integrating their controls with the equipment you are trying to control, has solid commissioning protocols as in inate process and finally an open protocol system such as BACNET and/or LonWorks in case things don't work out.
RE: Energy/ Building Management companies
RE: Energy/ Building Management companies
RE: Energy/ Building Management companies
RE: Energy/ Building Management companies
You absolutely must develop a comprehensive and unambiguous System Requirements Specification BEFORE your even send out RFQ's.
What do you need the data for? Who will use it, and what format is needed? When do you need it? Any company can give you data, but reams of paper with endless lines of Hex numbers representing events that happened three months ago really isn't useful is it?
What system parameters does the control system need to maintain? What equipment characteristics need to be considered to protect the equipment? What is your utility rate structure? Running a big chiller with on/off control can achieved the same system effect as a modulated VFD, but might reak havoc with demand charges, and could reduce motor life from overheating. On the flip-side, if you try to run it too slow through a VFD you might not develop enough oil pressure, and trash the bearings.
RE: Energy/ Building Management companies
One more crucial factor - get the right guy to do the job for you. Very hard to get a controls guy who understands HVAC thoroughly from both a theoretical and practical point of view. Most of the the controls specialists I have seen (except a couple of rare breed of guys who are HVAC engineers who have become control specialists) don't understand HVAC the way a HVAC engineer understands it.
Good luck.
HVAC68