ControlTalk NOW — Smart Buildings VideoCast and Podcast for week ending December 27, 2015 features interviews with two more nominees for System Integrators of the Year, Navitas System Integration from Plymouth, MA and Automation Integrated, from Oklahoma City, OK. DG LOGIK’s Technical Tips & Tricks — Building IoT Applications for the Smartphone or Tablet; DOE Announces Largest Energy Efficiency Standard in History; and Tridium announces Niagara Summit 2016, May 15-17, New Orleans Hyatt Regency. Special thanks to Bill Dunkleberger and team Blue Ridge Technologies for their spirited Holiday wishes!
ControlTalk NOW’s first guests, John Donahue, owner and CEO of Control Consultants, Inc., one of the most successful systems distributors in North America and Dan White from Navitas System Integration (NSI) of Plymouth, MA, expert providers of Building Automation Systems for commercial, institutional, and industrial market applications. NSI specializes in LEED certified projects and can implement the improvements necessary to assure energy savings and achieve greener standards.
Keep an eye on 2016 Events with Ken’s Calendar!The Grid Modernization Forum, January 19-20, 2016 in Chicago is a focused, two-day educational and networking event that closely examines lessons learned to date by industry leaders who are pushing the frontiers of grid modernization and evolution. This will be a unique opportunity to interact with key professionals who are leading the way toward the integrated, interoperable, and resilient energy network of tomorrow.
Niagara Summit 2016, May 15-17, New Orleans Hyatt Regency. Dear valued member of the Niagara Community, mark your calendar and plan to join us for Niagara Summit 2016 in historic New Orleans! Every two years the Niagara Community comes together at the Niagara Summit to learn about advancements to the Niagara Framework®, network and learn from peers, and hear the latest on technology trends and news. What’s always a momentous occasion will be made all the more exciting in 2016 with the recent debut of Niagara 4 and the soon-to-be-released JACE® 8000.
DOE Announces Largest Energy Efficiency Standard in History! Energy Department Announces Largest Energy Efficiency Standard in History. The U.S. Department of Energy recently announced historic new efficiency standards for commercial air conditioners and furnaces. Developed with industry, utilities, and environmental groups, these standards will save more energy than any other standard issued by the Department to date. Over the lifetime of the products, businesses will save $167 billion on their utility bills and carbon pollution will be reduced by 885 million metric tons.
DG LOGIK’s Tips & Tricks — Build IoT Applications for the Smartphone or Tablet. Delivering valuable insight with proper usability across all modern smart devices will become a requisite for IoE Applications in 2016. With DGLux5, it’s easy to build flexible, device-agnostic applications that adjust to screen sizes, respond to touch controls and load images and IoE data conservatively. Without ever writing a single line of code, you can give your users an uncluttered, intuitive and efficient experience, regardless of their device.
Sam McDonald, Honeywell Sales Rep, a controls expert, who answers the following question asked by a building owner from Oakland, CA: We are undergoing a major renovation to one of our facilities. Our contractor has proposed installing the Honeywell RedLINK thermostats with the Equipment Remote Module. Sam answers: “Your Contractor made a wise choice in recommending using Honeywell’s RedLINK Wireless control system on your facility. Simply put RedLINK Controls allows for a faster installation; reducing labor cost which ultimately allows for greater profits. By going wireless, your contractor will not have to drill holes or pull wires. He can place the Thermostats in their proper locations or remotely mount them where only authorized personnel can access them.”
ControlTalk NOW’s second guests are Chris Favre and Jeff Houpt from Automation Integrated out of Oklahoma City, OK. Automation Integrated are true systems integrators who develop solutions that enable clients to modernize legacy technology investments, while simultaneously creating cost effective migration paths to new technology. The Automation Integrated result: The lowest total cost of ownership! Automation Integrated takes integration to the next level incorporating controls, security, and IT into one total solution.
ControlTalk NOW — Smart Buildings VideoCast and Podcast for week ending December 20, 2015 begins with OME’s Rick Werner and EasyIO’s Mike Marston discussing the hazards of the proverbial low bid, followed by interviews with Blue Ridge Technologies’ CEO Bill Dunkelberger, Dwyer Instruments’ Global Business Development Manager, Eric Fritch, and another 7 Minutes in Control with Rob Allen and Scott Muench from J2 Innovations — who is offering an exciting customer appreciation FIN 3.0 sale. More Contemporary Controls BACnet videos and expertise; 2015 ControlTrends Awards reminders; and the first peek at the 2016 calendar.
Why Accepting The Low Bid Price on a Job is sooooo Expensive. In this episode of Control Pub Talk, with “Mad” Mike Marston from Easy IO, the consequences of giving a project to the low bidder is discussed. Mike reaches out to Rick Warner, aka “The Innovator”, sans the usual Pub, to look at the true costs involved in the bidding process that is used on most new construction projects. “Penny wise and pound foolish” comes to mind as I listen to Rick explain the difference between up front price and true cost of ownership. To see more from the Innovator click here. Get more Control pub Talk with Mike Marston here.
J2 Innovations — Dive Into FIN Now — for 10% Less! Appreciation Sale. Don’t miss this great from J2 Innovations! FIN 3.0 is a next generation software suite including an entirely new application server called FIN Stack, combined with the custom graphic tool FIN Builder, and the FIN Mobile app. You can now build your entire customer’s solution using a unified toolset optimized for efficient workflow. The technology leverages powerful tagging and data modeling which means you can use queries to access data and eliminate time consuming linking. FIN was designed to encourage community collaboration and seamlessly supports add-on applications such as automated analytics.
What Can Fin 3.0 Do For You? Rob Allen Finds Out. In this episode of Rob Allen’s 7 minutes in Control, Rob finds out from Scott Muench, J2 Innovations’ Vice President of Marketing and Business Development, what is new at J2 Innovations including Fin 3.0 and how J2 Innovations uses Haystack tagging to make a system integrators life easier and reduces labor cost. If you like what you see reach out to your local J2 Innovations provider and take advantage of J2’s 10% off holiday special. FIN technology leverages powerful tagging and data modeling which means you can use queries to access data and eliminate time consuming linking.
Learn BACnet Now – Watch the BACnet Video Training Series. Thanks to George Thomas and the team at Contemporary Controls for putting together this eight part video series ” Understanding BACnet”. Contemporary Controls designs and manufactures the system building blocks for networking, integrating and controlling automation processes where performance and reliability are important. Their products are built upon open technologies such as ARCNET®, BACnet®, Controller Area Network, Ethernet, Modbus®, Niagara Framework®, and Sedona Framework.
ControlTalk NOW welcomes our first guest Blue Ridge Technologies’ CEO Bill Dunkleberger and his team of industry all stars. 2015 ControlTrends Awards Finalist Blue Ridge Technologies, nominated for six ControlTrends Awards including: Energy Saving Solution of The Year; Lighting Integration Solution of The Year; Best Technical Support Small Manufacturer: Nick Bare; Best Technical Support Person — Small Manufacturer; The PID Award: Bill Dunkleberger; and Executive of The Year Small Manufacturer: Bill Dunkleberger.
More from 2015 ControlTrends Awards Finalist Blue Ridge Technologies. Unified Lighting Control completes the BAS, incorporating lighting and HVAC controls on the same network. This network consolidation eliminates surplus hardware required for stand-alone and gateway lighting control. As a result, installation and maintenance costs decrease while simple and complete building control increases energy savings. This approach provides more savings for less cost. When a complete Building Automation System (BAS) is required, Unified Lighting Control is the superior lighting control solution.
2015 ControlTrends Awards to be Held — January 24 at the Hard Rock Live! ControlTrends is excited to announce that the 2015 ControlTrends Awards will be held January 24, 2016, from 6:30PM to 9:30PM, at Orlando’s Hard Rock Live, located at the door step to the amazing Universal Studios. Hard Rock Live is home to music history and a most befitting venue to celebrate the heroes and superstars of our HVAC and the Building Automation industries. ControlTrends graciously thanks our sponsors for allowing us to make this special industry event possible.
ControlTrends Keeps an Eye on 2016 Events with Ken’s Calendar. Help ControlTrends Keep an eye on 2016 Events with Ken’s Calendar! January 25-27, 2016 AHR Expo, Orlando Convention Center: The AHR Expo brings the entire HVACR industry together under one roof to see the latest products and technology, learn about the innovations and trends that are shaping the future, and do business face to face. Returning to Orlando for the first time in six years, the Show is anticipating more than 50,000 professionals in attendance, nearly 2,000 exhibiting companies, and a wide variety of educational sessions.
ControlTalk NOW’s second guest: Dwyer Instruments’ Eric Fritch, Global Business Development Manager. Dwyer Instruments is nominated for the 2015 ControlTrends Awards Peripheral Vendor of the Year. Since 1931, Dwyer Instruments has been recognized for manufacturing excellence, and has introduced over 75 new products since 2005. Global in scope, Dwyer is a key manufacturer of sensors and instrumentation components used in HVAC and Building Automation applications the world over. Visit www.dwyer-inst.com for more product information, videos, and tutorials — and be absolutely certain to visit Dwyer’s booth (1617), at the up-coming 2016 AHR Expo in Orlando, FL.
ControlTalk NOW — Smart Buildings VideoCast and Podcast for week ending December 13, 2015 features interviews with Control Network Solutions’ Mike Welch, Buildings Context’s Therese Sullivan, and Control Systems Consultants’ Cory Gunder; Marc Petock’s discusses the business-end of the Cyber Security stick; Rob Allen’s 7 Minutes in Control with KMC’s Dave Bohlmann, and an update on how Daikin Applied just changed Total Building Automation forever.
Marc Petock — The Business Side of Cyber Security (Continued). Marc Petock, a leading expert on Cyber Security, takes a close look at the ramifications and financial consequences of not taking aggressive measures to protect your business against cyber attacks. As I have said, cyber security has a technology side and a business side. From a business perspective, the negative consequences that cyber incidents can cause are disruptive and potentially catastrophic. The value of taking additional measures to increase the cyber security posture of your control systems, far outweigh the risk of not making them secure.
New Router from KMC on Rob Allen’s 7 Minutes in Control. Rob Allen sits down with Dave Bohlmann to talk about KMC’s new single port router. The KMC Controls BAC-5051E is a multi-port BACnet router. This compact router is powerful enough for heavy network traffic and small enough to use as a control technician’s service tool. Routing Install the BAC-5051E for BACnet IP, Ethernet, and MS/TP routing. The IP routing is fully compliant with BACnet Standard 134-2012, Annex J. Browser Configuration Configure the BAC-5051E using only an Internet browser. No special software to learn or load.
CNS delivers the world’s first Internet of things (IoT) web-based DALI intelligent lighting control solution, elitedali ensures that live data from every light fixture can be accessed and the lighting controlled from anywhere in the world with internet access. he only non-North American finalist in its category, CNS has been shortlisted for its unique lighting control solution, elitedali. Transforming the Niagara building management system into a state of the art lighting control platform, elitedali provides total control and flexibility to the end user over access to their lighting data, system maintenance and any on-going adjustments.
ControlTalk NOW Special Guest: Mike Welch, CEO and owner of Control Network Solutions, BasingStoke, UK. Mike shares his unique knowledge of the industry and articulates the finer points of IoT, where there are some unintended consequences and negative aspects of IoT, because the distance between the APP and the cloud is populated by energy consuming devices and the key is collect value data directly from your network devices.
Daikin Applied Just Changed Total Building Automation Forever, Thanks to IoT. In January 2015, ControlTrends interviewed Paul Rauker, VP of Systems and Controls, Daikin Applied, on the ground floor of the 2015 AHR Show. Paul expertly reviewed the Rebel RTU — which was the first IoT HVAC RTU. Now, with Diakin’s minority stake acquisition of Riptide IO. Daikin is the first equipment manufacturer to introduce the industry’s first, true cloud-based technology platform for HVAC equipment — that truly harnesses the IoT! Here’s the rest of the story: DAIKIN APPLIED ACQUIRES MINORITY STAKE IN CLOUD-BASED BUILDING AUTOMATION COMPANY.
2015 ControlTrends Awards System Integrator of the Year Finalist CSC. The voting for the 2015 ControlTrends Awards is underway. One of the most followed categories is the ControlTrends System Integrator of the Year Award. This is a new ControilTrends Award. With over eighty nominees from around the world, making the final seven is quite an accomplishment. If you watched ControlTalk NOW a couple of weeks ago, you got a sneak peek at one of the magnificent seven, CSC from Dallas, Texas. Meet Corey Gunder and Scott Twomey.
Our second ControlTalk NOW guest is Therese Sullivan. Therese is the principal and editor of Building Context and Haystack, and contributing editor to automatedbuildings.com. Therese is a prolific and knowledgeable writer/technologist and marketing professional, who provides news and analysis for commercial building system integrators, facilities managers and real estate professionals. Always our eyes and ears from the Silicon Valley, Therese recaps the 2015 CoRETECH Show in Silicon Valley.
ControlTalk NOW — Smart Buildings VideoCast and Podcast for week ending December 6, 2015 features interviews with Automated Buildings’ owner and editor, Ken Sinclair; Ecorithm’s VP of Sales, John D. Morris; and Temperature Controls Systems, VP of Sales Scott Twomey, together with Control Systems Consultants’ systems integrator, Cory Gunder. See Neptronic’s production video and new TUCB24 product release. Additional posts include: BASSG Controllers, DOE’s newsletter, Open ADR webinar, Thermokon’s new BACnet Transceiver, J2 Innovation’s FIN Stack, Tridium’s JACE 8000, SMARTCORE’S CATA on-line Threat Assessment. Honeywell’s Smart Grid Solution and Stryker LNS Plug-in, Johnson Controls’ TEC3000 thermostat, and ControlTrends’ Streaming. Don’t forget to submit your Young Guns Candidate!
BAS Services & Graphics Announces R-ION and P-ION Controllers are Here! Since 2004, BASSG has been a constant innovator in Building Automation Technology and BAS Analytics delivery. BASSG reduces implementation and facility management energy costs — via easy-to-deploy, multi-system software tools, and BASSG’s OEM products. Let BASSG be your one-stop provider for everything BAS, and serve as your EnerCase, Solidyne, Ontrol, and SkySpark implementation specialist. View our newest RION Hotel application.
Open ADR Webinar – Easing Peak Load Stress During System Upgrades. Please register for our upcoming webinar “Easing Peak Load Stress During System Upgrades” on Tuesday, Dec. 8th, 2015 8:00 AM PT. REGISTER NOW. Distribution system upgrades can be stressful for utilities and customers, where the need for increased safety margins are heightened in order to manage grid reliability. DR programs typically require years to develop and deploy, but in this case, there are but months before the need for DR available load must be available.
ControlTalk NOW first guest: Ken Sinclair owner and editor of autmoatedbuilds.com, discusses Automated Buildings’ December Release: “Our AHR Expo 2016 Preview Issue” and draws our attention to the importance of attending our HVAC industry’s premiere event and prefaces the educational theme for the January, 2016 AHR Expo in Orlando, FL. “Very pleased to be doing our 17th year of Free Education Sessions at AHR Expo 2016 in Orlando. Pleased to be joined by several industry experts to help us all better understand the change upon us. Also extremely pleased that our industry is able through the voice and video of ControlTrend’s Awards “CTA” to recognize AHR Expo’s amazing support. Be sure to read the other Ken’s CTA interview. Here is a snippet:”
Thermokon’s New STC-BACnet IP 902 MHz EnOcean Radio Transceiver. The STC-BACnet IP 902 MHz EnOcean Radio Transceiver is Thermokon’s new and dynamic bi-directional gateway for EnOcean-based sensors, actuators, controllers, and control systems with BACnet IP interface. Configuration and commissioning is done using the EasySens AirConfig Software tool. Transmitting Frequency and Measuring Principles: Sensors send events and/or time controlled telegrams to the receiver.
The ControlTrends Young Guns — Who Will be in the Class of 2015? Nominate NOW! ControlTrends is extremely proud of the Young Gun Awards and what we believe to be another important industry initiative to draw young talent to our industry. There is no better way to enhance the image of the HVAC Industry than recognizing young professionals under the age of 30, who, early in their careers, already make an important contribution or significant impact within their organization — that will serve as career role model. As an industry, we need to collectively seek parity and positive recognition for our HVAC industry and attract more of the young minds and talent needed to sustain our industry in the years to come.
ControlTalk NOW’s second guest: Ecorithm’s VP of Sales and Marketing, John D. Morris. Ecorithm is reshaping what it means to benchmark, showcase, and ensure occupant comfort, operational efficiency and building health. Ecorithm’s cloud-based software automatically extracts specific and actionable insights from building sensor data, switching operational focus from reactive problem fixing to proactive predictive maintenance. Comfort is a key contributor to the productivity and happiness of building occupants. Ecorithm’s True Comfort Console empowers you to visualize comfort metrics on a detailed floor plan and analyze comfort trends.
Neptronic Introduces Multi-App TUCB24 Wall Mount Universal Controller. Exciting news from Neptronic! The TUCB24 is a universal wall-mount controller with built-in temperature sensor and scheduler. The unit is designed for simple and accurate control of a heat pump or other heating/cooling equipment. Its field configurable algorithms enable versatile implementation of required control sequences. The TUCB24C6X2 also provides an external humidity sensor input for simple and accurate humidity control and provides a dehumidification sequence compensated by auto activation of reheat output. Founded in 1976, Neptronic is a private corporation that designs, manufactures and distributes products for the HVAC industry. Our product line includes intelligent controllers, electronic actuators, actuated valves, humidifiers and electric heaters.
See Why FIN Stack has Systems Integrators Talking. Many are calling FIN Stack the next generation of Building Automation Controls software. Check out this rewind of a live stream, lunch and learn, held at Stromquist & Company, to find out why. J2 Innovation’s, Scott Muench shows us the FIN 3.0 next generation software suite including an entirely new application server called FIN Stack. FIN Stack combines the custom graphic tool FIN Builder, with the FIN Mobile app.
Criticality and Threat Assessment
SMARTCORE’s Complimentary Online Threat Assessment Survey. SmartCore will translate your answers to this short survey into a Threat Assessment Scorecard as well as a prescriptive Cyber Risk Mitigation Plan that we can help you implement to strengthen your defense against attacks. Risk mitigation measures may include: Hardware, software or network solutions or modifications; Standard Operating Procedures and Protocols; Facilitated Education; Change Management; and Cultural Shift programs
Honeywell Smart Grid Solutions: How Automated Demand Response Works. Take advantage of Honeywell’s Automated Demand Response (Auto DR) that provides a custom automated solution for commercial and industrial facilities. Limit energy use and ease rate spikes during peak events. When energy demand exceeds supply you need a reliable and efficient energy management system while enabling you to meet business and production needs. Auto DR is part of our Smart Grid.
TridiumTalk — Learn More About the JACE 8000 Before its Debut. Upcoming TridiumTalks provide an in-depth look to get you ready. You won’t want to miss this next TridiumTalk, “JACE® 8000: An in-depth look.” Learn how this powerful new controller adds to the enhanced user experience of Niagara 4. Join Product Marketing Manager Mike Westerfield to hear about its high-performance core, simplified Wi-Fi configuration and many other value-added features. The JACE 8000 represents a dramatic revolution in connecting and controlling devices globally.
Office of Energy Efficiency & Renewable Energy Newsletter. Welcome to the Fuel Cell Technologies Office newsletter. The newsletter is issued monthly to our Fuel Cell News subscribers and includes a recap of the previous month’s news and events, as well as a preview of upcoming activities. Newsletter archives can be found on the website. In this issue: In the News; Funding Opportunities and Requests for Information; Webinars and Workshops; Studies, Reports, and Publications; and National Laboratory and Principal Investigator Achievements.
Combustion Thursday Live Stream Play List. Check out this live stream of some of our favorite combustion videos in this Thursday Live stream. Learn about gas pressure regulators, combustion analyzers, and combustion controls. This series of six videos that will loop until 7:00PM EST. Check out my interview with the very knowledgeable Dave Krause from Honeywell Combustion and Control. Dave has over thirty years of in the field experience. When it comes to burners and boilers and how to control them, troubleshoot them, and make them safer Dave is the man.
ControlTalk NOW’s third guests are Temperature Controls Systems, VP of Sales and Marketing Scott Twomey, and Cory Gunder from Control Systems Consultants. Control Systems Consultants was nominated for the 2015 ControlTrends Awards System Integrator of the year. As you listen to Cory talk about Control Systems Consultants, it’s easy to see why. In CSC’s own words, “In our 25 years of servicing 100’s of businesses with building automation systems and environmental services all of us at Control Systems Consultants are working our hardest to maintain our company’s unwavering commitment to total customer satisfaction.”
Johnson Controls Releases New Thermostat. Johnson Controls has announced that the TEC3000 line of standalone and communicating (field selectable BACnet or N2) thermostats are now available. Here are a couple of the things that make the TEC3000 cool: The 4.2 inch backlit LED touchscreen allows for easy and fast configuration; The N2/BACnet communication switch enables simple migration from N2 to BACnet MS/TP by switching the communication protocol in the software; Every model has a USB port for faster configuration by uploading and downloading thermostat settings; and Home screen configuration allows the building owner or contractor to custom tailor the user experience.
Honeywell’s LNS Plug-in for Stryker VAV Controllers. Honeywell is pleased to announce the availability of the Stryker VAV LNS Plug-in 2.3.0. Some new and existing BAS installations utilizing LonMark® devices may use general-purpose tools that utilize an LNS Plug-in Director such as Echelon’s LonMaker.
ControlTalk NOW — Smart Buildings VideoCast and Podcast for week ending November 22, 2015 announces the 2015 ControlTrends Awards Finalists! Cybersecurity SITREP from SmartCore’s Fred Gordy, who invites the ControlTrends Community to use SmartCore’s free on-line Criticality and Threat Assessment survey. US-CERT’s I3C Public Service Announcement and Cyber attack update; Lynxspring’s Onyxx E2E Solution; Sierra Monitor Corporation’s Telecom Site Case Study; FIN Stack Lunch ‘n Learn; and Therese Sullivan writes about the CoRE Tech Silicon Valley event and the slow adoption rate of Smart Building technology.
EasyIO Certification Training in December at Cochrane Supply, MI. With our latest EASYIO 32-bit range of DDC products, you can now build your Automation solutions from top to bottom, with various OPEN programming tools. With the EASYIO range of IP DDC Controllers, now available and selling worldwide.
30 Minutes with Lynxspring Webinar Series – Professional Services – New Onyxx Products. The 30 Minutes with Lynxspring Webinar Series continues on Wednesday, November 18th, at 12:00 PM CST. Session 6 – Lynxspring’s New Onyxx Products. Overview: Our IoT world increases the number of smart equipment, systems, and devices — creating tremendous intelligence at the edge.
Announcing SmartCore’s Free, Online Criticality and Threat Assessment (CATA). Online Assessment at NO CHARGE to you! SmartCore has developed an online assessment tool that gives building and portfolio management a high level assessment of each building free of charge. Contact info@smartcore.com to receive your assessment link. SmartCore will translate your answers to this short survey into a Threat Assessment Scorecard as well as a prescriptive Cyber Risk Mitigation Plan that we can help you implement to strengthen your defense against attacks.
Congratulations to the 2015 ControlTrends Awards Finalists! (JavaScript is needed to display this video player! The voting for the 2015 ControlTrends Awards will begin shortly. Please register to vote! Building Automation VAV Controller of the Year Manufacturer or Product: Neptronic, Distech, Delta Controls, Johnson Controls, KMC SimplyVAV, Honeywell Spyder, and Prolon.
Sierra Monitor Corporation Case Study on Telecom Site Remote Monitoring. Telecom Site Remote Monitoring: The telecommunications industry includes regional operating companies, traditional long distance carriers, wireless carriers, and cable and satellite service providers; they all deliver voice, data, and video services. Sierra Monitor Corporation shares its extensive expertise about this universal, yet challenging application.
Internet Crime Complaint Center The Internet Crime Complaint Center (IC3) has issued an alert warning that law enforcement personnel and public officials may be at an increased risk of cyber attacks. In addition to doxing (the act of gathering and publishing individuals’ personal information without permission), threat actors have been observed compromising the email accounts of officers and officials. These target groups should protect their online presence and exposure.
Stromquist Company Hosting Lunch ‘n Learns for FIN Stack. Our Authorized FIN Distributor Stromquist is hosting two free informational Lunch ‘n Learns. The first is at their Atlanta office Thursday Nov 19th from 12:00 – 1:00 EDT, and will be available also remotely via live stream at ControlTrends The sesond session will be at Orlando office Tuesday November 24 from 12:00 – 1:00 EDT.
Therese Sullivan Puts the Full Court Press on CoRE Tech’s Silicon Valley Message: ‘Just Do It.’ (By therese554) Smart Building technology isn’t being adopted at the pace expected. Why aren’t more property owners getting off the sidelines? Chicago Bulls Basketball star Michael Jordan inspired a lot of sports watchers to become sports Do-ers in the 1980s and 90s. And, of course, there was the ‘Sneaks.’ Can tech-firm smart building All Stars be as motivating? Are their methods and tools a fit for the rest of us?
ControlTalk NOW Special Guest: SmartCore’s Director of Cybersecurity expert Fred Gordy. Fred is responsible for the technology strategy and cyber security for control systems. Fred’s portfolio includes projects military bases, internet data centers, national retail chains, an international media company, REIT’s, and research labs. Fred has contributed and/or been featured in the Wall Street Journal, CNBC, Fox, HPAC Engineering, Retrofit Magazine, Building Context, Healthcare Facilities Today, and BOMA FacilitiesNet.
ControlTalk NOW — Smart Buildings VideoCast and Podcast for week ending November 15, 2015 features special guest Marc Petock; interviews and product updates with Lynxspring’s CEO,Terry Swope; DG Logik’s Dennis Khvostionov; ACI’s Barry Gordon; and Intelligent Buildings’ Shaun Klann. SGIP wins NIST Funding award; Cybersecurity must-read whitepaper from Frost & Sullivan, and a special tribute from Dozier Mills for Veterans Day.
Ask a Controls Expert with Stromquist Company’s Dozier Mills, who reponds to the question, “Why not use a PLC instead of a DDC System to control a buildings’ equipment?” Doz has been active the HVAC/R Industry for over 30 years specializing in commercial and domestic air conditioning, refrigeration, and heating systems, with application specialization in data centers, cold storage, ice plants, pneumatic controls, as well as Siemens, Johnson Controls, Alerton, and Honeywell control systems.
Terry Swope at The 2015 Lynxspring Exchange. I had a chance to catch up with Lynxspring CEO and co founder Terry Swope. As a blues guitar playing, Greg Allman doppelganger, smart buildings controls aficionado and all around good guy, Terry is one of my favorite people. Watch this video to find out more about Terry, the smart buildings controls renaissance, and Lynxspring, including what and how Lynxspring came into being.
JACE 8000: An In-depth Look! Don’t Miss the Next Tridium Talk. Don’t miss our next TridiumTalk for the latest on our cutting-edge controller! Tridium’s next-generation JACE® 8000 controller is almost here – so make sure you’re up to speed on the platform’s power and enhanced capabilities. Join Product Manager Mike Westerfield for our next TridiumTalk, “JACE 8000: An in-depth look.”
Frost & Sullivan Report: CYBERSECURITY IN SMART BUILDINGS “INACTION IS NOT AN OPTION ANYMORE.” This Cybersecurity seminal document, written by Konkana Khaund, Principal Consultant, Energy & Environment, at Frost & Sullivan, takes a “History Channel” look at the whole story of Cybersecurity, detailing the origin of our vulnerabilities, to our present and rather disparaging status. Cyber attacks, by their seeming distance from our doorstep, pose significant challenges to all building purveyors.
ControlTalk NOW Special Guest: Marc Petock, VP, Marketing at Lynxspring and Connexx Energy where he leads corporate and product marketing strategy and execution, brand management, public relations and communications to support both companies strategic and growth initiatives. Marc is a contributing author, noted speaker and recognized industry leader having earned Realcomm’s “Top 35 People to Watch” for the last seven years in a row, Who’s Who in M2M, a Digital Impact Award and several other industry accolades. Marc recaps 2015 Lynxspring Exchange and, as the Master of Ceremonies, leads the 2015 ControlTrends Awards.
Veterans Day November 11, 2015 — A Green Light is a Simple Way to Show Support. If you know a veteran or have a friend or family member that is now serving, or served in the military, reach out to them and let them know how thankful you are for the service they render, or have rendered to our country. Veterans Day is your opportunity to remember and honor those who have served in the U.S. Armed Forces. On a special note, the Green light Beacon, located at 417 5th Avenue, New York, NY(Entrance on 38th Street), will be on view from 10:00 AM to 5:30 PM for all to see.
Barry “Flash” Gordon at the 2015 Lynxspring Exchange. I had a chance to catch up with Barry Gordon from ACI at the 2015 Lynxspring Exchange. Behind every great Smart Building solution is a Smart Sensor and behind every smart sensor is a smart, dedicated, hard working technical support person. Watch this video to find out why Barry “Flash” Gordon, recipient of the 2012 ControlTrends Awards Best Technical Support Award, is considered by many to be the standard by which quality technical support is measured.
Intelligent Buildings’ Shaun Klann at 2015 Lynxspring Exchange. ControiTrends coverage of the 2015 Lynxspring Exchange continues as I had the opportunity to speak with Intelligent Buildings’s Shaun Klann, and get a ring-side update of the Smart Buildings arena from one of the top firms in the Smart Building business. Shaun cited some of the consultancy topics that Intelligent Buildings is prepared to help solve for their customers. First, Cybersecurity — an issue that has to be proactively addressed to secure industrial control systems.
SGIP News & Activities: President Sharon Allan’s November Update. I am pleased to announce that SGIP won the NIST Funding opportunity which we submitted via a competitive bidding process in June. I have been working through the final details with our NIST contracting specialist. We will receive $2.1M when it is all finalized over the course of the next three years; which will breakdown as follows: $900k for 2016, $700k for 2017, and $500k for 2018. We look forward to continuing our relationship with NIST.
DG LOGIK Shows off Project Assist 2.0 at 2015 Lynxspring Exchange. Front and center at the 2015 Lynxspring Exchange, DGLogik revealed their Project Assist 2.0 for facilities. The Project Assist 2.0 wizard allows users to create rapid HTML5 interfaces to better manage and monitor facility data. Project Assist 2.0 will deliver a faster, simpler and more intuitive user experience, offering full flexibility and customization without diving into the full design and development environment of DGLux5.
ControlTalk NOW — Smart Buildings VideoCast and Podcast for week ending November 8, 2015 reminds the ControlTrends Community that the nomination period is ending November 15th. Please ensure you nominate the deserving people, products, and solutions that make our industry so great and register to vote! Special thanks to our guests Therese Sullivan, Mike Marston, Chris Lane, and Alper Üzmezler. Fred Gordy reviews the president’s Cyberspace Policy and Marc Petock keeps the focus on Cybersecurity with excerpts from Lynxspring Exchange, and announces the release of Lynxspring’s Edge-to-Enterprise (E2E) Initiative. Also, watch great interviews with Belimo’s CEO, Lars van der Haegen and ACR’s Kevin Parsley.
Cyber Legacy? I think that the president is looking to use cyber security as a “legacy” play for his last year in office. It is the one thing that most Americans, regardless of their party affiliation, will agree on and get behind. Cyber awareness is a good thing, but what does that look like coming from Washington? The only way to know this is to be informed. If you haven’t seen the Cyberspace Policy Review Final, you may want to look it over. It has both negative and positive aspects for businesses.
Ask a Controls Expert with Chris Lane, Senior FX Product Manager at Johnson Controls who responds to Franklin from Florida’s question asking, “Will the Johnson Controls FX ASSET TOOL save him time, money, and programming?” Chris answers with a clarification: “The FX ASSET TOOL is really a money-maker because it streamlines the whole project and speaks the user’s language. It reduces the time it takes to bid, submit, order, and program a building automation controls job.” So, the Johnson Controls FX ASSET TOOL is a great way to save money and time on building automation controls project and installations.
Lynxspring’s Marc Petock Offers Insight into Cyber Security. Dear Lynxspring Business Partner, when it comes to building automation and management systems, while they were once separate, they are now firmly integrated within a company’s network infrastructure and should not be treated differently when it comes to cyber security and threat protection.
Control Pub Talk with Mike Marston in Thailand with his guest Michael Baek, from South Korea, where they discuss the rigorous requirements of South Korea’s Defense Department and how EasyIO is able to meet those exacting standards. Stay tuned for Mike’s next Control Pub Talk with Brian Anderson. A global favorite, the EasyIO’s FG-32+ Controller is one of the most versatile controllers on the market, come with the CPT and reference VAV, AHU, Chiller Plant, and Boiler Plant APPs that are easily modified to meet your exact application.
Catching up with Belimo’s Lars van der Haegen. What makes an HVAC or Building Automation Controls company great? To find out the answer to this important question, I reached out to Belimo’s CEO, Lars van der Haegen. I had the pleasure of catching up with Lars at the 2015 Belimo Platinum Distributors Meeting. Belimo is known for their quality valves and world-class actuators. This makes Lars the perfect person to answer our aforementioned question.
Interview with Therese Sullivan, principal and editor of Building Context and Haystack, and contributing to automatedbuildings.com. Therese is a prolific and knowledgeable writer/technologist and marketing professional, who provides news and analysis for commercial building system integrators, facilities managers and real estate professionals about innovations in building automation with emphasis on data analytics, mobile apps, cloud services and wireless networking. Therese knows her way around Silicon Valley and shares her knowledge of how emerging technology will impact the world of intelligent buildings.
Lynxspring Announces Edge-to-Enterprise (E2E) Initiative, New Solutions and Services. LYNXSPRING EXCHANGE 2015, Lee’s Summit, MO – November 5, 2015 – Lynxspring, Inc., a premier developer and provider of open, IP-based control solutions for intelligent buildings, energy management, cyber protection and device-to-enterprise integration, unveiled its new initiative, Lynxspring E2E (Edge-to-Enterprise) ecosystem at the 2015 Lynxspring Exchange and Partner Conference last week
HVAC Controls Distributor Review: ACR Supply. When you have been around the HVAC and Building Automation Controls business as long as I have, you see a lot of companies, and meet a lot of great people. I had the chance to catch up with one of my favorite people, Kevin Parsley and companies ACR Supply. Kevin gives us some insight into what makes ACR Supply such a great place to work and how they create value in the HVAC controls marketplace. ACR Supply was founded by Troy Meachum’s dad, L.C. Meachum in 1977 in Durham, NC. Troy and Kevin uphold the values that have earned ACR Supply Company the trust and loyalty of HVACR parts and supplies users throughout central North Carolina.
BASSG’s CEO Alper Üzmezler, one of the first Young Guns of our industry. BASSG was founded in 2004, and serves as a leading Intelligent Building Solutions provider and continuous innovator in Building Automation Technology and BAS Analytics — that focus on reducing implementation and facility management energy costs. Through in-house developed easy-to-deploy, multi-system software tools, BASSG branded OEM products and multiple distributorships, BASSG offers one-stop delivery for everything BAS — with incomparable value to significantly lower implementation and maintenance costs.
ControlTalk NOW — Smart Buildings VideoCast and Podcast for week ending November 1, 2015 thanks Scott Cross from Temperature Controls Systems, Dallas, TX, for that amazing jet pack introduction! This week features highlights from the Lynxspring Exchange 2015 event; DOE Funding Opportunities; a great introductory video from Contemporary Controls — Understanding BACnet Part I; and an in-depth interview and discussion with Ken Sinclair, owner and editor of automatedbuildings.com. Don’t miss the November edition of Automated Buildings!
Lynxspring Exchange 2015: How Lynxspring is Making a Difference and Building for Tomorrow — Today! The Lynxspring Exchange and Partner Conference being held October 26th-28th at the Argosy Hotel and Casino, Riverside, Missouri, began with a quaint evening reception and hosted exhibit networking, really kicks into high gear today. Lynxspring Exchange 2015 brings together Lynxspring’s ecosystem and community of business partners, integrators, contractors, OEMs, technology partners, industry professionals and practitioners.
What is BACnet and Why is it Important to Smart Buildings? What is BACnet? Why is it important to controlling Smart Buildings? To get a simple to understand answer we turned to George Thomas and his team at Contemporary Controls. Contemporary Controls designs and manufactures the system building blocks for networking, integrating and controlling automation processes.
ControlTrends introduces a new Q&A format: Ask a Controls Expert. In response to a question emailed to ControlTrends from Bill from Montana, we were able to contact Rick Jones, a well known HVAC industry expert from Relevant Solutions, to answer Bill’s question with an in-depth explanation of why the Belimo Energy Valve is such a smart specification for engineers. We invite you to record your HVAC question as an attachment and email it to controltrends@gmail.com, where we’ll get an industry expert to answer your question on ControlTalk NOW.
ControlTalk NOW — Smart Buildings VideoCast and Podcast for week ending October 25, 2015 takes us to the Belimo Platinum Conference in Aruba, where Eric, set against the beautiful beach sites, gives us an overview of the products and conference agenda. Interviews with OPEN BMCS’ Chris Schnieder, and EasyIO’s Tommy Hangenes; DG Logik’s new Project Assist 2.0 to be unveiled at the Lynxspring Exchange; Product reviews include the Johnson Controls’ T600, ACI’s new A/WPR2 Wet-Wet DP Transmitter, and Contemporary Controls’ BAScontrol20 BACnet Sedona Controller; Mike Marston dives deep into EasyIO’s free Engineering APPs, and Able Ramirez gives a video Tech Tip on spring return actuators.
Chris Schneider and OPEN BMCS — Immediate Browser Based Building Management at Your Fingertips! Eric Stromquist and Chris Schneider discuss OPEN BMCS, one of the most versatile and scalable browser based Building Management System on the market. Regardless of the size of your business, the OPEN BMCS software has the ability to expand to hundreds of controllers — and features: Template Creation, Alarm and History Creation, External Linking, and Custom Settings and Services. OPEN BMCS can control and monitor anything from a garage door to a complete campus wide network, with everything you need on board. Visit OPEN BMCS today!
DGLogik to Reveal Project Assist 2.0 at Lynxspring Exchange 2015. Coming this October 26th at the Lynxspring Exchange event, DGLogik will be revealing the enhanced step by step wizard, Project Assist 2.0 for facilities. This wizard will allow users to rapidly create HTML5 interfaces in order to better manage and monitor facility data. It will deliver a faster, simpler and more intuitive user experience, offering full flexibility and customization without diving into the full design and development environment of DGLux5. The Lynxspring Exchange and Partner Conference joins Lynxspring’s ecosystem and community.
Tech Tip: Setting Up a Spring Return Damper Actuator. How do Spring Return Damper Actuators really work? To find out the answer to this we turned to our friend, Able Ramirez, AKA “The Controls Freak”. Abel put together this fantastic video using the Belimo AF24-SR Spring return damper actuator. Great job Abel! Speaking of Belimo, be sure to check out Steve Rybka,one of the best controls guys and teachers I know.
ControlTrends Around the World: Norway. 2014 ControlTrends Awards Young Gun recipient Tommy Hagenes, Nordic Representative EasyIO Europe B.V., Bergen Area, Norway is a specialist in Building and Industrial Automation. At the EasyIO Global Partner Conference, Tommy introduces two of Norway’s top systems integrators Christa and Andreas – who share their thoughts on the conference and the new additions to the EasyIO product portfolio, in particular, EasyStack.
ACI’s New Remote Wet to Wet Differential Pressure Transmitter with LCD. ACI has added a new option to the A/WPR Series! This new product has been very well received based on its ability to save on installation and set up time. It also has range and output flexibility. The final piece is an oversized display option which provides valuable real-time information including High, Low and Differential Pressure readings. The A/WPR2 Series Remote Wet to Wet Differential Pressure Transmitter is designed to reduce installation time and provide mounting flexibility, often eliminating the need for additional plumbing.
Johnson Control’s Easy Way to Control Portable Classrooms. I found this one in the archives, but it is still a great solution from Johnson Controls for controlling portable classrooms. The Johnson Controls T600 Family of thermostats include several cool features, including an on board occupancy sensor. Mike Glenn, from Johnson Controls shows us how the T600 can be used to control and save energy in portable classrooms. The T600 is a low cost practical way to control temperature and reduce energy consumption in your remote classrooms.
Take a Deep Dive with Mike Marston — EasyIO’s Powerful Engineering APPs. Mike Marston reviews EasyIO’s new and powerful engineering APPs — featuring EasyIO’s FG-32+ Controller, one of the most versatile controllers on the market. These reference VAV, AHU, Chiller Plant, and Boiler Plant APPs are easily modified to meet your exact applications. Each loads with graphics, logic, and documentation — including the BACnet reference documents.
BAScontrol20 BACnet/IP Sedona Controller Instrumental in Providing SCADA Simulation. October 2015 — Jon Vietti, a DDC Controls Consultant/Specialist at DDCSupportServices.com, was recently hired by Walla Walla Community College to create a SCADA simulator that provides remote monitoring and control of the college’s Amatrol Process Control System trainer. A BAScontrol20 BACnet/IP Sedona controller was critical to the task. Providing students with the capability to earn an Associate’s Degree in Plant Operations, the Walla Walla Community College has an extensive program which teaches students the necessary skills to excel in their chosen career path.
ControlTalk Now — Smart Buildings VideoCast and Podcast for week ending October 18, 2015 features Rob Allen of 7 Minutes in Control and his coverage of the 2015 KMC Controls Event with interviews with Richard Newberry and Mitch Kehler. Rob continues his coverage of Honeywell’s Momentum 2015 with Noesis’ VP of Sales, Justin Putnam. As always, ControlTrends is delighted to provide more international news and coverage with interviews by India’s Vinayak Sane, and Mexico City’s Alfredo Melnik and Carlos Roman.
Will The KMC Commander be the Smart Buildings Controls Game Changer? Will the KMC Commander be a Smart Buildings Controls Game Changer? To find out the answer to this question, our Rob Allen, chats with KMC’s Richard Newberry at the KMC Controls 2015 Business Conference. Richard is the Chairman and advisor to the KMC Board of Directors. Listening to Richard speak, it is no wonder KMC Controls is known for their innovative Building Automation and Smart Buildings Controls. Every great company has a great mission. Ricard explains that KMC’s mission is to “provide innovative, intuitive building automation and Smart Buildings Controls solutions from responsive and supportive people.”
KMC’s Mitch Kehler, Director of Sales, Connects with Rob Allen. KMC Controls is leading the way with new technology! Mitch Kehler, Director of Sales, summarizes some of the exciting new features of KMC’s recently deployed KMC Connect, a time-saving, menu-driven configuration utility and KMC Connect Lite, a revolutionary mobile application, both of which were designed to save contractors significant amounts of time and money — on every project installation utilizing Near Field Communication (NFC).
Honeywell Momentum 2015: Rob Allen Live with Noesis’ VP of Sales, Jason Putnam. Jason Putnam discusses with Rob Allen what Noesis can do for distributors, contractors, and OEMs that need help in getting deals done faster with greater levels of success. It’s not always about savings and ROI; often, the decision-makers need clear insight into the impact the deal will have in regards to their cash flow. Noesis offers software tools, unique financing products, and top-notch technical and service support to help their partners close one deal and move onto another. Noesis is teaming up Mark Jewell of Selling Energy, and Honeywell’s Energy and Environmental Optimization Program to take success to the next level.
Smart Building Controls Revolution in India. The Smart Buildings Revolution is taking place in India, as the country gears up and invests in Smart Buildings and Smart Cities. Who better than India’s own, Vinayak Sane, from SI Consultech in Mumbai, to discuss this phenomena. We spent time with Vinayak at the EASY IO Global Conference, where Vinayak and Building Automation and Smart Buildings Controls integrators from around the world gathered to discuss the Smart Buildings Controls Renaissance and the latest control trends. Vinayak gives us his thoughts on Smart Buildings and Building Automation Controls. He interviews and introduces us to several of his colleagues, including a familiar face from America. Great work Vinayak.
Apology from Eric: I am so sorry about my audio on this episode. We tried a different set up and my mic settings are way off. Thank you for your understanding. Next weeks episode will be much better.
Welcome to ControlTalk Now, the Smart Buildings VideoCast and Podcast for week ending October 11, 2015. We are delighted to announce that the nomination period for the 2015 ControlTrends Awards has officially begun! Help us recognize the heroes and superstars of our HVAC and Building Automation industry. ControlTrends is excited to present the Second Episode of Networking Conversations, with Sierra Monitor’s CEO, Varun Nagaraj, along with interviews with Alfredo Melnik and Carlos Roman, of MR Intelligence Professional Solutions Buildings SA de CV, one of Mexico City’s premiere intelligent buildings integrators and Honeywell’s Director of Commercial Sales, Larry Andriunas, live from the 2015 Honeywell Momentum. And don’t miss Ken Sinclair’s October edition of Automated Buildings: Satisfaction + Well Being = Productivity.
Automated Buildings October Release: Satisfaction + Well Being = Productivity. Editorial Words of Wisdom from Ken Sinclair, owner and editor of automatedbuildings.com: “Our new tools of social engagement allow us to rapidly and continuously quantify as never before the measured variables of “Satisfaction” and “Well Being” in our buildings. We all understand how important these factors are to the productivity within our buildings.
2015 Honeywell Momentum: Larry Andriunas ” The Controls Guy… Control Guy.” If you did not make the 2015 Honeywell Momentum event, no worries, our Rob Allen gives you the 411 on what’s Industry Giant is doing in Building Automation and Smart Building Controls. In this video Rob catch up with Larry Andriunas. Larry, in addition to doing a phenomenal job as the MC at this years event, is the Director of Commercial Sales at Honeywell. He is responsible for sales of Honeywell’s commercial portfolio within the ECC (Environmental Combustion and Controls) division.
ControlTalk NOW Interview with Alfredo Melnik and Carlos Roman, of MR Intelligence Professional Solutions Buildings SA de CV, one of Mexico City’s premiere intelligent buildings integrators. Alfredo and Carlos provide expert insight into the developing markets in Mexico and some of the interesting challenges they have faced during the past 10 years while bringing hospitals, hotels, hi-rises, and other facilities and buildings into smart building status.
Here is Your Official 2015 ControlTrends Awards Nomination Ballot! The nomination period for the 2015 ControlTrends Awards has officially begun! This is your opportunity to nominate your favorite products, solutions, vendors, technical support people and executives. Help us recognize the heroes and superstars of our HVAC and Building Automation industry. Nominate those people, products, and solutions that help sustain our industry and make it so important and successful. Click here to start the nomination process. Please share this link with your network.
Episode 2: Control Networking Conversations with Varun Nagaraj: We are super excited to welcome back Varun Nagaraj with Episode 2 of Control Networking Conversations. Varun, who is the CEO of Sierra Monitor, has a knack for taking the complex and explaining the technical aspects of Building Automation Controls Networking in an easy to understand manner. If you saw Episode 1 of Control Networking Conversations you know what I mean.
ControlTalk Now, the Smart Buildings VideoCast and Podcast for week ending October 4, 2015. It has been another amazing week on the go — with continuing coverage of the EasyIO Global Partner Event with prophesying interviews from Mike Marston and Johan Schakenraad (EasyIO Global), Scott Muench (J2 and EasyStack) and Terry Casey (Intellastar), while Rob Allen and Michael Bonner interview Larry Weber at the Honeywell Momentum 2015, and then hop over to the KMC distributor meeting. More Cyber Security updates from Pablos Holman and Fred Gordy, and Siemens adds additional competitive room controllers to it’s commercial product portfolio; and DGLogik take DGLux5 training to Michigan at Cochrane Supply.
Hacker Skills: How to get free Movies in Your Hotel Room. Ken Smyers, Fred Gordy and I talk a lot about how hackers use vunerablities in BAS systems to get into places they should not. Pablos Holman shows us just how unsafe your wireless and other technologies are. From Blue Tooth to automobile remotes, PCs, and “secure” credit cards, Hacker extraordinaire, Pablos Holman, shows how nearly every secure system is vulnerable.
Siemens Fan Coil Stats – Out with the Old and In with the New. Siemens’ RAA and RAB series of fan coil thermostats are now obsolete and being replaced by the RDG series room thermostats. They cover a wide range of commercial HVAC applications from roof top units and heat pumps to VAV/CAV control. Ideally suited for light commercial installations such as retail, hospitality, light healthcare and small commercial buildings, they are easy to install and commission.
Renaissance of Building Automation Control — Global EasyIO Partner Event Begins Today in Paris. For those vendors and systems integrators gathering today at the Global EasyIO Partner Event — from six continents, buildings are the common currency and EasyIO is the common language spoken. Featuring the release of EasyStack, the enhanced FG-32+ controller, the possibilities of the Belimo MP Bus Gateway, and a myriad of new vendor applications, EasyIO now provides a greater range of solutions for the underserved global markets, where an estimated 70% of the world’s buildings still lack edge technology and control.
Building Automation Controls Renaissance Man Mike Marston at the EasyIO World Event. Ken got a chance to catch up with Mike Marston at the EASYIO World Event. Mike gives us an update on the role EASYIO and their partners are playing in the Building Automation and Smart Buildings Controls Renaissance.
Global EasyIO Partner Event 2015 — Day 2 Highlights. Day 2 began with a hearty welcome from Bullzevents’ Guido Van Erp and the yearly sales and marketing review from Johan Schakenraad, CEO, EasyIO Europe, who summarized EasyIO’s impressive growth with the words “EasyIO FG-32… To use it, is to love it.” Day 2 resumed with a series of product and solution presentations beginning with Yanis Cottard of NODON, followed by updates on the EasyIO EnOcean driver, the enhanced CPT Tool with new widget features.
EasyIO, Renaissance, and Terry Casey’s Eloquent Interview: Building IoT Explained. On Day 2, at the EasyIO vendor show, the Renaissance continued as ControlTrends had the opportunity to interview one of the most venerated members of the building management industry, Mr. Terry Casey, of Intellastar. Terry began his prolific journey as CEO and founder of Trend, still a premiere DDC line in England, and by serving as President/CEO of Tridium Europe. His professorial explanation of what he terms, the “Building Internet of Things” and its underlying stack technology, represent a significant departure from the rather status quo of the past 25 years.
We Were IoT Before IoT Was Cool. (originally posted on AutomatedBuildings.com – link to article) Open Source, Plug & Play, IoT, and an Automagically Connected Home, these are terms we hear all the time. But what do they really mean? And more importantly, what do they mean to the Integrator community? The connected buildings and devices that can be accessed via the web are not new. Integrators have been doing this for years. Most of the public didn’t know how, or really care how HVAC, lighting, access control, elevators, parking garages, etc. were controlled in the building they worked. This was all done “behind the curtain” and as long as they were comfortable, they didn’t even think about it.
Calling All Building Systems Integrators! DGLux5 Training Oct. 7-9, 2015. Powerful, full-featured data visualization tools are paramount to properly utilize building systems data as an asset. And DGLux5 has proven to be the preferred application development platform with exceptional toolsets that will take your customers’ building performance data to the highest level. So, join us for DGLux5 training, become DG Certified and take your customers’ data to the next level!
J2 Innovations Announcement Contributes to The Smart Building Control Renaissance. J2 Innovations makes a huge announcement at the EASY IO Global Conference in Paris. Scott Muench delighted systems integrators around the world with his demo of the new EasyStack. As Scott, explains in the video, Easy Stack combines the power of EasyIO controllers with the flexibility of the J2 Innovations platform to give a powerful solution to the Smart Buildings and Building Automation Controls community. Watch the video to learn more about the features and power of EasyStack.
EasyIO’s Role in the Smart Building Control Renaissance. Are we in the midst of a Smart Building and Building Automation Controls Renaissance? With the advent of Haystack Connect, Niagara 4, HTML5, building analytics, the race to the small space, and many other trends that we track on ControlTrends, we think we are at the tipping point of Smart Building and Building Automation Controls Renaissance.
Honeywell Momentum Update: Larry Weber on Honeywell’s Race to The Small Space. Our Rob Allen was in attendance at the 2015 Honeywell Momentum Conference. In addition to taking in all the great information for the Buildings Automation Group at Stromquist & Company, Rob covered the Conference for the ControlTrends Community. In Rob’s first update, he tracks down Larry Weber. Larry is the General Manager for the Honeywell Buildings Control Systems Brand. In addition to being a nice guy, he is usually the brightest person in the room.
KMC Controls Conference: Day One Recap. Our Rob Allen and Michael Bonner are in San Antonio this week at the KMC Controls Conference. Rob and Mike give is the highlights from day one of the KMC Controls Event. KMC, in conjunction with Intel and Dell are ensuring that Internet Technology and Operational Technology are playing nice together eliminating internet gateway issue. Great job guys!
ControlTalk NOW for the week ending September 6th, 2015 features Siemens’ Come Fly With Us RDY2000 Commercial Thermostat Promotion. Already dubbed the ReadyStat 2000, it launches with an exceptionally rewarding marketing promo. Tridium’s Niagara 4 is available, NOW — and so is DGLogik’s DGLux5 IoT Platform for Niagara 4. Automated Buildings’ Ken Sinclair September edition throws a “delay of game penalty flag” on the HVAC Industry’s historical slow rate of meaningful change. And, Fred Gordy’s depiction of supervisory controllers — exposed on Shodan’s website, provides more stark visualization of fixable cyber security exposure.
Niagara 4 is Here! Next-generation IoT Framework Now Available! Niagara 4 builds on the legacy of the Niagara Framework® in many new and ground-breaking ways, and is designed to help businesses take full advantage of the Internet of Things. Some of the most exciting advancements include: Modern user interface and design language (HTML5); Powerful and easy-to-use security features’ and Seamless conversion from Niagara AX.
ControlTalk NOW welcomes SK Foo. EasyIO’s strong technical support is anchored by SK Foo, who was exceptionally busy the past two weeks with nonstop visits to Twinco in NYC, NY and the new Belimo Air Controls factory in Danbury, CT; then to Pittsburgh, PA and Seattle, WA, to conduct EasyIO refresher training; and then finally, off to Sydney, Australia, where he will conduct EasyIO certification training. Listen in as EasyIO’s SK Foo gives us a preview of the feature-rich FG-32+; the new developments with Belimo MP Bus Gateway, which be featured at the EasyIO Global Partner Conference scheduled foe September 20-22 in Paris, France.
Automated Buildings September Theme: Change Evolves from the Possible — 17th Education Sessions at AHR EXPO 2016 in Orlando. Ken Sinclair, owner and editor of Automated Buildings, has chronicled the slow rate of change within in our industry, citing in particular, the compelling need to change the vendor-centric unconnected world of traditional marketing of our products and services. Join Ken and a host of industry experts at the 17th Educational Sessions being held at the AHR EXPO 2016, Orlando, FL.
Gateways Aren’t Supervisory Controllers But They Offer A “Greatway” Into Your Site. If you haven’t looked at Shodan maps maybe you should. It shows a stark visualization of just how exposed we are. The above image shows all of the Lantronix devices that exposed. In the US alone there are 7,024 as of this morning (9/3/2015). Generically speaking gateways convert one protocol to another. Typically in the BAS world gateways convert serial communication such as RS232 and RS485 to IP. More specifically BACnet serial to IP and Modbus serial to IP (Lantronix gateways are just one of several gateway manufacturers).
DGLux5 for Niagara 4 is Available for Download — NOW! Niagara 4 has officially been released and our innovative technology is alongside Tridium’s latest and greatest. Yes, DGLux5 for Niagara 4 is available for download! IoT Application Platform, DGLux5 is the finest compliment to Niagara 4, providing an enhanced user experience for all your data visualization needs. DGLux5 is an award-winning, fully HTML5 drag and drop development platform that allows users to rapidly create stunning, data-driven applications.
The Best Product Promotion of 2015? The Siemens RDY 2000 Thermostat! Siemens introduces the RDY 2000, one of the most powerful and flexible thermostats money can buy, and one of the coolest promotions we have seen. This Siemens promotion won’t last forever so get on board now! “Come Fly With US!” Siemens, CGNA and Control Trends have joined forces to promote the new Siemens RDY2000 Thermostat. It is a gift card promotion along with a contest for the best contractor RDY2000 installation/application video from your phone. The Grand Prize Winner for the best video will receive a $750 travel voucher.
ControlTalk NOW for the week ending August 30, 2015 features guest interviews with Neptronic’s Luis Melgares and SI Consultants’ Vinayak Sane; new products from Thermokon and Functional Devices; Tridium N4 Crossover Training Video; Fred Gordy’s continued focus on Cyber Security; Sierra Monitor Corporation’s Varun Nagaraj’s Part 1 series on IIoT; and an updated ControlTrends Events Calendar.
Thermokon’s Newest Products — Released in 902MHz EnOcean’s Frequency for North America. Thermokon is pleased to announce several game-changing 902 MHz EnOcean products recently added to their extensive EasySens product platform, which include these application advantages: Cost savings due to Energy Harvesting: producing energy from the sensor environment; Flexibility with sensor location – quick and easy mounting and commissioning; Reduction of fire load – no need for wires.
ControlTrends Event Information Calendar Update. Global EasyIO Partner Event 2015: Paris, September 20-22! EasyIO is changing the way Building Automation is deployed, while significantly reducing installation costs. EasyIO’s global partner event will unveil awesome new products and features that will further enhance building management and energy solutions — for all building types. EasyIO has already a reputation to hold up for their amazing event programming.
Product Update: The New Functional Devices EnOcean Relay. Wireless is all the rage in todays building automation and smart buildings control systems. But to get the most out of your wireless system you need reliable wireless components like the EN3 EnOcean relay from Functional Devices. The EnOcean technology is an energy harvesting wireless technology used primarily in building automation systems; but is also applied to other applications in industry, transportation, logistics and smart homes.
Luis Melgares, Neptronic’s Vice-President, Sales and Marketing ControlTalk NOW’s first guest interview. ControlTrends caught up with Luis while he was on the road in Western PA and WV, technical support to system integrator and developing new business. Luis gives ControlTrends the latest scoop on Neptronic’s newest hardware and software, and previews Neptronic’s next generation TUC thermostat/room controller expected to be released fourth quarter 2015 — that will definitely be on display at the 2016 AHR EXPO in Orlando.
Tridium Niagara 4 Crossover Training Promo Video — World Class Technical Training for the Niagara Community. Tridium Niagara 4 Crossover Training Promo Video featuring World Class Technical Training for the Niagara Community. At Tridium, our training goals are simple; help our customers to be effective using the Niagara Framework. We do that by offering a variety of training classes covering the broad spectrum of Niagara-based solutions.
Vinayak Sane, with SI Consulting, based in Mumbai, India is ControlTalk NOW’s second guest interview. In this introductory video, we meet Vinayak and hear how he got started in the BMS/HVAC markets. Vinayak will be providing ControlTrends with progress updates on India’s immense efforts to bring 100 Smart Cities on-line, while proving insights on the some of the primary challenges facing India’s Smart Cities Mission, Building a Smart India, from an engineer’s perspective.
Practical Application for Using Shodan. Finding Devices, Protocols, Vendors, etc. Shodan’s search engine is fairly flexible and easy to use. The various lists below are what I found using a URL search like the two shown here (you must be logged in for the URL search to work). https://www.shodan.io/search?query=PDU+country%3A”US“ Notice the two bold sections of the URL string. The first is what you are looking for and the second is the country. The URL Encoded Characters for a colon are %3A.
If You’re Breached, You May Be Facing Two Battles. According to an arstechnica article Monday, August 24, a federal appeals court ruled that the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) can now sue a company that employs poor IT security practices. This resulted from a lawsuit that the FTC filed against the Wyndham Worldwide Corporation who suffered three breaches from 2008 to 2009. (click here to see FTC vs Wyndham) FTC Chairwoman Edith Ramierz wrote in a statement to Ars, “Today’s Third Circuit Court of Appeals decision reaffirms the FTC’s authority to hold companies accountable for failing to safeguard consumer data.
Sierra Monitor’s Varun Nagaraj: A Model to Categorize IIoT Use Cases – Part 1. There is no shortage of stories and case studies about the IIoT. In aggregate, they support the assertion that the classic Buffalo Springfield song makes: “There’s something’s happening here; what it is ain’t exactly clear”. Unfortunately, the many IIoT case studies being written up throw the phrase “cloud” around like there is no tomorrow, and all the stories begin to blur together! Personally, I find it useful to have a model that helps me categorize IIoT use cases.
ControlTalk NOW for the week ending August 23, 2015 continues its focus on Cyber Security Awareness with Data Center Equipment Exposure; CABA’s Landmark CyberSecurity Research Initiative; and White Hat Billy Rios brings ICS/SCADA training to Georgia. Also featured: Eric Stromquist presents the Belimo Energy Valve to the Atlanta Better Building Challenge; Neptronic’s and ecobee’s newest product releases; the 2016 AHR EXPO registration is now available; 7 Minutes in Control with Rob Allen and Mike Bonner discussing their successful Honeywell N4 migration; and the amazing history of KMC Controls.
Data Center Equipment Exposed With Default Manufacturer User and Pass. Shodan Cataloging of Liebert & APC (Disclaimer – It is not the intent of this post to point out a particular BAS software vendor. The intent is to show that we, the system integrator, still have work ahead of us to do our part.) Last week I searched for Niagara systems on Shodan and the numbers were 27k plus in just the US. This week the US number is down just over 15k.
CABA Launches Landmark Research on CyberSecurity: Is Your Organization Prepared? What steps have your organization taken to ensure that your customers, products/services and organization are safe from privacy issues and cybersecurity attacks? The CABA Board of Directors and the CABA Connected Home Council (CHC) have selected the next CABA Landmark Research Study to be “Cybersecurity and the Connected Home”.
7 Minutes in Control with Stromquist’s Rob Allen and Mike Bonner. The two gentlemen provide great insight to a successful Honeywell WEBs AX migration to N4 that included several JACE controllers, numerous Honeywell Spyders, and an AX Supervisor, connecting multiple buildings over a wireless IP LAN. Please stay tuned to 7 Minutes in Control as Rob and Mike continue with N4 project migration updates.
World’s Largest HVACR Marketplace is Headed to Orlando, FL — January 25-27, 2016. The World’s Largest HVACR Marketplace is headed to Orlando, January 25-27, 2016, Orlando, Florida — ORANGE COUNTY CONVENTION CENTER! The AHR EXPO brings the entire HVACR Industry together under one roof to see the latest products and technology, learn about innovations & trends, and build relationships.
Neptronic Announces its Next Generation VAV and Fan Coil Controllers are Here! Neptronic, a leading manufacturer of HVAC Products and Solutions since 1976, is proud to announce that their game-changing Next Generation VAV and Fan Coil Controllers — are Available NOW! Huge hardware, software, and network improvements provide better precision, greater application versatility and more. Visit Neptronic today to see more features and benefits of Neptronic’s Next Generation Controllers!
Hey Siri, meet ecobee3 — Ahem, the HomeKit-enabled ecobee3. HomeKit makes it easy to discover, group, and control Apple HomeKit-enabled accessories in your home. Control your ecobee3 by using Siri on your iPhone, iPad, and iPod Touch. Requires iOS 8.1 or later. Your iPhone is now a universal remote that controls your home. Imagine all your smart accessories working together and customized around you.
ControlTrends at The Atlanta Better Buildings Challenge. I got a chance to hang out with the movers and shakers of the Atlanta Better Buildings Challenge last night. Atlanta’s mayor, Kasim Reed, gave us an update on the progress Atlanta Building owners are making towards reducing their energy spend by 20% by the year 2020.
KMC Controls — A History of Great Success Built with Great People and Great Products. KMC Controls, an almost mythical American success story begins with a summer job at Barber Colman in Rockford, IL, where Ken Krueter was first introduced to the world of HVAC and controls. Ken Kreuter’s pioneer efforts were soon augmented by a remarkable family and a cast of industrious and harmonious visonaries that would sustain KMC’s growth — and allow KMC to make significant contributions to the HVAC industry — for the next fifty years.
ICS/SCADA Security Essentials, Atlanta – Billy Rios, Instructor. My friend and mentor Billy Rios will be he instructor for the upcoming SANS Institute ICS/SCADA Security Essentials in Atlanta, September 28 thru October 2. Billy is not only an expert on this subject, but is highly engaging and thought provoking. His instructional delivery method coveys information that can be easily understood and is comprehensive.
The Atlanta Better Buildings Challenge, Pecha Kucha, and The Belimo Energy Valve. Here is a video of my Pecha Kucha at the Atlanta Better Buildings Challenge. Pecha Kucha is a presentation style that allows the speaker 20 slides and 20 seconds to explain each slide. The Atlanta Better Buildings Challenge is the vision of Atlanta mayor Kasim Reed. He challenges commercial buildings in Atlanta to reduce their energy consumption 20% by the year 2020.
ControlTalk NOW for the week ending August 16, 2015 focuses on Cyber Security Awareness with a vulnerability summary from the National Cyber Awareness System, Tridium’s Niagara AX security updates, and Fred Gordy’s BAS exposure report from the Shodan site. Delta Controls’ Und de Boer shares her insights about “Doing Things Right.” Join Chris Ryan and “30 Minutes with Lynxspring,” and another great application from Data Center Monitoring experts, Sierra Monitor Corporation.
National Cyber Awareness System: SB15-222: Vulnerability Summary for the Week of August 3, 2015 08/10/2015 06:14 AM EDT. Original release date: August 10, 2015 The US-CERT Cyber Security Bulletin provides a summary of new vulnerabilities that have been recorded by the National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) National Vulnerability Database (NVD) in the past week. The NVD is sponsored by the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) National Cybersecurity and Communications Integration Center (NCCIC) / United States Computer Emergency Readiness Team (US-CERT).
Sierra Monitor’s Featured Application — Data Center Monitoring. Sierra Monitor — Experts in Data Center Monitoring Applications. A data center is a facility used to house networked computer servers and storage systems that are securely connected to the Internet. A data center generally includes redundant or backup power supplies, redundant data communications connections, environmental controls (e.g., air conditioning, gas detection, fire suppression), and physical access control systems.
Niagara AX Updates Available Now — Versions 3.6, 3.7, and 3.8 are Affected. Niagara AX updates available now. Versions 3.6, 3.7, and 3.8 are affected. The August 2015 Update Releases are available for download on Niagara Central. The updates include important enhancements that increase the security of a Niagara AX system, including a newer revision of the Java Virtual Machine. VYKON strongly encourages all customers to update Niagara AX to one of the newly available releases.
“30 Minutes with Lynxspring” Webinar Series – August 19, 2015. We are always thinking of ways we can help you maximize your company’s productivity and profitability.This month’s “30 minutes with Lynxspring” discusses the services we provide through our Professional Services Group and how they will help you turn projects over quicker, maximize resources and productivity, allow you more time to increase your customer base, pay more attention to your existing customers, and have the time to spend in front of them discussing additional opportunities.
What Makes a Company Great? It starts with their Philosophy. As we prepare for the nomination period for the 2015 ControlTrends Awards, I am reminded of how many great people, products and companies we have in our industry. It made me wonder what is at the core of these amazing players that make up the Building Automation Controls and HVAC Group. I came across this video and post from Una de Boer, the director of marketing at Delta Controls. Una is one of the bright, hardworking, thoughtful people in our Industry and does a wonderful job of answering my question. So, with her permission, please check out the following video and Una’s words from one of her LinkedIn posts.
Top US Cities With Exposed Niagara Systems. (Disclaimer – It is not the intent of this post to point out a particular BAS software vendor. The intent is to show that we, the system integrator, still have work ahead of us to do our part.) The information I list below I got by running a report on Shodan today (8/13/2015). And it didn’t cost a dime and I didn’t have to use any query language… just plain ole English. I opened the site (https://www.shodan.io/) and in the search bar I typed “niagara”.
ControlTalk NOW for the week ending August 9, 2015 is co-hosted by Rob Allen as we discuss Niagara 4 and the TridiumTalk Update; WattStopper’s new DLM product launch; 2015 Annual Demand Response Forum announcement; BACnet Attack Framework video from Brad Bowers; Better Buildings August Bulletin; EasyIO’s Global Conference in Paris; Interview with Ron Zimmers and CABA’s Big Data Research; and the updated ControlTrends Event Calendar.
TridiumTalk: Niagara 4 Tagging and Templating and Launch of Niagara Community.Presenting the latest additions to our TridiumTalk series: Join us for a demo of a key feature of Niagara 4 and learn more about the new Niagara Community website. Niagara 4 Tagging and Templating: How to quickly integrate devices and make data readily available. Niagara 4 delivers many notable improvements to help businesses take full advantage of the Internet of Things.
WattStopper’s Digital Lighting Management (DLM) Product Launch. Based on simplicity, flexibility, and scalability, WattStopper’s Digital Lighting Management (DLM) platform continues to revolutionize lighting controls projects across North America. Today we’re excited to announce the availability of new DLM fixture-integrated controls — products that add granularity to our already-proven suite of room and area controls.
2nd Annual Demand Response World Forum 2015, October 6-8 in Costa Mesa, CA. Utilities around the world are under increasing pressure to maximize energy efficiency, control load, and integrate distributed energy resources. These factors plus a changing regulatory environment are driving new requirements for network resiliency, flexibility, and power quality — all of which impact the traditional utility business case.
What You Always Wanted to Know About BACnet (… but were Afraid to Ask). Although this video is a little bit dated, it contains a lot of vital information and critical content for those in the awareness and knowledge gathering phases of the cyber security “human patching” process (Gordy). At ShmooCon 2013, Brad Bowers‘ BACnet Attack Framework presentation “How To Own A Building: Exploiting the Physical World With Bacnet” brings to light the vulnerabilities of one of the most standard communication protocols used in the operational technology side of the HVAC and Building Automation industries.
Better Buildings Bulletin: August, 2015. The Better Buildings Bulletin is a monthly feature to help keep you up to date on partner successes, program updates, opportunities to participate, and more. View the Bulletin online. At the 2015 Better Buildings Summit, over 200 speakers presented their solutions. These presentations are posted to the Solution Center where you can easily browse presentations using filters for building type.
EasyIO Global Conference Paris 2015 Update. Global EasyIO Partner Event 2015: Paris, September 20-22! EasyIO is changing the way Building Automation is deployed, while significantly reducing installation costs. EasyIO’s global partner event will unveil awesome new products and features that will further enhance building management and energy solutions — for all building types.
CABA — Where the Pros go to get Big Data on Big Data. I got a chance to catch up with Ron Zimmer from CABA. If you need to get the facts and information on all things Smart Buildings, and Building Automation Controls, Ron and the team at CABA can hook you up. Watch Ron and learn more. The Continental Automated Buildings Association (CABA) is an international not-for-profit industry association dedicated to the advancement of integrated technologies for homes and buildings. The organization was founded in 1988 and is supported by an international membership of over 300 organizations.
ControlTrends Event Information Calendar Update. Global EasyIO Partner Global EasyIO Partner Event 2015: Paris, September 20-22! EasyIO is changing the way Building Automation is deployed, while significantly reducing installation costs. EasyIO’s global partner event will unveil awesome new products and features that will further enhance building management and energy solutions.
ControlTalk NOW for the week ending August 2, 2015 has two provocative cyber security posts from SmartCore’s cyber security evangelist and guru Fred Gordy, who shows us the ballistic cyber world with real-time Threat Maps and Shodan. Fred warns, “If you have setup a customer’s system that is directly connected to the internet, Shodan has either found it or will find it and put into its database for the world to see.” Read Ken Sinclair’s AutomatedBuildings and the August theme: Transformational Change our Mission Possible. DOE funds STEM training; Lynxspring Exchange updates; Easy IO’s Mike Marston with more Control Pub Talk; and Angie Jarvis and ProLon have a VAV Solution for you!
Real-Time Threat Maps: If you haven’t seen these maps, it can be eye opening. These are real-time and/or near real-time threat maps that are readily available online. Various companies who are touting their cyber security offering like to throw these up behind them during photo ops. They are impressive, but more importantly they show us the unseen cyber world and the fact we are under attack.
Shodan – Are Your Sites Listed?If you haven’t heard what Shodan is and why do we care, I would suggest you get familiar with it. Shodan has been called the “Google” for the internet of things (IoT). Shodan is continually cataloging web facing, connected devices such as control systems, computers, CRACs, power systems, etc. Why should we care? We should care because if you have setup a customer’s system that is directly connected to the internet, Shodan has either found it or will find it and put into its database for the world to see.
ProLon: The Easy Way to do Zoning. Are you looking for an easy to use and configure zoning system — that has the capabilities of a much more complex zoning system? We caught up with Angie Jarvis and the team from ProLon at the 2015 CGNA Vendor Showcase and ProLon just might have the answer! Check this video out and see just how easy it is to set up a zoning system. Reach out to your local CGNA controls distributor and try ProLon on your next zoning job.
Energy Department to Fund Master’s and Doctoral Training in Power Electronics ($10 Million)! Energy Department to Fund Master’s and Doctoral Training in Power Electronics. As part of the Obama Administration’s commitment to accelerating American manufacturing and Energy Secretary Ernest Moniz’s support of STEM education (Science, Technology, Engineering, and Math) to create the next generation of engineers and manufacturers.
How to Make Beer with the EASY IO FG Controller. In episode 2 of Control Pub Talk with “Mad” Mike Marston, Mike shows us the EASY IO FG-32 Controller being used in several unique applications. Want to make beer? The powerful FG32 is the control solution of choice for micro brewers in the know. Could you control vending machines with the EASY IO Controller? Watch this video and find out!
Automated Building’s August Theme: “Transformational Change our Mission Possible.” Transformational change is the process of altering the basic elements of an organization’s culture, including the norms, values, and assumptions under which the organization functions. Getting some great comments directly, off the record and in articles and comments in our August issue about the “Transformational Change” that is happening to allow the Map of the possible.
The posted content for ControlTalk NOW for the week ending July 26, 2015 is rather sparse, but is offset by importance, because during time away from our keyboards, we were able to secure two major events of extreme importance: Cyber Security Summit and the 2015 ControlTrends Awards. SmartCore’s Fred Gordy, Lynxspring’s Marc Petock, Stromquist Company and DMS Controls Group LLC, working in close concert with the Georgia Tech Research Institute, will be hosting the first Cyber Security Summit in Atlanta, GA. Additionally, ControlTrends is excited to announce that the 2015 ControlTrends Awards will be held Sunday, January 24, 2016, at Orlando’s Hard Rock Live.
New Power Meter from Dent Instruments. It has been said that you can’t control or manage what you don’t measure, and this is especially true when it comes to Smart Buildings and controlling energy. I had a chance to catch up with Tim Van Slambrouck from Dent Instruments at the 2015 Controls Group North America (CGNA) Vendors’ Showcase. Tim is the VP of Sales and Marketing at Dent, and shows us a very cost effective way to monitor power consumption. Check it out!
ControlTalk NOW Special Guest: Fred Gordy is Senior Consultant for SmartCore and is responsible for the technology strategy and cybersecurity for control systems. Fred has focused on control system cybersecurity for the past several years and has built a network of cybersecurity professionals to grow knowledge for control systems at large. Fred’s portfolio includes military bases, internet data centers, national retail chains, an international media company, REIT’s, and research labs to name a few.
2015 ControlTrends Awards to be Held — January 24, 2016, at the Hard Rock Live! ControlTrends is excited to announce that the 2015 ControlTrends Awards will be held January 24, 2016, from 6:30PM to 9:30PM, at Orlando’s Hard Rock Live located at the door step to the amazing Universal Studios. Hard Rock Live is home to music history and a most befitting venue to celebrate the heroes and superstars of our HVAC and the Building Automation industries. ControlTrends graciously thanks our sponsors for allowing us to make this special industry event possible. Platinum Sponsors and their invited guests will join ControlTrends in the John Lennon replicate #71 Dakota Suite reception area prior to the awards show.
ControlTrends Event Information Calendar Update. Managing the Contractor Lifecycle at Critical Infrastructure Facilities for Enhanced Security and Regulatory Compliance. Wednesday, August 5, 2015 10:00 AM PT/1:00 PM ET. Critical infrastructure facilities, such as energy and petrochemical sites, are complex environments to secure. Not only do these facilities manage valuable resources that need to be protected, but an accidental or intentional mishap can prove costly to both an organization’s bottom line as well as a nation’s economy.
ControlTalk NOW for week ending July 19, 2015, features interviews with Tridium’s Ed Merwin, Siemens’ Paul Gilvydis, and Rob Allen’s 7 Minutes in Control with Honeywell’s Roger Rebennack; Fred Gordy contributes vital Cybersecurity information; TridiumTalk: Cybersecurity Webinars — three registration opportunities; and new product release and information from Neptronic and ZKAccess. Don’t miss this great video edition from Eric’s new studio!
Toss the Key with Biometric Access.Stromquist is pleased to now be a distributor for ZKAccess, manufacturers of security access equipment. As one of the largest providers in the world, they have earned a reputation for technical innovation, quality, speed-to-market and reliability. These are just a few reasons why ZKAccess is the reader manufacturer of choice for so many OEMs, software developers, integrators, distributors and dealers worldwide.
Siemens Now Offering BAS Sensors through CGNA Distributors. It use to be that if you had a Siemens Building Automation Control System you had to go to the Siemens branch to buy all your replacement parts, including sensors. Although you still have to go back to the Siemens branch or factory direct contractor to get your properitory Siemens Building Automation controllers, you now have the option of buying the communicating wall sensors from independent distributors like the ones in Controls Group North America.
DOE Seeking Prototypes & Posters for Emerging Technology Pavilion. Building Technologies Office: Calling all innovators! Apply to share your early stage technologies at Energy ConneXions’ Emerging Technology Pavilion. This event brings together leaders in the federal government and the private sector to advance collaboration, and offer viable solutions for improving outcomes and reducing costs at federal sites.
Neptronic Announces: Next Generation VAV and Fan Coil Controllers are Here! Neptronic, a leading manufacturer of HVAC Products and Solutions since 1976, is proud to announce that their game-changing Next Generation VAV and Fan Coil Controllers — are Available NOW! Huge hardware, software, and network improvements provide better precision, more application versatility, upgrades to BACnet V14, an dual menu selected BACnet or Modbus protocols. and context driven menu. Visit Neptronic today to see more features and benefits of Neptronic’s Next Generation Controllers!
TridiumTalk: Cybersecurity and Why it Matters. Join Tridium’s chief security architect, Kevin Smith, for our next TridiumTalk. Today’s cybersecurity threats are sophisticated and growing, but there are ways to prepare yourself and your customers to combat these threats. That’s why you won’t want to miss our next TridiumTalk, Cybersecurity: Why it matters.
Ed Merwin at 2015 Realcomm|IBcon. Young gun, Rob Allen, caught up with “The Godfather” (yes, he will make you an offer you can’t refuse), Ed Merwin, at the 2015 Realcomm|IBcon conference. What was the offer? Well, here is a hint, the number 4 is involved. Niagara 4 builds on the legacy of the Niagara Framework® in new and exciting ways. It’s less reliant on browser plug-ins, faster and easier.
Are You Patching The Humans In Your Control System? Dan Kaufman, head of the Software Innovation Division for DARPA (Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency) was asked a question by Lesley Stahl of 60 Minutes (view 60 Minutes segment) “Can the Internet be fixed? Or do we just have to throw this one out and build a whole new Internet from scratch, with security built in?”
Rob Allen’s 7 Minutes in Control with Honeywell’s Roger Rebennack. Young Gun, Rob Allen welcomes the incomparable Roger Rebennack to 7 Minutes in Control. Roger, one of the most knowledgeable experts in access and security systems, shares with Rob the 5 primary reasons building owners and facility managers need to integrate access and security controls to their BAS now.
ControlTalk NOW for week ending July 12, 2015, features a recap of the 4th of July holiday week; interviews with Realcomm’s Jim Young, LumenCache’s Derek Cowburn, and Networking Conversations: Understanding IIoT with Sierra Monitor’s Varun Nagaraj; Industry and DOE webinars and calendar dates for upcoming events (Register Today!); Project Haystack demo; and an important DG Logik Adobe update.
ControlTalk NOW for week ending July 5, 2015 (sans video) wraps up a short holiday week with HVAC and Building Automation highlights including product posts from Belimo and Sierra Monitor Corporation; interview with John Petze, DOE’s Program Funding, and a preview look at Ken Sinclair’s “Finding Reality in a Virtual World,” and Belimo’s Lar van der Haegen assumes duties as the CEO of Belimo Global.
ControlTrends Around the World Premier with Special “Down Under” Guest: Richard McElhinney from Australia. Richard is a veteran systems integrator with Airmaster and Vice President, Board of Directors at Project Haystack Corporation. Richard shares the five big take-aways from Haystack Connect 2015 and fills the ControlTrends Community on what’s new in Australia. Join us next week for another global ControlTrends correspondent!
FREE Smart Building Webinar: Project Haystack – Working with Data from the Internet of Things. PROJECT HAYSTACK WORKING WITH DATA FROM THE INTERNET OF THINGS. JULY 22, 2015 | 4:00PM UK TIME Featured guests: Q&A with Marc Petock of Lynxspring & John Petze of SkyFoundry Discussing how the open source initiative Project Haystack is streamlining working with data from the Internet of Things; creating standardized semantic data models and web services with the goal of making it easier to unlock value from the vast quantity of data being generated by smart buildings. Register here!
Jim Young Recaps Realcomm|IBcon 2015 and Reveals the Next Big Trend in Smart Buildings. It was my great pleasure to catch up with the always prophetic Jim Young at the hugely successful 2015 Realcomm|IBcon Conference in San Antonia, TX. In addition to recapping the great event that he and his team orchestrated, Jim offers us a glimpse at what could be the next game-changing technology in Smart Buildings: DC Micro Grids.
Put New Tools and Content on the Building America Solution Center To Work for You! Join us for a free webinar on July 22, 2015, presented by the U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) Building America program! Each month’s webinar will offer information about the latest advances in residential building technologies and practices, presented by Building America research team and national laboratory experts, and DOE Program Managers. Date/Time: July 22, 2015; 3:00–4:30 PM EST. Register now!
Press Release: Lynxspring Announces October Lynxspring Exchange!Lee’s Summit, MO. July 7, 2015 Lynxspring, a premier developer and provider of open, IP-control solutions for building automation, energy management, cyber protection, and device-to-enterprise integration today announced it will hold The Lynxspring Exchange and Partner Conference on October 26th-28th at the Argosy Hotel and Casino in Riverside, Missouri. Register here!
2015 Project Haystack’s Amazing Live Demo — The Future of Tagging is Here. Using an integrated live audience, a host of visual props, and three screens, the masters of Mythbusting, Jason Briggs and Scott Muench brought Haystack tagging to life instantly and with profound effect. In close cooperation and support of the growing Haystack community of manufacturers, vendors, and sponsors — including : J2 Innovations, SkyFoundry, Lynxspring, Altura, Pacific Controls, Siemens, KMC Controls, Contemporary Controls, WattStopper, Veris, bueno, Onicon, Wind, Daintree Networks, BASSG, Airmaster, Connexx energy, Lobos/Yardi, Intellastar, and CBRE/ESI, Project Haystack continues its mission to bring the world of building integration to maximum efficiency and benefit.
Catching Up with Derek Cowburn from LumenCache. Jim Young introduced me to Derek Cowburn, and the concept of the DC micro grid, at the 2015 Realcomm|IBcon conference. Jim believes that Derek has a technology that will radically change how we power devices. When the ever prophetic, Jim Young speaks, we listen.Derek’s technology is in the mix of the green tech wave that is upon us.
DG LOGIK UPDATE! – Adobe Releases a Patch to Flash Player which Eliminates Vulnerability. Important UPDATE! – Adobe has now released a patch to flash player which eliminates this vulnerability. Please ensure that you have the most up to date Flash player which includes the patch for this vulnerability. We, at DGLogik, want to assure you that we remain committed to supporting DGLux2, and you can continue utilizing it without concern as Adobe has now patched this issue.
Sierra Monitor Networking Conversations — Video Volume 1: Understanding IIoT. This first Sierra Monitor Networking Conversation video is an extremely comprehensive and important overview of the economic impact and changes that the Industrial Internet of Things (IIot) is making within our industry. Join in on the conversation as Sierra Monitor’s CEO, Varun Nagaraj, rewards viewers with a remarkably down-to-earth insight into the most significant and economically vibrant aspects of IIoT and the opportunities these changes represent. The channels and business models for the OEMs, integrators, and facility/building managers are indeed changing. Are you?
ControlTrends Event Information Calendar Update. Put New Tools and Content on the Building America Solution Center To Work for You! Join us for a free webinar on July 22, 2015, presented by the U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) Building America program! Each month’s webinar will offer information about the latest advances in residential building technologies and practices, presented by Building America research team and national laboratory experts, and DOE Program Managers. Date/Time: July 22, 2015; 3:00–4:30 PM EST. Register now!
ControlTalk NOW week ending June 28, 2015 features products from BASSG, LLC, and ACI; DOE’s latest Crowdsourcing Initiative; interviews with Newcombe and Boyd’s Donny Walker, and SmartCore’s Will Winn; Mike Marston’s Inaugural BAS Pub Talk; Honeywell’s Niagara 4 Head Start Program and Momentum 2015; and the ControlTrends Event Information Calendar Update previewing a variety of HVAC and Building Automation information announcements and industry events. Help ControlTrends help you — by forwarding your organization’s up-coming events, training, webinars, and product releases — and we’ll gladly post them ControlTrends!
Alper Üzmezier, BASSG, LLC, Presents Cool New Thermostat from BAS.co. The ever inventive, Alper Üzmezier, BASSG, LLC, introduced us to a very cool thermostat at Haystack Connect. This is more than your average commercial thermostat. With a port on the back of the thermostat, you can control your Dali Lighting ballast directly from this thermostat, you can add remote I/O, and get data from the thermostat via modes on BACnet MS/TP.
ACI’S NEW A/CO2 SERIES: Room and Duct sensors only strengthen an already distinguished product lineup. The A/CO2 Series sensors are a cost-efficient means of monitoring carbon dioxide levels in industrial, school, and office-type environments. Output data can be used in conjunction with a Building Automation System or Demand Control Ventilation System.
DOE’s Crowdsourcing Initiative Seeks to Solve Buildings-Related Problems (Watch Video). Calling all building technology innovators! The Building Technologies Office is partnering with the successful SunShot Catalyst crowdsourcing initiative to identify and solve problems related to software development, data, and/or automation. Individuals who submit a problem statement will have a chance to win a $1,000 cash prize! Problem statements need to be submitted by July 15, 2015.
What Kind of Consulting Engineer Shows up at Realcomm|IBcon? What kind of consulting engineer shows up at shows like Realcomm|IBcon? Well, the enlighten ones, like Donny Walker do. It is refreshing to see more and more consulting engineers coming to conferences like Realcomm|IBcon and getting the 411 on the latest building automation controls technologies and solutions.
Inaugural Episode of BAS Control Pub Talk with Mad Mike Marston. We affectionately refer to EasyIO’s Mike Marston — as Mad Mike Marston, because of his effervescent scientific approach towards building solutions. In the first relaxing hours after an intensive 2-day conference show, ControlTrends adjourned with Mike, to a near-by microbrewery restaurant.
SmartCore’s Will Winn on Making Your Building Cyber Secure. I had a chance to catch up with Will Winn from SmartCore at the 2015 Realcomm|IBcon conference. Based in Charlotte, NC, SmartCore provides a five‐tiered framework that encompasses building management systems, physical security systems, digital media systems, network communications systems, and operational support solutions.
Get an Edge with Niagara 4 Head Start Program!As the excitement builds for the release of the next generation of the Niagara Framework®, now is the time to take advantage of its features and benefits before the official launch. This program introduces the Niagara 4 Head Start bundle for current Niagara AX TCP certified professionals.
Honeywell MOMENTUM 2015 — IT STARTS HERE! BUSINESS-BUILDING INSIGHTS — Join Honeywell Building Control Systems in our mission to drive technological innovation, sustainability and profitable growth. We’re advancing the industry with unprecedented speed and power, but it’s only with you that we can transform our momentum into true success.
ControlTrends Event Information Calendar Update: Use ControlTrends to help keep you on track and up-to-date with all of the HVAC and Building Automation information announcements and industry events. Help ControlTrends help by forwarding your organization’s up-coming events, training, webinars, and product releases — and we’ll gladly post them ControlTrends!
ControlTalk NOW week ending June 21, 2015 continues its coverage of the Realcomm|IBcon Event 2015, themed Real Change Right Now. The prophetic words of Bran Ferren still echo. Are our once purposeful sensibilities and instincts now strangling our futures? Probably! Driverless vehicles will change buildings, real estate, highways, pollution rates, and cityscapes. Watch the Realcomm general session highlights, and more insightful industry and solution interviews with John Petze, Dan Probst, and Marc Petock.
Conference Live: John Petze at 2015 Realcomm|IBcon. I had a chance to catch up with Sky Foundry’s John Petze at the 2015 Realcomm|IBcon conference in San Antonio. Key interview take-aways are that the state of building analytics has improved significantly since 2011. As John says, “It’s impossible to monitor data and system operations manually.” Successful deployment of analytics results in increased comfort, reduced costs, and energy savings.
Watch the 2015 Real Comm IBcon General Session!If you didn’t get to 2015 RealComm|IBcon in San Antonio — and you missed out on the incredible 2-day visionary voyage of Real Change – Right Now, this general session video captures, in small part, the enormous importance and depth of the event. Tridium’s Nino DiCosmo and John Sublett, and a host of industry experts spoke, and the dazzling Bran Ferren, a virtual Edison incarnate, delivered an amazing keynote presentation.
Contemporary Controls BAScontrol20 Firmware Version 3.1 Released.Contemporary Controls recently released firmware version 3.1 for the BAScontrol20 Sedona Open Unitary Controller. Built on the Sedona Framework, Contemporary Controls has developed more than 100 custom Sedona components which complement the standard Tridium-developed Sedona 1.2 components that reside within the device.
2015 Conference Live: Dan Probst of Jones Lang Lasalle Explains IntelliCommand.I had a chance to catch up with Dan Probst at the 2015 Realcomm|IBcon conference. Dan is the Chairman – Energy and Sustainability Services for Jones Lang LaSalle. Dan helps real estate companies reduce energy and operational costs by using their data analytics platform InelliCommand.
Fred Gordy’s Cyber Security Terms and Definitions – Part 2.The list below is a continuation of the series Cyber Security Terms and Definitions. Some of the terms you may have heard or probably will hear sometime in the near future. I am not sure how many of these I need to do past this point because it can get into some areas that you will probably not run into. If you have terms or topics you want to take a deeper dive into, let me know and either I will answer it or have some of the cyber security experts I know post response to it.
Global EasyIO Partner Event 2015: Paris, September 20-22! EasyIO is changing the way Building Automation is deployed, while significantly reducing installation costs. EasyIO’s global partner event will unveil awesome new products and features that will further enhance building management and energy solutions — for all building types.
Conference Live with Marc Petock — 2015 RealComm|IBcon. I got a chance to catch up with the ever-informative Marc Petcock, a long time building automation controls legend, at Conference Live, 2015 Realcomm|IBcon. Marc is VP Marketing at Lynxspring and a leading expert on building automation cyber security. Check out what Marc has to say.
Big Fun from Cochrane Supply. Scott Cochrane, one of the smartest guys in the building automation controls industry, shows us he is more than just another big brain in the BAS world. Scott, wrote and directed this film about the Cochrane Supply technical support process.
ControlTalk NOW for the week ending June 14, 2015, features 2015 Realcomm|IBcon and Conference Live video highlights and interviews with Delta Controls’ Una de Boer, SkyFoundry’s John Petze, Lynxspring’s Marc Petock, Hepta Controls’ Ted and Jason Houck, Intelligent Buildings’ Tom Shircliff and Rob Murchison. ControlTrends thanks its global community that helped ControlTrends surpass 1,000,000 views!
Fred Gordy’s Cyber Security Terms and Definition – Part 1. Just like in the controls industry, cybersecurity has its share of acronyms, terms, etc. Wading through these can be overwhelming. The list below is some of the terms you may have heard or probably will hear sometime in the near future. Rather than cram a bunch of terms/definitions into one post, I will post terms periodically in my blog.
IBCON Day 1 Highlights. Eric Stromquist and Young Gun, Rob Allen review the events of Day 1 and Pro-Con, where the Real Estate industry meets the Smart Buildings and the people who provide the equipment, devices, and solutions that are pushing the improvements around the globe. Congratulations to Jim Young and Howard Berger for another incredible and successful event. Stay tuned for more video coverage.
Jonathan Schultz at IBcon 2015. You meet the the coolest people at RealComm/IBcon. Case in point, I was sitting behind the fascinating Jonathan Schultz at the Cyber Security break out session. Jonathan,co-founder of Onyx Equities shares his thoughts on cyber threats to commercial real estate, and how he using data analytics to create a more profitable portfolio of properties. Be sure to check out Jonathan’s blog.
Catching Up with Paul Oswald CBRE/ESI. Paul Oswald and ESI develop innovative solutions that enable commercial property occupiers and owners to efficiently manage their building systems and remotely monitor and analyze energy usage in real time to identify and achieve potential savings. ESI is providing analytics-driven managed services on over 180 million sq. ft. of facilities at over 2,800 sites throughout the U.S. ESI was acquired April 14, 2015 by CBRE Group, Inc.
Conference Live: Tom Shircliff and Rob Murchison on Keeping Buildings Secure. Tom Shircliff and Rob Murchinson, from Intelligent Buildings, a smart buildings Consulting Company out of Charlotte, NC, share their vast industry experience consulting building owners in over 85 cities around the world. One of the big takeaways is for building owners to take the small steps first whether they are dealing with energy and operational efficiencies or cyber security.
Rob Allen Breaks Down ClockWorks. Rob Allen caught up with Nicholas Gayeski, from KGS Buildings. Nick showed Rob a very cool analtyics package called Clock Works. KGS Buildings offers market leading automated diagnostics and building performance management software and services to facility managers, engineers, and service providers.
RealComm/IBcon Day 2 Highlights from San Antonio, TX. Day 2’s General Session featured Bran Ferren. Few people understand more about nurturing ideas and waiting for the world to understand them than Bran Ferren. Bran is an American technologist, engineer, scientist, entrepreneur, and inventor. 7.5 billion people and 7 billion cell phones in use.
Ted and Jason Houck at Conference Live, 2015 Realcomm/IBcon. I got to catch up with two of most the prolific integrators in the business, Ted and Jason Houck from Hepta Systems. Hepta Control Systems is an award-winning leader in integrated building automation and security controls. They provide single driver seat solutions for energy efficiency, security, and tenant comfort systems.
Catching Up With Marc Petock at 2015 Realcomm/IBcon — Conference Live. Marc Petock, VP Marketing, Lynxspring, shares his thoughts on Cyber Security IoT at the 2015 Realcomm/IBcon Conference Live Show. Marc summarized the situation, “Cyber Security has grown from a little side conversation to something first and foremost on everybody’s mind.”
Catching Up With Delta Controls’ Una de Boer. One of the great things about the Realcomm/IBcon conference is getting to spend time with cool people. Una de Boer of Delta Controls is one of the brightest marketing professionals in building automation controls. Una fills us in on what is going on at Delta Controls and gets Keith La Rose to give us a product demo on the latest features in their CopperTree Analytics platform, which include Haystack tagging.
KMC Commander Awarded Best Intelligent Building Technology Innovation at Realcomm IBCon. San Antonio, Texas – June 11, 2015 KMC Controls, a leader in building automation systems, was awarded the Best Intelligent Building Technology Innovation Award at the 2015 Realcomm IBCon conference in San Antonio, Texas.
Welcome to ControlTalk NOW for the week ending May 31, 2015, that also includes some posts we delayed while away at Haystack Connect, which dominated the ControlTrends horizon with interviews with Brian Frank, Anno Scholten, Richard McElhinney, Marc Petock, Jason Briggs, Scott Meunch, Jason Houck, Ken Sinclair, Andy McGowan, and many more. Realcomm|IBcom is next week and there’s still time to register. The registration link for EasyIO’s Global Event in Paris is up as well. Awesome interviews with CGNA Vendors: Blue Ridge Technologies, Siemens, Honeywell Genesis, and Functional Devices. Featured updates from DGLogik, who teamed with QA Graphics, and Sierra Monitor’s EZ Gateway Webinar and Wastewater Application and much more!
Realcomm & IBcon General Session Program Announced — Register NOW!General Session Program Announced! June 8-10 meeting in San Antonio, TX. Be sure to take advantage of the special ControlTrends Rate: $895.00 — valid till 6/1/15. Use Promo Code: IB15CTL1. The impact that technology, automation and innovation have had on the commercial and corporate real estate industry over the last 3-5 years is unprecedented.
The 2014 ControlTrends Awards HighLight Reel. Watch this video to re-live the excitement of the 2014 ControlTrends Awards. Thanks again to all our sponsors for making this event possible. A special thanks to our emcee’s Marc Petock and Kimberly Brown. Plans for the 2015 ControlTrends Awards, in Orlando, FL, are already underway. Thanks, once again to all of our sponsors and the continued support and participation from our global ControlTrends Community.
CGNA Vendor Showcase: Blue Ridge Technologies. Blue Ridge technologies is a great example of the quality vendors that are represented in the group. As you can see in this video, Bill and his team provide a very powerful and easy to use lighting solutions. Blue Ridge Technologies has developed an approach called Unified Lighting Control.
Siemens has a winner with the RDY2000 Thermostat. ControlTrends caught up with Siemens at the 2015 CGNA Vendor Showcase. They introduced us to several cool new products. One of the ones we like a lot is the RDY2000 light commercial thermostat.The RDY2000 thermostat that has big time features for small business solutions.
Contemporary Controls’ BASintegratorJ2: Niagara AX Integration via Haystack. May 2015 — The BASintegratorJ2 uses a subset of J2innovations’s FIN stack to create a powerful, yet flexible intelligent gateway that integrates Modbus and BACnet points up to Project Haystack clients. Built on Contemporary Controls’ open automation Linux platform, the BASintegratorJ2 can discover points and apply Haystack tags to serve up to building supervisors such as Niagara’s AX Supervisor.
Sierra Monitor’s Webinar: Introduction to the EZ Gateway. Register today for an educational webinar introducing our new EZ Gateway! Integrating Modbus devices into BACnet networks is a common field application. Completing this integration in an efficient, reliable, and repeatable fashion is a requirement in today’s environment. Our expert instructor, Richard Theron, will discuss how simple it is to connect Modbus devices to BACnet systems with the EZ Gateway and how to lower commissioning time and costs with features such as EZ Profiles and DeviceProxy.
CGNA 2015 Vendor Show Case: Honeywell Genesis Cable. All great control systems need the right cable and wire. ControlTrends caught up with Randy Lee, VP Sales, Electrical & HVAC Division and Honeywell Genesis Series Cable, at the 2015 CGNA Vendor Showcase and got the 411 on Honeywell’s new merchandising efforts, which include adding Contractor Pro Point rewards, new point of sale displays, and the new wire legend — marked on every reel, to know exactly how much more wire is left in the box.
Haystack Connect 2015: Open Source Community Resumes Plenary Session, Colorado Springs, CO.The majestic snow covered Pikes Peak contrasted by the wondrous earthy red rock formations of the Garden of the Gods provided a suitably inspiring setting for Haystack Connect as it resumed its mission to adroitly usher in the world of self-defining data — in a collaborative way that no single-minded entity could possibly achieve. Marc Petock and three special guests, Brian Frank, Anno Scholten, and Richard McElhinney join ControlTrends for a pre-reception discussion of why some 240 of the top global automation and IoT professionals are attending the second Haystack Connect meeting.
2015 Haystack Connect Day One — General Session, Opening Comments, and Keynote Speakers. Marc Petock and John Petze hit the stage running and kicked off the 2015 Haystack Connect with a grateful thanks to the Project Haystack Sponsors and its 900 Haystack community members, 245 of which, were present at the General Session. Project Haystack grown by 45% over the last two years. Special recognition was given to Lynxspring, Contemporary Controls, KMC’s Conquest, J2 Innovations, BASSG, and Plant Pro/Air Masters for their efforts in developing Haystack applications.
“Off to a Great Start!” Project Haystack’s Executive Director John Petze Reports. Executive Director, John Petze, regaled ControlTrends with the exciting news that 2015 Haystack Connect is off to a great start: New people, new vendors, more consultants, and the spirit of collaboration that includes the likes of Siemens, have all helped Project Haystack emerge as the leading initiative that helps people, at all levels, get more value from their systems. In order to use advanced analytic techniques, enhanced reporting, and comprehensive energy analysis, you must go through the process of tagging data.
2015 Haystack Connect — Day 2 Highlights — Interoperable Blues Band Rocks the House! Day Two of 2015 Haystack Connect began with a hoax-busting integration experience, as Jason Briggs and Scott Muench configured a Haystack project involving 10 participating vendors, employing a uniquely entertaining and unprecedented live demonstration of the potency and inevitability of Haystack tagging (Video to follow). Adoption of Haystack’s naming conventions and taxonomies — will make it more cost effective to analyze, visualize, and derive value from our operational data, period.
New Product Review: Functional Devices BACnet Network Relay. ControlTrends had a chance to catch up with Kelly Holmes from Functional Devices at the 2015 CGNA Vendor Showcase. Kelly showed us a cool new product from Functional Devices, the RIBTW24B-BCAO enclosed BACnet® MS/TP Network Relay Device. Functional Devices designs products that make the contractors life easier. Competitively priced and easy to use the RIBTW24B-BCAD is no exception.
Haystack Connect from a Systems Integrator’s Perspective. Project Haystack is an open source initiative to streamline working with data from the Internet of Things. We standardize semantic data models and web services with the goal of making it easier to unlock value from the vast quantity of data being generated by the smart devices that permeate our homes, buildings, factories, and cities. Applications include automation, control, energy, HVAC, lighting, and other environmental systems. To find out why it is so important to today’s master systems integrators we tracked down one of the smartest building automation controls systems integrators on the planet, Jason Houck, from Hepta Systems. See what Jason had to say.
EasyIO Global Event — Sponsors and Speakers Welcome. Belimo Goes Gold! EasyIO’s first global partner event in Madrid, Spain was a gathering of EasyIO success stories from around the world. The deep networking between manufacturers and vendors, specifying engineers, 3rd party solution providers, systems integrators, and a rather new entity to the scene — solution entrepreneurs with accomplished technical skills and the dashboard/analytic/graphic tools to meet every application, large and small, was a unique integration meld.
DGLogik Updates: May 27th-29th Training & DGLogik Partnership with QA Graphics.May 27th-29th in Oakland: DGLogik, Inc. will be hosting DGLux5 Application Development Training course at our headquarters in Oakland. The training course takes place from Wednesday, May 27th through Friday, May 29th. Take advantage of progressing your rapid development skills through our collaborative training exercises.
2015 Haystack Connect Highlight: Ken Sinclair Interviews Jack McGowan. ControlTrends’ good friend Ken Sinclair, of Automated Buildings, interviews Jack McGowan, of The McGowan Group, immediately after Jack’s Keynote presentation at Haystack Connect’s Day 2 General Session. This candid video captures the two long-time friends and industry titans, discussing Jack’s sixth book, published by Fairmont Press and available August 1, 2015. The book entitled “Energy & Analytics, Big Data, and Building Technology Integration.”
Christopher Naismith Weighs in at 2015 Haystack Connect. What is the fastest way to teach your organization,and have your people stay smarter than your competition? To find out we turned to our friend,Ken Sinclair, from automated buildings.com. Ken introduces us to Christopher Naismith. Chris, is the training manager at SES Consulting. Ken and Chris discuss the concept of “self learning cultures.” Fascinating!
Contemporary Controls’ George Thomas at 2015 Haystack Connect. ControlTrends caught up with Contemporary Control’s George Thomas at the 2015 Haystack Connect Vendor Show. George shares his insights into Haystack Connect — and, how several of the Contemporary Controls products integrate very nicely with Haystack.
KMC Representatives Attend Dell Annual Analyst Conference. KMC Controls, a leader in building automation systems, today announced its participation in the Dell Annual Analyst Conference in Austin, Texas from May 27th through May 29th. The Dell team invited KMC’s Richard Newberry and Erich Kreuter as strategic envoys to the high-profile event. Dell and KMC are firmly committed to bringing the power of the Internet of Things to building automation by enabling secure, timely access and control of building systems and data to building owners and property managers.
Jason Briggs on The Power of Haystack Tags. ControlTrends caught up with Jason Briggs from J2 Innovations at the 2015 Haystack Connect Conference. Jason talks about the power of Haystack and how it is changing the way we are able to get and use data in Smart Buildings. Jason founded J2 Innovations in 2009, and has passionately provided the vision and direction for the emerging software company. Jason is now focused on empowering J2’s customers to have similar success, by creating powerful engineering tools, visualization, and software technology.
Sierra Monitor’s Featured Application: Wastewater Treatment. Sierra Monitor knows the Wastewater application inside and out. Consider using Sierra Monitor’s expertise and products for your next wastewater project — instrumenting the wastewater plant with one of the most comprehensive gas detection, alarming,and mitigation systems available. Although detecting hazardous gases within a wastewater treatment facility is important, integrating gas detection and alarm systems with SCADA’s, PLC’s, or BMS’s is equally as important.
Brian Frank Explains How Haystack Works. Who better than Brian Frank to address the crowd and explain how Haystack works? Project Haystack seeks to make this a machine to machine effort using self-describing data that would eliminate significant costs. Project Haystack: It’s time to make the use of self-describing data — the specified norm. Well done Brian!
The majestic snow covered Pikes Peak contrasted by the wondrous earthy red rock formations of the Garden of the Gods provided a suitably inspiring setting for Haystack Connect as it resumed its mission to adroitly usher in the world of self-defining data — in a collaborative way that no single-minded entity could possibly achieve. Marc Petock and three special guests, Brian Frank, Anno Scholten, and Richard McElhinney join ControlTrends for a pre-reception discussion of why some 240 of the top global automation and IoT professionals are attending the second Haystack Connect meeting, and what the continued growth and success of Project Haystack represents for the future of building data.
More about the guests:
Bryan Frank, founder and president of SkyFoundry, a software company specializing in the storage, analysis, and visualization of data from the Internet of Things. SkyFoundry’s software is used across the world in thousands of sites to analyze and optimize M2M systems including energy, HVAC, and lighting.
Anno Shelton, C.E.M., C.D.S.M. and President of CONNEXX Energy. Anno has spent the last 25 years driving innovation in building control systems and smart grid technologies where he has developed leading edge, smart grid energy products for the commercial building markets. Anno is a widely recognized industry expert and sought after speaker at building automation and smart grid conferences and holds a US Patent on a distributed-architecture building controller.
Richard McElhinney, Chief Software Architect at Airmaster Australia and Conserve it. Richard is a founding member of the Project Haystack 501C corporation and a member of the board of directors. As an early contributor to project-haystack.org Richard was the author of the first Niagara AX semantic modelling implementation which has served as the basis for the current NHaystack implementation.
Welcome to ControlTalk NOW for the week ending May 10, 2015. Fred Gordy asks if you’re ready to Pre-Act versus React and shares an incredible experience and insight into cybersecurity’s hat society; Marc Petock and Lynxspring posts: NiagaraAX 3.8.38.1 software updates and NTCP Training Update and Niagara 4 Bridge Course Updates, and Cybersecurity and the Boardroom; Sierra Monitor’s Varun Nagaraj offers Industrial Internet of Things insight and Mike Bonner unboxes and demos Sierra Monitor’s BTL Certified BACnet Fieldserver Router; Belimo valve test lab video tour; Honeywell SmartLine training; Tridium offers webinars on JACE® 8000 and Niagara 4 Licensing; and Carl Johnsen reflects on his 42 year career with Honeywell.
Lynxspring Technical Bulletin: NiagaraAX v3.8.38.1 Module Update. We want to advise you that Tridium has released a software patch for various NiagaraAX 3.8.38.1 modules. Upgrading these modules will correct the issues described in the Product Update Notification recently published for this update. If you are currently using version 3.8.38.1, please read the Product Update Notification and download the upgraded modules by clicking here and extract the files to a known location.
Sierra Monitor’s Varun Nagaraj — IIoT: The Search for Equitable Business Models. In this Sierra Monitor post (first of many), Varun Nagaraj, Sierra Monitor’s President and CEO shares his wealth of experience and industry knowledge positioned as a leader of a premiere global source of electronic communications, safety and environmental instrumentation, network products, and technical solutions. Over the last few years, many of us in the controls industry have been using the phrase “Industrial Internet of Things” or IIoT to describe the evolution of control networking in industrial environments.
Why Belimo Gets it Right: Watch the Belimo Valve Test Lab Tour. Belimo’s engineering prowess and innovation set the global standards in comfort, energy efficiency, and safety solutions. This video, previewing the Belimo Valve Test Lab, gives insight as to how such unparalleled standards are set and maintained. Belimo’s performance testing verifies that our products comply with industry and trade association specifications, including ANSI, EN, IEC, ISA, MSS, and VDI/VDE. Our testing is performed with ISO 9000 traceability.
Level and Flow Training Part 1. Learn about Industrial and Commercial Level and Flow Control metering and control with this multi-episode ControlTrends’ live training course, featuring Honeywell Marketing Manager, Tom Brands. Learn about Honeywell’s SmartLine Level Transmitter Applications and the why’s, how’s, and different ways to measure levels and become a better adviser to your customers. SmartLine Level Transmitter uses guided wave radar (GWR) technology and can measure the level of a wide range of liquid products.
Fred Gordy Asks– Are You Ready to React or Pre-Act? Critical Information Contained Within! Cyber Evangelist and Cyber Security Advocate Fred Gordy delivers another critical collection of cyber security and cyber terrorism information — as it pertains the building management systems’ world. If you don’t have a policy or internal guidance yet, print this article out and hang it on the break room refrigerator, and use it as a starting kit/tool at your next board meeting, whatever it takes to get yourself and your organization Pre-Acting!
Tridium — Discover the Possibilities: JACE® 8000 and Niagara 4 Licensing. Join us for our next TridiumTalk highlighting the Niagara Framework® With nearly half a million instances worldwide, Niagara is quickly becoming the operating system of the Internet of Things. And with the anticipated release of Niagara 4 and the JACE 8000 controller, the opportunity to achieve operational excellence is even greater than before.
ControlTalk NOW guest Fred Gordy answers questions about Cybersecurity and explains the Hat-referencing jargon used with the Cybersecurity world. Basically, white hat = good guys, black hat = bad guys, grey hats = opportunists, and red hat = good guys that challenges your system like a black hat, and identify your possible vulnerabilities. Fred Gordy is anxious to assist system integrators and facility managers with Cybersecurity issues. Please email any questions that you might have for Fred at controltrends@gmail.com.
Carl Johnsen, and His Amazing 42 Year Career with Honeywell — A Tribute. ControlTrends had a chance to spend some time with one of the great controls people in the HVAC and Building Automation Controls Industry. Carl Johnsen’s career with Honeywell spans 42 years, and it was an absolute delight to interview Carl at the 2015 AHR show in Chicago. From his early days selling and supporting pneumatic controls, to the advent of DDC controls, on to the fully integrated building automation control systems of today, Carl Johnsen met the challenges of changing technology with determined optimism and success.
Unboxing the Sierra Monitor Dual Port BACnet Router. We had the privilege to review Sierra Monitor’s BTL Certified BACnet Router – the protocol router spearheading the theme of ease-of-use. We’re sure system integrators love saving time and costs, right? Sierra Monitor introduced this great product back in January, and since then, it has gained a lot of traction in the building automation industry. It really is easy to use, with great features like DeviceFind, their unique BACnet device discovery feature, and two RS-485 ports for connecting up to 64 devices without the use of additional line drivers.
Honeywell’s Security Controller Exchange Program. The SEC-H-201/U WEBs-AX Security controller was introduced in 2007. At the time, this platform was a good product on which to deliver the original stand-alone Web-Based security application. However, over time the security application has grown in both features and complexity and the SEC-H-201/U is no longer suitable to run the latest WEBs-AX Enterprise Security application. An exchange program has been created to allow customers that purchased an SEC-H-201/U security controller the opportunity to exchange them for an SEC-H-602 security controller at a reduced price vs. purchasing a new SEC-H-602 security controller.
Marc Petock’s “Cybersecurity and the Board Room.” Cybersecurity has taken a pole position at ControlTrends and we are grateful to the important content and contributions being provided by HVAC and BAS Cybersecurity professionals. Our industry has a long, long way to go to meet the increasing challenges of Cybersecurity, but we’re getting on track with the guidance we receive from these generous professionals sharing their expertise. Marc Petock’s post contains two very important links that bring some of the world of Cybersecurity to a needy industry’s doorstep, and terms like “Duty of Care” and a CEO’s “Tone at the Top” — as well as equations like Risk = Threat X Vulnerability X Impact, and Risk = Probability X Impact, will become increasing familiar and used in our industry — in the near future.
Lynxspring Go Further: Important NTCP Training Update, Niagara 4 Bridge Course Update. Training and knowledge exchange is very important at Lynxspring. We are committed to making each of you as effective as possible with our technologies and products so we can enable you to achieve the very best technical knowledge and expertise you can. With this in mind, I would like to remind you of our upcoming scheduled NTCP Niagara AX Technical Certification Classes (see schedule below). The goal of this 5-day Niagara AX Certification Technical Training course is to educate students to a basic level of technical expertise necessary to effectively and efficiently design, engineer, and program projects using the NiagaraAX Framework.
Welcome to ControlTalk NOW week ending May 3, 2015. Our news begins with the Realcomm | IBcon June 8-10 meeting in San Antonio, TX. Be sure to take advantage of the special ControlTrends Rate: $895.00 — that is valid till 6/1/15. Use Promo Code: IB15CTL1. Highlight coverage of the 2014 ControlTrends Awards winners concludes with our final three recipients: EasyIO’s Lim Hoon Chiat, Tridium’s Niagara AX, and KMC’s SimplyVAV. Watch as EasyIO’s Mike Marston takes the FG-32 controller to the next level. And, make sure to watch Vlad Choulopka’s feature 2014 ControlTrends Awards video “Heroes, Awards, and Elegance,” which portrays hundreds of the awesome people that attended our awards event in Chicago and make our HVAC and Building Automation industries so great.
Get Ready ror IBcon and RealComm June 8-10, 2015 in San Antonio, TX. If you are a systems integrator, this is a can’t miss event. Where else can you learn about current technologies and spend time with Real Estate owners and engineers? Use special PROMO Code Pkg: IB15-SA-General Online Group Registration-Integrator or Consultant- ControlTrends Rate: $895.00, Valid Until: 6/1/15, Promo Code: IB15CTL1. Click here to register today!
Our first guest is the Smart Connected Building prophet Jim Young, the co‐founder of Realcomm Conference Group which produces Realcomm, IBcon, and CoRE Tech, the world’s leading conferences on technology, automated business solutions, intelligent buildings, and energy efficiency for the commercial and corporate real estate industry. Jim talks about the importance and need to attend the June 8-10 Realcomm|IBcon conference in San Antonio, TX. Jim’s interview takes us into the future, as always — with an amazing sense of clarity and accuracy.
2014 ControlTrends Award Best Technical Support Person of the Year — Small Manufacturer. Congratulations to Lim Hoon Chiat from EasyIO — one of the most knowledgeable and affable people in the HVAC business! It was no surprise that Lim won. Those of us in the ControlTrends Community the world over, know that Lim is one of the industry’s most accomplished masters of technology (patents to his credit) and is the overseer of EasyIO’s ambitious product road map. Well done, Lim!
Rob Allen’s 7 Minutes in Control: Breaking Down KMC’s Connect Lite. This changes everything!! Rob Allen catches up with Mitch Kehler of KMC to talk about KMC’s new Connect Lite solution. Ever thought it would be cool to use NFC (Near Field Communication) to address and assign your BACnet controller even if it’s unpowered and still in the box? In this video Mitch shows you how.
KMC’s SimplyVAV Wins 2014 ControlTrends VAV Controller of The Year.The SimplyVAV series of controllers are an easy and unique approach to operating a wide variety of VAV terminal units. The integrated actuators, internal airflow sensors, and wide variety of application programs make these BACnet Application Specific controllers ideal for either new or retrofit installations.
Niagara AX Wins 2014 ControlTrends Award. The Niagara Framework is a universal software infrastructure that allows companies to easily build custom, Web-enabled applications for accessing, automating and controlling “smart” devices in real-time over the Internet. This open, Java-based framework unifies diverse systems and devices – regardless of manufacturer, communication standard or software – into an interoperable system creating a platform for value-added application development. Built on Internet standards, Niagara makes it possible for anyone, from anywhere around the world, to control their smart devices from a standard Web browser.
Our second guest is AutomatedBuilding’s owner and editor Ken Sinclair, whose May theme is Becoming an Autodidactic Asset — the process of coming to be a self-taught person who is a valuable thing. “I started several months ago with the realization that our greatest assets as an industry are our people, this lead me to the conclusion that we needed to grow our industry by dragging young IoT savvy folks across the skills gap. During this journey, I discovered that our lead industry assets badly need to become autodidactic, bridging their skills gap about IoT and its savvy folks.” Don’t miss May’s AutomatedBuildings, another valuable collection of industry insight and information from the leading minds of our industry.
EasyIO Updates from Mike Marston: CPT Project Management and New FG CPT Backup/Restore Features. Mike Marston and the team at EasyIO keep the press on the next generation plant controller and share their progress with first release APP and an instructional video. Try this in your FG32 with Firmware8 .38. It flies more nicely in the FG32+, which are available now with CE, FCC and UL approvals. This is a draft of our standard APPs preparation (the first one). Next we will do a small chiller sequence APP. Please note, this APP works much faster in the FG32+.
Vlad Choulopka’s amazing and elegant video documentary of the heroes and champions of our industry. This feature 2014 ControlTrends Awards video — “Heroes, Awards, and Elegance,” portrays hundreds of the awesome people that attended the awards show in Chicago and make our HVAC and Building Automation industries so great.
Welcome to ControlTalk NOW week ending April 26, 2015. The CGNA Synergy Meeting in Savannah and Fred Gordy’s expert insight into the world of Cyber Security highlight this week’s ControlTrends news. Coverage of 2014 ControlTrends Awards winners continues with Tridium’s Nino DiCosmo and Intelligent Building’s Tom Schirciff and Bob Murchison receiving their trophies; Contemporary Controls’ 40th anniversary recognizes U.K.’s George Turnbull’s career; and LONDON REAL’s Brian Rose interviews Marc Goodman, who reviews his best-selling book Future Crimes.
CGNA’s 2015 Synergy Industry Elite Pursuing Excellence Conference in Atlanta. Mike Sackett, Jim Hayman and the CGNA team mix 44 of the elite distributors with 57 preferred vendors, add a well-run conference featuring keynote speakers Joe Shaheen and David Beinhacker, shake well for 2 1/2 days with round table discussions and Vendoropoly, and you have an amazing one-of-a-kind event. Well done CGNA!
Nino DiCosmo Wins 2014 ControlTrends Executive of the Year — Large Manufacturer. The ControlTrends Community recognized Nino DiCosmo for his successful leadership of Tridium and Niagara Framework, the leading open framework for innovation, used by businesses the world over. From commercial buildings to data centers to industrial operations to smart cities, Tridium’s pioneering products and services are changing the way machines communicate with each other — and with you. Congratulations Nino, once again.
The Prestigious 2014 Petock Award Goes to Intelligent Buildings’ Tom Shircliff and Bob Murchison. Chicago, January 26, 2015, Intelligent Buildings, LLC, a smart real estate advisory services company was honored when its co-founders, Tom Shircliff and Rob Murchison received the prestigious “Petock Award” for passion and service to the industry. The award was presented to Shircliff and Murchison at the AHR conference during the Controls Trends Awards ceremony that is held each year to recognize industry achievements. The AHR conference saw record attendance of over 62,000 attendees from 140 countries and boasted 11 acres of exhibits.
Contemporary Controls Archives: Interview with George Turnbull, a Visionary in the Controls Industry. April 2015 — As many of you know, 2015 marks Contemporary Controls’ 40th year in business. Because of our anniversary, we’ve been reviewing our archives and are showcasing some of the exceptional interviews we have conducted with industry experts. This month, our focus in on an interview we did in this 2001 with George Turnbull, a visionary in the controls industry. George Turnbull is adept in the design and development of control systems, specifically process control. He joined the Eurotherm Group in 1966 as a research and development engineer before establishing Turnbull Control Systems (TCS) as a subsidiary of Eurotherm in 1974.
Fred Gordy is rapidly emerging as the specialized cyber security expert to assist the BMS, BAS, and FMS professionals in dealing with the growing threat facing these industries. Studies show that 2.2 million SCADA and BACnet controllers are vulnerable to malicious cyber hacking. Fred Gordy’s extensive background in IT, hands on experience with Building Controls Systems and unique relationship with the cybersecurity’s elite White Hats — fuel Fred’s passionate efforts to educate our industry and provide specialized guidance and recommended safeguards to protect your BAS, BMS, and FMS systems. Do not miss Fred’s bi-monthly contributions to ControlTrends.
LONDON REAL’s Brian Rose Interviews Marc Goodman – Future Crimes. Considering our hottest ControlTrends theme has been Cyber Security, we believe this eye and ear-opening interview needed re-purposed immediately — because it explains the need to change to our cognitive bias. We are not the customer, we are the product — watch this interview! Published April 26, 2015 by Brian Rose (Source: LONDON REAL). Marc Goodman is a thinker, writer and global strategist exploring what criminality and terrorism could look like in the close future.
Welcome to ControlTalk NOW week ending April 19, 2015. Nino DiCosmo previews Tridium’s Open 4 Innovation; Functional Devices releases new product series; Contemporary Controls and SkyFoundry receive their trophies on center stage at the 2014 ControlTrends Awards; Stromquist Company streams Honeywell Radar Level training: CBRE Group, Inc. acquires Environmental Systems, Inc, and Johnson Controls’ Global WorkPlace Solutions (GWS) business (HUGE!); and Fred Gordy, technology evangelist for the McKenney’s Enterprise Intelligence Group posts another seminal piece on Cyber Threats and Cyber Security.
Building a Great Experience with Niagara 4! OPEN 4 INNOVATION. We’re just a week away from the Niagara Forum!Tridium has been hard at work on Niagara 4 and is excited to share their progress with the Niagara community, so they sat down with president Nino DiCosmo to give us a sneak peek at what’s to come ahead of the Forum. With nearly half a million instances across the globe, the Niagara Framework is harnessing the power of the Internet of Things for buildings, data centers, manufacturing, smart cities and more.
Functional Devices Announces Improvements to their Air Handling Unit Fan Safety Alarm Circuits. Choose either the six (RIBMNLB-6NO), four (RIBMNLB-4NO), or two (RIBMNLB-2NO) alarm circuits, which are simply devices that combine a common relay-logic function into a small, easy-to-install, and less expensive form. A master relay will open if any one of the normally-closed (N/C) inputs open. LED status of all inputs, the master relay, and power input is provided. Bypass of unused inputs is also provided. The RIBMNLB series is provided with mounting track for mounting in user-provided electrical enclosures.
Honeywell Radar Level Control: Live Steam Training. Honeywell’s SmartLine® Guided Radar Level Meters use TDR (Time Delay Reflectometry) to measure distance, level, interface, volume and mass. Higher signal dynamics and a sharper pulse than conventional TDR devices ensure better performance.
CBRE Group, Inc. Acquires Environmental Systems, Inc. Los Angeles, April 14, 2015 – CBRE Group, Inc. (NYSE:CBG) today announced that it has acquired Environmental Systems, Inc. (ESI), a leading systems integrator and provider of energy management services in the United States. ESI develops innovative solutions that enable commercial property occupiers and owners to efficiently manage their building systems and remotely monitor and analyze energy usage in real time to identify and achieve potential savings.
2014 ControlTrends Awards Highlight: The Peripheral Product of the Year. Congratulations to George Thomas and the team at Contemporary Controls for winning the Peripheral Product of the Year Award at the 2014 ControlTrends Awards. Contemporary Controls is your ideal automation partner for applying ARCNET®, BACnet®, Controller Area Network, Ethernet, Modbus®, Niagara Framework®, and Sedona Framework technologies to your automation project. With over 35 years of experience in electronics design, development and manufacturing of networking and control products.
CBRE to purchase Johnson Controls’ Global WorkPlace Solutions Business for $1.475 Billion. MILWAUKEE – [March 31, 2015] – Johnson Controls, Inc. (NYSE: JCI) announced today it has reached a definitive agreement for the sale of its Global WorkPlace Solutions (GWS) business to CBRE Group, Inc., for $1.475 billion. The company announced its intentions to divest the GWS business in September 2014 as part of its strategy to invest in product businesses that are core to its multi-industrial portfolio and growth objectives. The agreement provides Johnson Controls with new channels for its offerings and when fully operational is expected to generate up to $500 million of annual incremental revenue for the Johnson Controls Building Efficiency business.
System Integrators, Decide What is Your Liability Appetite. Cyber threats are ever increasing and along with it the government and private sectors are scrambling to create definitions of responsibility, regulations, and compliance. The impact to your controls business could be devastating if you are not prepared and do not understand the implications. Ignorance is no longer a defense.
2014 ControlTrends Awards HighLight: Building Analytics Software of the Year. Congratulations to John Petze and the team at Skyfoundry for winning the 2014 ControlTrends Awards Building Analytics Software of the Year. SkyFoundry’s SkySpark® Analytics Software automatically analyzes building, energy and equipment data to identify issues, faults and opportunities for improved performance and operational savings. SkySpark helps facility owners and operators find what matters in the vast amount of data produced by today’s smart systems.
Welcome to ControlTalk NOW for week ending April 12, 2015. Our special guest this week is Varun Nagaraj, President and CEO of Sierra Monitor Corporation, providers of FieldServer protocol gateways and Sentry IT fire and gas solutions. Firstly, a review of the upcoming conferences: Niagara’s Open 4 Innovation , CGNA Synergy Conference, and Haystack Connect 2015; See industry superstars on the Red Carpet and more 2014 ControlTrends Award Winners: Laura Kevitt, DG Logik, and EasyIO’s Gordon Chan; Mike Marston and Rob Allen review the FG32+; and don’t miss Tim Chamblee’s training on KMC’s CSC 3011.
FieldServer Helps Levi’s Stadium Meet Environmental Expectations and Achieve LEED Gold Certification. Sierra Monitor Corporation took great pride knowing that many of Levi’s Stadium’s enormous, yet intricate water systems were integrated to the BAS using their FieldServer protocol gateways (FieldServer Case Study — Levi’s Stadium, Santa Clara, CA).
Rob Allen’s 7 Minutes in Control: EasyIO’s Mike Marston. Rob Allen welcomes Mike Marston from EASYIO to the show and asks Mike some compelling questions. In addition to discussing the new Beast, the FG32 Plus, and new data base features and functions, Rob asks Mike the big one, When will EasyIO be sold ? Mike’s answer will surprise you.
Honeywell’s Laura Kevitt Wins 2014 ControlTrends PID Award! The ControlTrends Passion, Integrity, and Dedication (PID) Award is one of the most competitive and prestigious award categories. Standing in the company of an incredible cast of deserving industry stalwarts, Laura Kevitt prevailed and set yet another important milestone — becoming the first woman to win a ControlTrends Award. On behalf of the ControlTrends Community, we congratulate and thank Laura once again.
DGLogik Wins Big at the 2014 ControlTrends Awards! DGLogik wins the 2014 ControlTrends Awards 3rd Party Visualization Software of the Year! DGLogik’s DGLux5 visualization tool — took the honors again. DGLux5’s winning visualization product enables the unification of data systems and multiple data providers into a singular interface adding comprehensive functionalities along with its amazing data visualization tool. Congratulations again, to the team at DGLogik!
Tim’s Tech Tip: Setting Up a Kreuter “Stop Sign” VAV Controller. In this extensive training video, Stromquist & Company’s, Tim Chamblee teaches you step-by-step how to control a VAV box with the Kreuter pneumatic VAV controller. There are hundreds of thousands of the KMC CSC 3011 series of pneumatic VAV controllers. Thanks to Tim, we know how to set them up, calibrate, and troubleshoot these pneumatic VAV controllers.
EasyIO’s Gordon Chan Wins 2014 ControlTrends Executive of the Year Small Manufacturer. Congratulations to Gordon Chan. EasyIO’s chief won Executive of The Year Small Manufacturer. Gordon was awarded this honor by the world-wide ControlTrends voting community. EasyIO is a company that has been and continues to be on the move in building automation controls. The Easy IO Beast from the East won the Plant Controller of the Year and say building automation controls systems integrators around the world use these powerful controllers.
On The Red Carpet at the 2014 ControlTrends Awards. The superstars of the HVAC and Building Automation Controls Industry were out in full force at the 2014 ControlTrends Awards. It is impossible to do justice to all the great people in our industry. Hopefully, this video captures a little bit of the excitement of this year’s Event. A special Thanks to all our Sponsors, who make the ControlTrends Awards possible.
Welcome to ControlTalk NOW: The Smart Building Podcast/Videocast for the week ending March 29, 2015. Our HVAC news of the week features a JCI highlight reel; Rob Allen’s coverage of Johnson Controls’2015 ABCS & Distributor Conference with four insightful video interviews; Gary Weber’s receipt of the 2014 ControlTrends Awards Energy Product of the Year; Bill Jones’ Liquid Level Tech Tip; 2015 Project Haystack’s announcement of the Conference Key Note Speakers; and Andy McMillan’s sagacious advice given at the AHR 2015 Connection Community Collaboratory — still echoes.
Johnson Controls Business Conference Update: New Airflow Products. Rob Allen and Nancy Yannuzzi discuss the requirements for monitoring the air flow into and within a building, which have increased over the years with the IAQ requirements for minimum ventilation of occupied spaces. There are two methods by which air flow is measured within a duct: Differential Pressure, which has been available since the days of pneumatic control, and Thermal Dispersion, which has been available about 10 years. Watch Rob’s video to learn more.
Johnson Controls Business Conference Update: The New Digital Thermostats. Rob Allen’s next update comes from the Johnson Controls Product show. Terry Pierson gives Rob the 411 on Johnson Controls’ New Digital Touch Screen Light Commercial and Residential thermostats, the new TEC 3000, the new features on the EM 4000 Energy meters, and the WT-4000 wireless pneumatic thermostats.
Rob Allen catches up with Heather Ausmus at the 2015 Johnson Control Business Conference and gets the latest on the Johnson Controls Connected Community website. As you will see, this is quite a tool and a wealth of information, and a place to connect, collaborate, and share with building efficiency professionals from around the world.
Project Haystack Announces Keynote Speakers for Haystack Connect 2015 Conference. Dennis Lottero of Vodafone, Jack McGowan of The McGowan Group, and Peter Kelly Detwiler of NorthBridge Energy Partners, have been announced as the Keynote Speakers for the second bi-annual Haystack Connect Conference 2015, to be held May 18-20, 2015, at the Cheyenne Mountain Resort in Colorado Springs. Project Haystack is a collaborative community of leading technology suppliers and systems integrators developing common standards to streamline the interchange of data.
Johnson Controls Business Conference Update: Meet the ABCS Channel Managers. Rob Allen, our man in the field, meets the new Johnson Controls ABCS Channel Managers. Rob introduces us to Robert Harland, Dan Preston (ABCS Channel Sales Manager) and King Thomas (ABCS Channel Director, NA). Together, they discuss the recent reorganization of the ABCS channel and how they plan to apply “Privilege of Focus” to their customers in the different regions. Rob and JCI’s leadership team also discuss some of the other ideas from the business track presented at the Conference.
Bill Jones Tech Tips: Making Liquid Level Gauges Work. Everything you need to know about liquid level gauges but were afraid to ask. Liquid level gauges, like the ones made by Conbraco, are in every equipment room. As simple as they might seem, if you have ever had to replace one, they can be tricky. Not to worry, Stromquist & Company’s, Bill Jones, an expert on Conbraco products, takes the mystery out of liquid level gauges in this informative tech tip. Thank You Mr. Jones!
Belimo Energy Valve Wins Energy Saving Product of the Year. Congratulations to Belimo! The Belimo Energy Valve was chosen by the world-wide ControlTrends Community as the winner of the coveted Energy Savings Product of the Year. Belimo’s Gary Weber accepted the award at the 2014 ControlTrends Awards event in Chicago.
Johnson Controls Highlight Reel. In honor of the Johnson Controls 2015 ABCS Business Conference held earlier this week in Orlando, FL, ControlTrends put together a highlight reel of a few of Johnson Controls’ industry and ControlTrends Awards and accomplishments. Johnson Controls Highlight Reel from Eric Stromquist on Vimeo.
How to Navigate Change in the Building Automation Controls Industry. Special thanks to Ken Sinclair, from Automated Buildings, for having the vision to put together the Connection Community Collaboratory. We had the privilege of filming the last two collaboratories. This video epitomizes the intent of the collaboratory as Andy McMillan, the president of BACnet International, gives some priceless advice to one of the attendees.
ControlTalk NOW: The Smart Building Podcast/Videocast for Week Ending March 22, 2015. Join us for another ControlTalk NOW and another week of HVAC news featuring Trane’s deep dive into VRF; Inside the Winner’s Circle with Thermokon, Johnson Controls, and Delta Controls; Human error and Cyber Security; The use of Wearable Technology in the HVAC Industry is imminent; Rob Allen steals this week’s show with DDC training and coverage of Johnson Controls’s ABCS and Distributor Business Conference; and make sure to download Contemporary Controls’ free download gift to the HVAC Community: “Network Communications for Buildings.”
Trane Engineers Newsletter Live: Applying Variable Refrigerant Flow. During our most recent ControlTalk NOW, we discussed the future impact the Variable Refrigerant Flow technology is likely to make in our HVAC industry, and how it may effect the after-market sales of today’s HVAC controls distributor. During our search for more relevant information, we came across this informative “Trane Engineers Newsletter Live: Applying Variable Refrigerant Flow” post on You Tube. This outstanding 88 minute video tells the whole VRF story.
Live Event: Introduction to DDC Controls Part 1. In Part 1 of a Live Event DDC Controls, Rob Allen, Stromquist’s DDC guru gets the group up to speed on the basics of DDC Controls. This course was designed for control techs that are relativity new to building automation controls and as a review for more experienced DDC controls professionals.
How to use Social Engineering to Hack into a System. Thanks to Fred Gordy from McKenney for sharing this video with us. Fred had told me that no matter how good your cyber security system is, the biggest loop hole and security threat is human error. Are you as disturbed as I am by just how easy it was for these teenagers to take over Matt’s digital life? Let me know what you think in comments.
Contemporary Controls’ Gift to the Industry: “Network Communications for Buildings” Free Download. March 2015 — The year 2015 marks our 40th anniversary of Contemporary Controls as a company, and as we reflect on this milestone, we cannot help but marvel at the technological changes that have impacted both the automation systems we produce as well as how companies are now doing business. We have witnessed the migration from standalone controllers to fieldbus-networked controllers to IP-based network controllers. The open-systems movement has helped smaller companies participate in markets once dominated by larger companies with their proprietary systems.
In the 2014 ControlTrends Awards Winners Circle with Thermokon. Let the good times roll! Thermokon’s David Alliband celebrates with Sean Johnson at the 2014 ControlTrends Awards. Why are they so happy? Thermokon had just won the 2014 Wireless Product Solution of The Year. Congratulations to David and the team at Thermokon.
Rob Allen — Live at the Johnson Controls Business Conference Pt.1. Our Rob Allen get’s ready for the 2015 Johnson Controls Business Conference in Orlando. In this first segment, Rob first get’s familiar with his equipment and resolves a little identity crisis. Stay on top of Johnson Controls’ 2015 ABCS and Distributor Conference here at ControlTrends as Rob delivers daily interviews, updates, and conference highlights to the ControlTrends Community. Johnson Controls’ theme this year is Championship Season 2015, Spring Training.
Wearable Technology in the HVAC Industry: Just Around the Bend. Explore the World of AWE. (Photo Credit: procore.com blog) While an increasing concerted effort to grow the HVAC industry young is under way, the need for immediate competent presence (ICP) won’t let HVAC to wait. Wearable technology, especially Smart Glasses adapted for the HVAC/Systems Integration markets, may extend the existing talent pool well enough to serve as the necessary interim measure.
This week’s ControlTalk NOW features Blue Ridge Technologies — Unified Lighting Control experts; Acuity’s purchase of Distech Controls; EasyIO’s Partners Event in Paris; 2014 ControlTrends Award winners: Johnson Controls’ FX ASSET Tool, EasyIO’s FG-32, and Lynxspring’s Lynx CyberPro; Marc Petock’s review of Project Haystack and Lynxspring’s Niagara R2 solutions; Mike Marston’s CPT graphics demonstration; KMC’s new BACnet multi-port router; and Siemen’s MD energy meter video. Special thanks to Rob Allen for his ControlTalk NOW introduction and another great 7 Minutes in Control!
Blue Ridge Technologies — Unified Lighting Control Experts — Show You How! Get distributed Zone Control with Blue Ridge Technologies’ Zone Control(ZC)! ZC is a UL Listed distributed lighting controller in a compact junction box mounted package. ZC may be scheduled from any BACnet BAS, and it is compatible with all low voltage override switches, occupancy sensors, and light level sensors. ZC is suited for new or existing buildings, and may be scaled from basic to advanced control sequences; including daylight harvesting, load shedding, equipment optimization, and trending.
EasyIO Gets Ready for Next World Wide Partner Event in Paris. What is the best way to get your Uncle Sam to pay for a trip to Paris? Well the folks at EasyIO make it all possible with great controls, great food, and a great location, and although I am not an accountant, I am pretty sure you can write it off as a business expense. “Mad Mike” Marston and the team at EasyIO are preparing the Next World Wide Control Event in Paris France, September 21-23. Don’t wait, reach out to your local EasyIO dealer and tell them you want to be part of the EasyIO World Event in Paris.
Distech Controls is Purchased by Acuity Brands. One of the leading building automation control players in our industry was acquired today. Acuity Brands purchased Distech for approximately $252 million. Acuity, which had net sales of $2.4 billion dollars in 2014, owns a group of companies that work in the lighting and building automation controls market. About Distech: An Innovative Leader in Energy Management Solutions.Distech Controls provides unique building management technologies and services that optimize energy efficiency and comfort in buildings.
Johnson Controls FX Asset Tool Wins Big at the 2014 ControlTrends Awards. Congratulations to Johnson Controls and the FX Asset Tool which was awarded the 2014 Building Automation Controls Programming Tool of the Year by the world-wide ControlTrends Community. To learn more about this incredible product click here for a ControlTrends live Training Rewind or here for a presentation on the power of the FX Asset Tool.
Rob Allen’s 7 Minutes in Control: Introduces a New Router from KMC Controls. Rob welcomes Dave Bohlmann from KMC Controls to 7 Minutes in Control. Dave shows Rob KMC’s new single point BacNet Router. The multi-port KMC FullBAC router efficiently and reliably routes BACnet traffic for today’s complex building automation projects that consist of multiple networks. The BAC-5050 provides communication between foreign devices, BACnet IP LANs, the BACnet MS/TP controller network, and an Ethernet 802.3 (ISO 8802-3) network.
Lynxspring Offers Four Conversion Options to Take Niagara R2 to Niagara AX. Niagara R2 to Niagara AX –The time has come to replace Niagara R2 in favor of the far more advanced Niagara AX! The Niagara Framework has evolved significantly since the first commercial version; Niagara R2 was first introduced. Since that time, Niagara has become the industry’s open software platform standard that enables the integration of complex and disparate monitoring, control and automation solutions.
EasyIO Wins Plant Controller of the Year at The 2014 ControlTrends Awards. Congratulations to EasyIO for winning the 2014 ControlTrends Awards Plant Controller of The Year. The legendary EasyIO FG-32 (The Beast From the EAST) is known around the world as a powerful, affordable DDC controller, so much so, that the world-wide ControlTrends Community has voted to give this coveted award to the FG-32 for the third year in a row. Truly, an impressive accomplishment!
EasyIO’s Mike Marston Demos FG’s CPT Graphics. CPT Tool is an executable file and does not require installation. The package is supplied as a zip file. Extracting the zipped file will create the file structure. Note: All of the files need to be located in the same folder in order for CPT to run correctly. CPT is a tool developed by Online Tools Inc. as the new choice for users of controllers based on Sedona Framework. It allows online programming where Sedona had been designed for as the management of the software packages, (kits). The tool also has the capability to do backups and restore of the applications.
Siemens MD Energy Meters Sales Training Video. Siemens Industry’s MD Model Power Meter is a submetering device designed to provide real time, accurate electricity metering to enable proper control over energy costs. The meter can capture kWh/kW energy and demand data, as well as virtually all relevant energy parameters for diagnostics and monitoring on three-phase or single-phase circuit installations. The meter’s flexibility, size, and ease-of use make them ideal tools for gathering detailed consumption information in commercial, industrial, governmental, and retail environments.
Making Device Data Self-describing to Enable Seamless Integration Across Multiple Applications. Article by Marc Petock, Vice President Marketing, Lynxspring & Connexx Energy and Member Board of Directors, Project-Haystack. The amount of data created by equipment, systems and devices has exploded in recent years. Today’s automation systems and smart devices produce tremendous amounts of data to the point where we have expanded our reach to a range of devices that can gather and analyze physical data and react to that data in a variety of applications that we’ve never seen before.
LYNX CyberPro Wins Innovative Product of the Year! Congratulations to the team at Lynxspring for winning the 2014 ControlTrends Awards Innovative Product of the Year with the Lynxspring Cyber Pro (Watch George Hawkins’ presentation). Designed with building operations in mind, LYNX CyberPro creates “shields of security” and preemptive threat protection for the devices and systems across a building network by securing, managing, controlling, tracking and monitoring all account access and activities. The solution supports leading building automation protocols with TCP/IP networks and can be accessed from anywhere without exposing building system devices to the public internet.
This week’s ControlTalk NOW features Daikin’s IoT game-changer, the Rebel RTU; Stromquist’s Tim Chamblee’s VFD Training Part 1 and Part 2; More about KMC’s Conquest Controllers; 2014 ControlTrends Award Winners, Delta Controls and Schneider Electric; and the FieldServer Protocol Revision 12 BACnet Router from the Sierra Monitor Corporation.
Tim Chamblee’s Intro Class: Variable Frequency Drives Part 1. Learn the basics of variable frequency drives in this intro class, from Variable Frequency Drives guru, Tim Chamblee. With over thirty years of experience, Tim is a well recognized expert in the HVAC industry and an enormous asset to the Stromquist team. Tim is also a part-time instructor at Chattahoochee Technical College teaching the Advanced HVAC Program.
In The Winners Circle with Schneider Electric’s Can2Go. Check out Patrick Dumas in the winner’s circle at the 2014 ControlTrends Awards with Sean Johnson. Schneider Electric’s Can2Go (SmartStruxure Lite) won the 2014 ControlTrends Awards Wireless Product/Solution of the Year. Can2Go offers Contractors and Systems integrators one of the most complete hybrid control solutions: Wired (BACNet, Modbus, CANbus), Wireless (EnOcean, ZigBee), and Web (IP/Ethernet). These building automation technologies combine to provide maximum interoperability, control, and energy savings.
Daikin Launches First IoT HVAC Equipment. Rebel RTU Rocks! Ken Smyers caught up with Paul Rauker, VP of Systems and Controls, Daikin Applied, on the ground floor of the 2015 AHR Show. Paul expertly reviews the features of Daikin’s latest Intelligent Equipment, the Rebel RTU — that is the first IoT HVAC RTU. Paul shows us what extraordinary innovation is possible when collaboration takes place between industry and technology leaders, Daikin and Intel.
Introducing KMC New Line of BAS Controllers: Meet Conquest! Thanks to Erich Kreuter for introducing us to KMC’s Conquest line of building automation controllers. KMC Conquest controllers are fully programmable, native BACnet controllers with integrated alarming, trending, and scheduling that maintain logic and data at the edge. KMC Conquest controllers are enabled with NFC technology allowing field configuration with our mobile app: KMC Connect Lite.
Delta Controls Wins 2014 Building Automation Control System of The Year. The world wide ControlTrends Community spoke with their votes and Delta Controls was named the winner of the 2014 ControlTrends Building Automation Control System of The Year. Congratulations to Jack Nichols, and the entire Delta team, for a job well done. The Delta Controls’ motto, which permeates throughout the organization is “Do it Right!”
VFD Training Part 2: Tim Chamblee continues his Variable Frequency Drive Training with an in-depth explanation of the application benefits, the potential energy savings, and the importance of proper grounding and wiring methods — and then demonstrates how to use a Honeywell Variable Frequency Drive to control a cooling tower fan with a Honeywell T775 controller.
Sierra Monitor Corporation’s FieldServer BACnet Router — First Product to be Certified as Router at BACnet Protocol Revision 12. Milpitas, California – January 12, 2015 – Sierra Monitor Corporation, a provider of Industrial Internet of Things (IIoT) solutions that connect and protect high- value infrastructure assets, today announced that its FieldServer BACnet Router has been certified by the BACnet Testing laboratory (BTL), having successfully passed the Protocol Revision 12 router tests. Sierra Monitor Corporation addresses the industrial and commercial facilities management market with Industrial Internet of Things (IIoT) solutions that connect and protect high-value infrastructure assets.
This week’s ControlTalk NOW introduces several new products from KMC Controls and Functional Devices; interview coverage of KMC’s Erich Kreuter and JCI’s Guy Holden; Belimo’s Lars van der Haegen’s appointment to CEO Belimo Group; The Smart Grid’s ADMS report; and the concluding events of Ken Sinclair’s 2015 Connected Community Collaboratory, EnOcean’s Jim O’Callaghan’s 2020 — 100 billion sensor prediction and the Q&A session that ended the 3rd Annual CCC.
Mounting a Siemens SSA Valve Actuator to a 599 Series Zone Valve Body. This short video shows you the tools you will need and steps to take to correctly mount a Siemens SSA Valve Actuator to a 599 Series Zone Valve Body: 599 Series Valve Body, SSA Electronic Zone Valve Actuator, Small Flat Blade Screwdriver, and a 3 mm Hex Wrench.
Part 6: Jim O’Callaghan at The 2015 Connected Community Collaboratory. EnOcean’s Jim O’Callaghan brings his unique perspective too the 2015 Connected Community Collaboratory. Jim shares his thoughts on how the Building Automation Control World will look when the world goes from the 70 million sensors that exist today to the estimated 100 Billion sensors that will control and influence our world in 2020. Very compelling stuff!
Increased Visibility to the Grid is Happening! Read How — Voices of Experience|ADMS. Consider the Cost of a Power Outage: “The U.S. Energy Information Administration estimates that the $150 billion in annual economic losses because of outages is equivalent to adding 4 cents per kWh of costs to consumers nationwide.” — Annual Energy Outlook 2010, U.S. Department of Energy. Excerpt from the Guide: “Considering that this is an era in which smart phones and Google Maps are ubiquitous, it may come as a surprise that utilities have very little visibility into their distribution systems.”
Johnson Controls Global WorkPlace Solutions: Delivering World-Class Quality with Lower Costs. Guy Holden, VP & GM of Johnson Controls, Global WorkPlace Solutions Europe, Middle East, and Africa, discusses how the Facility Management (FM) industry is responding to demands for improved quality at a reduced cost. In response, some FM companies are specialized either in service delivery or strategic management, while JCI’s Global WorkPlace is investing in both.
Functional Devices Introduces New Wi-Fi RIB Products. EXPAND YOUR NETWORK — EXPAND YOUR CONTROL — At Functional Devices, the Internet of Things is happening today! Functional Devices is very proud to introduce its new Wi-Fi RIB products! Functional Devices’ Wi-Fi RIBs are the I/O devices for the next wireless generation of Building Automation and Energy Management Systems. You can turn your devices on and off wirelessly, and monitor your network remotely.
Rob Allen’s 7 Minutes in Control: Erich Kreuter KMC Controls. In this episode Rob welcomes KMC’s Erich Kreuter and they talk all about the C words — The 5 C’s as defined by KMC’s new suite of Smart Building and Building Automation Controls that doesn’t use PC based software, rather an advanced technology with built-in diagnostics — that is designed to take labor costs out of a project. Check it out and be prepared to be amazed!
Lars van der Haegen to Become New CEO of the BELIMO Group. Lars van der Haegen is the new CEO of the Belimo Group starting July 1, 2015. Lars van der Haegen has been the President of Belimo Americas and Member of the Executive Committee since November, 2010. Prior to that, he was employed by Belimo in various positions since 2000. Lars van der Haegen has a strong HVAC application and industry knowledge paired with master degrees in business from Columbia Business School in New York and the London Business School.
The 2015 Connected Community Collaboratory Finishes Strong with Summary and Q & A. Ken Sinclair’s group of Industry experts finished the 2015 Connected Community Collaboratory with a compelling crescendo, then took the conversation to an even deeper level, as they answered several thought-provoking questions from the audience. Great job Ken, Marc, John, Andy, Jim, and Paul.
Get On Board! Ken Sinclair’s Automated Buildings March 2015 Theme: Creating Self-Learning Cultures. Ken Sinclair’s Connection Community Collaboratory has recently invigorated the HVAC and Building Automation industry’s interest with an open challenge to make our industry younger by attracting new talent and bringing these new employees up to speed quickly. Sadly, we lost the use of Star Trek’s Vulcan Mind Meld with the loss of Leonard Nimoy, but Ken’s autodidactic style of learning is indeed, a vital part of the future solution. As an industry we must think of how each of our organizations can leverage its existing resources, policies, collaboratories, and industry partnerships to create greater career pathways that will close the skills gaps faster and ultimately, sustain our industry.
This week’s ControlTalk NOW continues with Automated Buildings, Ken Sinclair’s 2015 Connected Community Collaboratory video series coverage featuring two highly venerated members of the HVAC and Building Automation industries, John Petze, SkyFoundry and ESI’s Paul Oswald. Daryl Clasen gives a video overview of Loytec’s amazing product portfolio and the watch the 2014 ControlTrends Awards Thermostat winners: Honeywell’s RedLINK (Residential) and Scheider Electric’s SE8000 Series (Commercial) receive their awards. Wrapping the week up, Mike Newman, heralded as the Father of BACnet, shares his ControlTrends Hall of Fame induction award trophy.
Part 4: John Petze at the 2015 Connected Community Collaboratory. See and hear what SkyFoundry’s John Petze has to say at the 2015 Connected Community Collaboratory. John discusses the importance of making data revelant and useful to building owners. My favorite John Petze quote, in this rich and thought-provoking session, is “we should not get overly carried away with having all the devices talking to each other… they don’t really have much to say to each other.”
Product Review: Daryl Clasen reviews Loytec Building Automation Controls. We had a chance to catch up with Daryl Clasen, from Loytec, at the 2015 AHR Show. In addition to a complete line of Smart Building and Building Automation Controls, Daryl introduces us to the Loytec VAV controller with Smart sensor and some of the most gorgeous, flexible touch pad panels you will ever see. Check it out and let me know what you think in comments.
Let the Good Temps Roll: Honeywell RedLINK Wins Thermostat of the Year! Honeywell’s RedLINK thermostat prevailed in one of the most heavily contested categories of the 2014 ControlTrends Awards. Honeywell’s exclusive RedLINK Wireless Technology’s ability to meet comfort needs and provide APP-connections that yield the greatest customer satisfaction (and expanded business opportunities), while offering an unparalleled array of accessory add-ons that increase the ease of connected installations.
Honeywell Q5024 Retrofit Globe Valve Linkage “Make Market” Update. The pricing for the new Q5024 linkages and accessories was inaccurately labeled in the recent product announcement bulletin. The pricing links in the bulletin 15-0004 referenced information that listed the pricing as “MADE market” when it should have been “MAKE market”. To get an accurate listing of MAKE market products, download the Dynamic Custom Price Book on the B2B. This has been updated to accurately reflect the MAKE status of each part. Click here for instructions on how to download the Custom Price Book.
Part 5: Paul Oswald at the 2015 Connected Community Collaboratory. ESI’s Paul Oswald addresses the Skills Gap and the concept of People are a company’s most important asset. IoT has replaced the previous industry M2M buzzword, and some new technological concept will soon replace IoT, but people will remain — and represent the real and sustaining value of any company.
The perfect balance between simplicity and sophistication! The SE8000 Series is a sophisticated addition to the Schneider Electric product portfolio of room controllers. With rich, customizable features, the SE8000 Series enables significant energy savings with accurate temperature control in any space. The SE8000 Series room controllers can be easily integrated into most building management systems (BMS). Remote monitoring and control of HVAC, lighting, and metering systems allow facility managers to ensure their building is always operating at peak performance.
This week’s ControlTalk NOW reviews publisher and owner of Automated Buildings, Ken Sinclair’s 2015 Connected Community Collaboratory. This unique and informative video series captures the wisdom and insights of some of the brightest minds in Smart Building and HVAC Industries, teaming John Petze, SkyFoundry with Marc Petock, Lynxspring; Andy McMillan, BACnet International; Paul Oswald, ESI; and Jim O’Callaghan, EnOcean Inc. generated powerful experiential knowledge — shared in a very consumable video format. Don’t miss! Four more videos sections to follow.
Marc Petock, Vice President Marketing, Lynxspring drew attention to the reality that cyber security considerations were absent when the founding protocols were established. The industry as a whole was unaware of, or naive to, the dangers that cyber-terrorism now poses to our industry. The solution requires a collaboratory response, because no single business or party can remedy the threat by itself. It requires awareness and dialogue at every level: manufacturers, C-Suites, systems integrators, service providers, and building owners need to pro-actively deal with all of the existing and potential issues.
BACnet International President, Andy McMillan’s thought-provoking dialogue was a compelling case for managed lighting and the natural power of lighting where focus has shifted from the energy-savings aspects to hospitals releasing patients in shorter periods of time (circadian rhythm), learn well classrooms that ramp students’ energy and alertness, and retailers that sell more of the things they want to sell — these are the nouveau marketing ways. Also, lighting problems are in the construction and procurement processes. Much more collaboration required.
This year’s theme was “Our Connection Community and the Internet of Things” ( CCIoT). The meeting was designed to be fast moving and expected the attendees to have a basic understanding of the evolving connection communities’ needs, and a list of required reading from the presenting thought leaders was provided to get attendees up-to-speed. Presenters were given five minutes after which, Ken Sinclair served as moderator to ask a few questions for clarity. No power points allowed; only old school face-to-face collaborating. Great stuff.
Introducing Honeywell’s Q50204 Retrofit Globe Valve Linkage. Honeywell is pleased to introduce their new Q5024 globe valve retrofit linkage. This linkage allows you to use Honeywell Direct Coupled Actuators (DCAs) to retrofit most manufacturers’ globe valves in the field, with no valve disassembly required. This linkage is easy to install and the wide variety of collar combinations fit most of your globe valve retrofit jobs. Save money and time by replacing old electrical or pneumatic actuators with reliable Honeywell DCAs. View as a PDF.
Share Your Knowledge – Bring Your Experience to Haystack Connect 2015. Planning for Haystack Connect 2015 is well underway. With a little over 4 months before the conference kicks off, the event has 14 major sponsors and exhibitors as well as 3 Media sponsors, with new companies signing up every week. See the current sponsors here: www.haystackconnect.org/sponsors. The technical program is taking shape with a number of papers and presentations submitted on a wide range of topics around the conference themes that include Data Modeling, Hardware, Analytics, Cyber Security, Energy, Wireless and more. Consider joining the community at the Haystack Connect event — submit a presentation and share your expertise.
Lynxspring Announces 2nd Generation Modbus to BACnet® Bridge. Lee’s Summit, MO – February 2, 2015: Lynxspring, a premier developer and provider of open, IP-control solutions for building automation, energy management, cyber protection, and device-to-enterprise integration today announced the release of the OnyxxTM-MB311, their 2nd generation Modbus to BACnet Bridge solution. Embedded with a Lynxspring’s Smart ModuleTM and running Lynxspring’s HelixxTM IP-software framework, the Onyxx-MB311 is more powerful and takes Modbus to BACnet protocol translation to the next level.
Better Buildings Summit, May 27-29. 2015 — Registration Now Open! Marriott Wardman Park, Washington, DC. This year, the Better Buildings Summit is expanding into new sectors and engaging a diverse set of market leaders. Over two and a half days Better Buildings partners and stakeholders will come together in Washington D.C. and participate in sessions and meetings focused on the sharing of the most successful strategies for achieving energy savings through energy efficiency. Check out our interactive Agenda At A Glance and be sure to register today.
ACI Releases New “Universal” Dry Media Differential Pressure Transmitter. ACI understands that sensor applications can often differ from job to job. To accomodate most differential pressure sensing applications, we now offer a universal range option. A single unit, A/DP2-10U, will give you field adjustable ranges of o to 1″, 0 to 2.5″, 0 to 5″, and 0 to 10″ and output flexibility of 4 to 20 mA, 0-5 VDC, 0-10 VDC, and 4-20 VDC. This is critical for optimizing pressure within your facility.
Belimo ZIP Economizer Training. On Thursday, February 12, 11:30-12:30 EST, Stromquist will be live streaming a training session on Belimo’s award winning ZIP Economizer. Belimo’s product specialist will be on hand to explain what makes this product so unique and how it can make saving energy easier. The ZIP Economizer is the most technologically advanced Airside Economizer solution in the market and is designed to provide the most energy savings through advanced economizer logic strategies.
Rob Allen’s 7 Minutes in Control: Mike Marston. Join Stromquist Company’s Rob Allen and EasyIO’s Mike Marston as they discuss the reasons for EasyIO’s meteoric global success and the 3-time ControlTrends Award winning FG-32, as Plant Controller of the Year, Gordon Chan’s Small Manufacturer CEO of the Year, and Lim Hoon Chiat’s (and SK Foo’s) award-winning technical support.
ControlTrends Awards Highlight: Neptronic Wins Vendor of The Year: Small Manufacturer. Founded in 1976, Neptronic is a private corporation that designs, manufactures and distributes products for the HVAC industry. Their product line includes intelligent controllers, electronic actuators, actuated valves, humidifiers and electric heaters.Neptronic products are designed and manufactured by over 250 dedicated employees in their 7,500 m2 (80,000 ft2) state-of-the-art facility located in Montreal, Canada.
Live Training Rewind: Revisit the Belimo Team as they teach the ControlTrends Community about the Belimo Zip Economizer. This is a rewind of the Live Stream Belimo Training held Febuary 12, 2015 at the Stromquist & Company training center. Belimo’s product specialist explains what makes this product so unique and how it can make saving energy easier. The ZIP Economizer is the most technologically advanced Airside Economizer solution in the market and is designed to provide the most energy savings through advanced economizer logic strategies.
Honeywell Momentum 2015 Partner Conference Sep 20-22, 2015, J.W. Marriott Resort and Spa Palm Desert, CA. Momentum 2015 is coming! Save the date for Honeywell’s premier partner conference and join hundreds of building controls professionals to connect with industry leaders, understand evolving market trends and discover Honeywell’s vision in the Intelligent Building marketplace. J.W. Marriott Resort and Spa Palm Desert, CA.
2015 Niagara Forum — open 4 innovation — April 19-21 2015, in London. While everyone’s talking about the Internet of Things, Vykon is pioneering solutions for the Open Internet of Things. With nearly a half-million instances deployed worldwide, the Niagara Framework® represents the power of open — and the future of innovation. Discover the possibilities at the 2015 Niagara Forum in London, April 19-21. Learn what truly open systems can achieve for our partners and their customers, and get a firsthand look at our next generation platform, including Niagara 4 and our next generation hardware, JACE 8000.
This week’s ControlTalk NOW is a complete review of the highlights and winners of the 2014 ControlTrends Awards. We thank our hosts Lynxspring, Stromquist Company, especially Stacie McCammon, Bill Jones, Seãn Johnson, and Rob Allen; our two amazing MC’s Marc Petock and Kimberly Brown, and of course our sponsors — that all together, made this event such a resounding success. The standing room only audience witnessed HVAC history in the making, as the Young Guns were recognized and H. Michael Newman and George Thomas joined Werner Buck and Jerry Frank in the ControlTrends Awards Hall of Fame.
We are already began the planning for next year’s ControlTrends Awards event in Orlando, FL. While we made every effort to accommodate everyone’s schedule, there were still those that were unable to attend because of conflicting schedules, which leads us to consider the possibility of Sunday evening. Please respond in the comments section, what you believe to be the optimal time and whether or not Sunday evening, 5:00 PM to 8:00 PM, would be the most suitable time frame of all.
Here are several of the winners receiving their awards. Many more photos and videos to follow!
ControlTrends is delighted to present the 2014 ControlTrends Award winners:
2014 ControlTrends Awards Residential Thermostat of the Year: Honeywell RedLINK
2014 ControlTrends Awards Commercial Thermostat of the Year: Schneider Electric SE8000
2014 ControlTrends Awards VFD Manufacturer of the Year: Siemens BT300
2014 ControlTrends Awards Wireless Product/Solution of the Year: Can2Go (SmartStruxure Lite) and Thermokon
2014 ControlTrends Awards Peripheral Product of the Year: Contemporary Controls
2014 ControlTrends Awards Lighting Integration Solution of the Year: Delta DLS
2014 ControlTrends Awards Innovative Product of the Year: Lynxspring Lynx CyberPro
2014 ControlTrends Awards Energy Savings Product of the Year: Belimo Energy Valve
2014 ControlTrends Awards Building Automation VAV Controller of the Year: KMC SimplyVAV
2014 ControlTrends Awards Building Automation Plant/Equipment Controller of the Year: EasyIO FG-32
2014 ControlTrends Awards 3rd Party Visualization Software of the Year: DG Logik DGLUX
2014 ControlTrends Awards Building Analytics Software of the Year: SkyFoundry
2014 ControlTrends Awards Programming Software Tool of the Year: Johnson Controls FX ASSET Tool
2014 ControlTrends Awards Building Integration & Automation Software of the Year: Niagara AX
2014 ControlTrends Awards Building Automation Control System of the Year: Delta Controls
2014 ControlTrends Award Best Technical Support Person of the Year — Small Manufacturer: Lim Hoon Chiat, EasyIO
2014 ControlTrends Award Best Technical Support Person of the Year — Large Manufacturer: Greg Halloway, Delta Controls and Greg Wilmer, Johnson Controls
2014 ControlTrends Award Best Technical Support Company of the Year — Small Manufacturer: ACI
2014 ControlTrends Award Best Technical Support Company of the Year — Large Manufacturer: Belimo
2014 ControlTrends Awards Vendor of the Year — Small Manufacturer: Neptronic
2014 ControlTrends Awards Vendor of the Year — Large Manufacturer: Schneider Electric
The 2014 ControlTrends Awards event is only eight days away! The voting phase is over and the votes are being tallied. It will be an amazing and exciting night featuring the heroes and superstars of HVAC and Building Automation Industry. We thank our sponsors for making the ControlTrends Awards possible. Monday, January 26th, 2015 at Chicago’s McCormick Hyatt, from 6:00PM to 8:00PM, though we invite you to get there early to walk the red carpet and elegant ambiance of the Prairie Ballroom to celebrate the 2014 ControlTrends Awards Winners, the Petock Award recipient, and the ControlTrends Hall of Fame inductees.
Voluntary Code of Conduct for Smart Grid Data PrivacyU.S. DOE Releases Voluntary Code of Conduct for Smart Grid Data Privacy. January 12, 2015: President Obama announced the release of the final concepts and principles for a Voluntary Code of Conduct (VCC) related to privacy of customer energy usage data for utilities and third parties. The final VCC is the result of a 22-month multi-stakeholder effort which was facilitated by the Energy Department’s Office of Electricity Delivery and Energy Reliability in coordination with the Federal Smart Grid Task Force.
Mr. Jones Votes and Gets Ready For The ControlTrends Awards. Voting for the 2014 ControlTrends Awards ends January 15. Click here to vote. Get ready for all the excitment and fun at the 2014 ControlTrends Awards January 26 from 6-8 at the Hyatt Regency Prairie Ballroom, and meet the superstars of the Building Automation and HVAC Controls Industry including the very talented Bill Jones, who put together this video.
Ron Vokoun Data Center Predictions for 2015. A very special thanks to Ron Vokoun DBIA, LEED AP BD+C, leads the Mission Critical Market for at JE Dunn Construction for this very insightful post. And to Rick Warner, a.k.a “The Innovator” for making us aware of Ron. With the arrival of a new year, organizations are making plans to address the explosion of enterprise data in 2015. A big question is how those plans will differ from your data center operations this past year.
The Best Way To Control Electrical Plug Loads? Rob Allen Explains. On this episode of 7 Minutes in Control Rob Allen and Michael Bonner show you the best way to control loads at the plug level. Plug-IT delivers a remarkable solution to maximize your energy savings and is an award-winning product that leverages existing Niagara installations! Easily meets the latest ASHRAE 90.1 standards for controlling 50% of wall receptacle plug loads.
Can Your Building Automation Control System Do This?Honeywell might be the only company on the planet that combines building Automation Controls and Access and Security in one JACE, truly integrating ACCESS and Security and Building Automation Controls from one source and one vendor. Savvy systems integrators and owners love the value of this solution. Watch the video below and tell us what you think in comments.
2015 Building Energy Summit — Early Bird Registration Ends January 31, 2015. On March 25, 2015, more than 500 of the nation’s top building owners and managers, along with technology and energy experts, will convene in Washington DC to discuss groundbreaking and innovative solutions for energy efficient buildings. Sign up for the 2015 Building Energy Summit.
Philip Henderson Meet John Petze.Great talk by Philip Henderson, who is the senior financial policy specialist for the Natural Resources Defense Council. Philip is speaking at GreenBuild. One of Philip’s points is that 80% of the buildings that are targeted for Vision 2020 and beyond are already built. Building more energy efficient buildings is great, but to reach the objectives of Vision 2020 we must make existing buildings more operationally efficient.
PodCast Show Notes: ControlTalk NOW thanks this week’s sponsors Contemporary Controls and International Solutions of America (ISA). 2014 ControlTrends Awards Nominees Nino DiCosmo, Tridium’s President and General Manager, and Thermokon’s North American Sales Manager, David Alliband, join us this week on ControlTalk NOW, providing unique insights into Nino DiCosmo’s high-profile executive role in running one of the world’s leading software platforms and David Alliband’s vigorous efforts to take the Thermokon product portfolio to the next level in the North American market.
Contemporary Controls is your ideal partner for applying network technology to your BACnet building automation project. The industry is embracing Ethernet connectivity to Direct Digital Controllers (DDC) along with open protocols such as BACnet, Modbus, and Sedona Framework.
ISA’s warehouse maintains a large inventory of new and reconditioned parts. From years of experience, we know the parts our customers need most. So in most cases, your parts are shipped within 24 hours — in many instances, the same day — saving you the expense of lengthy down-time.
ControlTrends Awards Finalist Sky Foundryy: Are you drowning in a sea of Big Data? John Petze and his team at SkyFoundry have created a Building Automation Controls analytics package that allow you to easliy find the data that matters to you. Whether you are looking at trends, alarms, or faults SkyFoundry enables the creation of “Sparks” (events) that allow you to interact with your data in powerful ways that make your buildings safer and more efficient.
Lynxspring Nominated for Multiple 2014 ControlTrends Awards! E-news from Marc Petock. We are pleased to announce that Lynxspring has been nominated as finalists in the 2014 Control Trend Awards in several categories. The Control Trend Awards recognize the people, product, and manufacturers in our industry that make the HVAC, Controls, and Building Automation Industry what it is today.
Heads Up! Hackers Hint at Terror Attacks, Release More Data from Sony Pictures. We received this notice from IT World’s Senior Staff Writer, Steve Ragan. Now that we learned of this potential threat, we need to pass it on to the ControlTrends Community for greatest dissemination. Sony’s $60 Million dollar insurance coverage will not be enough to recover from theft of Sony Pictures Entertainment content and the leakage of more than 200GB of data, including pre-release movies, executive emails, sales and marketing data, and nearly everything from human resources.
Niagara Framework Changed Our World! Tridium’s Niagara AX is nominated for the 2014 ControlTrends Awards Building Integration & Automation Software of the Year. And,understandably so. The Niagara Software platform has driven change and innovation — and made the smart connected building, as we able to perceive it, a reality. Tridium’s next gen framework, Niagara 4, whose full release is imminent, is even more awesome.
CTN Interview with Tridium’s Nino DiCosmo, nominated for the 2014 ControlTrends Awards Executive of the Year, Large Manufacturer. Nino DiCosmo is an accomplished global executive recognized for commitment to setting and achieving Tridium’s vision and goals. Nino is an expert at scaling operations, building customer focused teams, and leading innovative product development.
Thermokon — Keeping in Touch with the Future. Thermokon EasySens- EnOcean is nominated for the 2014 ControlTrends Wireless Product/Solution of the Year. David Alliband, Sales Manager, North America is excited about Thermokon’s continued success and the many wired and wireless products and solutions Thermokon has to offer. When Thermokon Sensortechnik GmbH was founded in 1987 by Harald Zygan in Mittenaar-Bicken, Germany, hardly anyone expected the business to grow out of this scale.
CTN Interview with David Alliband, Sales Manager, North America. David Alliband reviews the variety of wired and wireless products available from Thermokon and the HVAC applications the Thermokon products are especially well-suited for. Thermokon has grown from a sensor manufacturer to a solutions provider with a broad range of highly competitive quality products available from a distributor near you.
Rising Plug-in Electric Vehicle Adoption — Impacts on the Grid (Negligible, for Now). December, 2014: Six utilities that participated in DOE’s cost-shared Smart Grid Investment Grant (SGIG) program deployed in-home and public electric vehicle charging stations and evaluated customer charging behaviors and impacts on the grid. There are relatively few plug-in electric vehicles on the road today, and as a result the six SGIG projects focused on establishing the charging infrastructure with a relatively low number of stations and evaluated a small number of participating vehicles.
CTN’S Smart Building Tip of the Week: Accruent’s Facility 360 — Become a Driver of Success. Convert your facility from a cost center to a strategic contributor. Great information from Accruent on how facilities management teams can play a more strategic role in organizations.7 Ways to Save Time, Costs, and Energy: Download White Paper. In a world where you must find ways to “do more with less,” finding ways to cut costs can be challenging – and time consuming.
PodCast Show Notes: ControlTalk NOW thanks this week’s Premium sponsors EasyIO and DG Logik. Do not miss our featured interviews with 2014 ControlTrends nominees — Tridium’s CTO, John Sublett, nominated for the 2014 ControlTrends PID Award, shares Tridium’s genuine collaborative philosophy and his own personal passion — that together, have made the Niagara platform so successful. Nominated for Executive of the Year, Lynxspring’s President and CEO, Terry Swope discusses the trust factors and viewing BAS Integration from the end-user perspective — the catalysts for Lynxspring’s growing success.
EasyIO has emerged as a world leader in Open Building Automation integration solutions and manufacturer of Ethernet based, DDC Controllers. Led by CEO Gordon Chen and Mike Marston, EasyIO’s 5 core values are Trust, Quality, People Development, Solid Business Ethics and Leading Edge Innovation. EAsyIO’s new FG series of controllers are Internet-ready field controllers packaged as future IoT solutions for the Energy and Building Facility Control markets.
DG Logik is the game changer in the Internet of Things and the building automation industry leader in designing custom IoT software tools. With deep integration to multiple data providers, DG Logik’s IoT visualizations are guaranteed to help you monitor more effectively, save time, and decrease costs directly translating into increased revenues.
Control Network News from Contemporary Controls. While in Chicago at AHR 2015 make sure to stop by Booth 3531 in the Building Automation and Control Showcase to see and learn about our portfolio of open building automation and control solutions that are cost-effective and durable enough to withstand demanding loads from challenging environments. Contemporary Controls nominated for Five CTA Awards. Read more.
Live Stream Rewind: KMC Simply VAV Controller Training. Doug Miller and Erich Kreuter show you what you need to know about the KMC Simply VAV Controller in this rewind of a live stream from KMC Controllers distributor Stromquist & Company. For more than 40 years, KMC has been designing and producing HVAC controls and building automation solutions. From their headquarters in the heartland of America, KMC makes these products available worldwide. SimplyVAV is our latest innovation. Get your hands on it today!
CTN Interview with Tridium’s John Sublett. As Tridium’s Chief Technology Officer, John Sublett’s contributions to the world’s leading software platform began in 1996, as a founder, and have since helped make Tridium’s Niagara AX Platform the most prolific software platform in the HVAC industry — whose integration community is migrating successfully — and rapidly, into the neighboring Industrial, Data Center, and Smart City markets. John shares his thoughts about the future of integration, the next-gen integrators, the aspirations of the Tridium team, and some the people he shares his career with.
Thermostat of The Year: Entouch is in Touch! The competition for the 2014 ControlTrends Awards Thermostat of the year is heating up. Those in the know, think Entouch Controls, although not as well known as some of he other finalist,could be the best of the bunch. Entouch makes a line of thermostats that are more than just thermostats. Most models come with the ability to monitor electrical loads and digital switches. Add in their easy to use cloud portal and for the cost of most thermostats you have a mini building or home control automation system.
KMC’s SimplyVAV — in the Hunt for a ControlTrends Award! Simple, easy to install and configure, competitively priced: it is easy to see why the KMC Simply VAV controller is a strong contender for the 2014 ControlTrends Awards VAV Controller of the Year. To get in-depth training on the KMC SimplyVAV click here. The SimplyVAV controllers can be installed as standalone controllers or they can be connected to a BACnet MS/TP network. These topics are reference material for control technicians or engineers who are planning, installing, and setting up controllers that are connected to a network.
CTN Interview with Terry Swope, President and CEO of Lynxspring. Terry Swope is one of the most interesting, accomplished, and personally engaging people in the HVAC Industry. Combining his 25 years as a consulting engineer and the 12 years at the helm of Lynxspring, Terry’s unparalleled understanding of the market and the end-users viewpoint explain Lynxspring’s growing success. Having the foresight and drive to improve Lynxspring’s internal business language and then having the willingness to share those resources with Lynxspring’s channel partners fortifies the future growth of this great organization and industry leader. Don’t miss this interview!
You’re Invited to America’s #1 Facility Management Show — $1,195 Value – Yours for Free! You’re invited to America’s #1 facilities show – the National Facilities Management and Technology Show (NFMT) for Free. NFMT will be held March 10-12, 2015, in Baltimore, MD. The NFMT Conference program features more than 120 educational sessions that are entirely free to facilities management professionals. Choose from every topic imaginable: From best practices for reducing energy, to maintenance planning and scheduling, to Finance 101 for FMs, to a review of ADA regulations.
ControlTalk NOW thanks this week’s Premium sponsors Delta Controls and Neptronic. This week’s posts included updated SmartGrid.gov information; Visionary Jim Sinopoli’s Smart Buildings Predictions for 2015; New Products review from ACI’s Barry Gordon; Rob Allen breaks down 2014 CTA Awards nominee Blue Ridge Technologies; and Siemens’ product discussion with Joshua Felperin. Don’t miss our very special interview with EasyIO’s globetrotter, Mike Marston, who provides EasyIO updates from Cambodia.
The Delta Difference: At Delta Controls, the mantra Do It Right is the “how”. It is how we design, manufacture and support our products. It is how we serve our customers. It is how we treat our employees, partners and vendors. And it is how we view business in general and respect the planet we live on. Delta Controls is one of the largest independent manufacturers of building automation systems with more than 300 installers in over 80 countries. For more than 3 decades Delta Controls has offered dependable and user-friendly building control solutions to commercial, healthcare, education, leisure buildings and more.
HVAC products and solutions since 1976. Founded in 1976, Neptronic is a private corporation that designs, manufactures and distributes products for the HVAC industry. Our product line includes intelligent controllers, electronic actuators, actuated valves, humidifiers and electric heaters. Our products are designed and manufactured by over 250 dedicated employees in our 7,500 m2 (80,000 ft2) state-of-the-art facility located in Montreal, Canada.
39 Utilities Share Smart Grid Deployment Results at DOE-EPRI Conference: January 6, 2015: Thirty nine utilities met October 27-29, 2014, in Charlotte, North Carolina, to share results and lessons learned resulting from smart grid deployments supported through funds provided by the U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) and the Electric Power Research Institute (EPRI). This report provides a summary of the conference – the Smart Grid Experience: Applying Results, Reaching Beyond.
Over the last few years companies have developed and demonstrated driverless car technology; Google, Audi, BMW and dozens of other companies and universities have been involved. With the use of cameras, sensors, “decision and driving strategy and logic”, traffic sign recognition, pedestrian spotting and lane departure warnings, many but not all of the technical aspects have been addressed.
ControlTalk NOW interview with special guest, EasyIO’s Mike Marston, from Cambodia. Few people in the HVAC and Building Integration industry enjoy their profession. and are as successful at it, as Mike Marston. Mike’s enthusiasm and pride of ownership are infectious. Led by Gordon Chen, Mike Marston, and Lim Hoon Chiat, EasyIO is on the move with partners in over 30 countries. EasyIO has been nominated for eight 2014 ControlTrends Awards. Watch this interview and see why!
Message from Barry Gordon: ACI Releases New Products for 2015!ACI is always standing by it’s motto to “Engineer a Better Sensor Solution.” We take great pride in our engineering achievements and have invested substantially in new product development. With that in mind, I am excited to introduce our newest product offerings; A/CO2 Series, WPR Wet to Wet DP, and PowerScout(TM) 3037 Series.
Rob Allen Breaks Down 2014 ControlTrends Awards Finalist Blue Ridge Technologies. Rob Allen investigates Blue Ridge Technologies and Unified Lighting Control on this episode of 7 Minutes in Control. Many believe that when a complete Building Automation System (BAS) is required, Unified Lighting Control is a superior lighting control solution. We will know January 26, 2015 if the world-wide ControlTrends Community agrees with this statement when their votes will be heard. Nominated for the 2014 Lighting Integration Provider/Solution of The Year Award, we wish Blue Ridge Technologies all the best.
Siemens Gets Ready for the 2014 ControlTrends Awards. Monday, January 26, 2015, between 6-8, the Prairie Ball Room at the Hyatt McCormick Place will be rocking as the Super Stars of the Building Automation and HVAC controls industry walk the Red Carpet and celebrate the 2014 ControlTrends Awards. ControlTrends Awards Platinum Sponsor Siemens is in the hunt for four Awards at this year’s show. The very talented, Joshua Felperin, stopped by to talk about Siemens entries and give us a run down on the new Siemens Variable Frequency Drive.
Honeywell WEBs AX: In the Hunt for 2014 Building Automation Control System of the Year. Honeywell’s WEBs AX offers a Smart Solution for your Intelligent Buildings applications. WEBs AX connects buildings with maximum efficiency, reduces maintenance costs with centralized control. Additionally, WEBs AX offfers an open, scalable solution that lets you take immediate control of your HVAC control starting with thermostatic control, IAQ control, lighting, on your way to total access and video surveillance integration. The Honeywell WEBs AX possibilities are endless!
ControlTalk NOW for the Week ending January 4, 2015. Pod Cast Show Notes: ControlTalk NOW thanks this week’s Premium sponsors Honeywell and Siemens. This week, we review the major trends and events of 2014 — the Year of Disruption. Special interviews with Executive of the Year nominee and industry stalwart George Thomas, founder and President of Contemporary Controls, and Young Gun, Jason Houck, Director of IT and Integration at Hepta Controls Systems.
Honeywell invents and manufactures technologies to address some of the world’s toughest challenges initiated by revolutionary macrotrends in science, technology and society. A Fortune 100 company, we create solutions to improve the quality of life of people around the globe: generating clean, healthy energy – and using it more efficiently. Increasing our safety and security.
Siemens: 2014 European Building Technologies Company of the Year. Siemens offers a complete technical infrastructure portfolio for building automation, energy efficiency, fire safety, security, total building solutions and market-specific solutions in buildings and public places. Siemens offers a comprehensive range of building automation systems and HVAC products for every area of use like heating, ventilation, air conditioning, cooling application, and for every technical requirement.
ControlTrends 2014 Year in Review. We thank the ControlTrends Community for sharing another incredible year for the HVAC and Controls Industry that began with the 2014 ControlTrends Awards in NYC, and took us across the country and around the world to the 2014 CGNA Conference, 2014 Niagara Summit, 2014 Realcomm/IBcon, International Systems of America, Neptronic, Easy IO World Conference in Madrid, as well as our continuing coverage of all the major control trends, from wearable technology to cybersecurity.
ControlTrends is delighted to interview George Thomas founder and president of Contemporary Controls. Nominated for five ControlTrends Awards, Contemporary Controls enters its 40th year in the business! George Thomas and Contemporary Controls are a story that movies are made from. Few people have the personal and professional moxie it takes to build an enduring company from the cliched humble origins of a home-made microprocessor business started in a visionary’s basement, to a thriving international manufacturer of Industrial, Building, and Commercial Automation Components; Communication and Network Devices; and Building Automation Controllers.
George Thomas and his team at Contemporary Controls have weathered every sort of economic and competitive storm that an entrepreneur can expect, and their continued success reveals two very unique attributes: George Thomas and Contemporary Controls are just plain good and just plain smart! Visit George Thomas and Contemporary Controls at the 2015 AHR Show, booth 3531 and get your copy of “Network Communications for Buildings,” a compilation of articles Contemporary Controls has written on Ethernet, IP networks, Modbus and BACnet protocols.
ControlTalk NOW second interview with Jason Houck, Director of IT & Integration at Hepta Control Systems. Jason personifies the next generation of precocious master systems integrators whose career began while he was still in grade school. Jason shares his own experience, the Linux theory of self-accomplishment, and how he became an expert in Design & Implementation of Smart Building Networks, Integration of HVAC Controls, Lighting Controls, Electrical Metering, Fire Alarm Systems, Electrical Equipment and Elevators via multiple protocols such as Bacnet, LON, Modbus, OPC, Obix, and DDE.
2014 ControlTrends Awards PID Finalist Laura Kevitt. See why the World-Wide ControlTrends Community nominated the hard working Laura Kevitt as a finalist for the PID Award. The PID Award, which stands for Passion, Integrity, and Dedication is an honor bestowed on the individual that exudes these qualities. Those in the community that have had the opportunity to work with Honeywell’s Laura Kevitt can attest to her personification of these virtues. Laura, heads up national accounts for Honeywell’s ECC Building Automation Group.
2014 Energy Savings Solution Product of the Year Nominee — Belimo Energy Valve. Belimo’s Energy Valve is a strong favorite to win the 2014 Energy Savings Solution Product of the Year because of its incomparable engineering sophistication and bonafide performance that takes HVAC energy savings to the highest levels. Belimo is delivering the future of energy savings — today! Overview:The Energy Valve is a pressure independent valve that measures and manages coil energy by using an embedded electromagnetic or ultrasonic flow meter, along with supply and return water temperature sensors.
Ken Sinclair’s January 2015 Edition of Automated Buildings: Auto’s Autodidacticism. Another great edition of Automated Buildings is now available! The January, 2015 edition introduces AB’s editor Ken Sinclair’s critical evaluation on how self-learning is rapidly becoming such a necessary and essential tool for the HVAC. In 2011, Seth Godin declared that the internet freed us all from the tyranny of being selected. That it was time to select yourself. We are seeing this self-selection tenet in full motion and experiencing the impact that self-selection has already had on many industries — that have lost their once inalienable gate-keeper rights.
Johnson Controls Chris Eichmann: in the Hunt for ControlTrends Executive of the Year. Johnson Controls, Chris Eichmann is no stranger to success. As a former winner of the ControlTrends Executive of the Year, the hard working Chris, has been nominated as a finalist for the 2014 ControlTrends Executive of the Year – Large Manufacture.I had a chance to catch up with Chris in Atlanta. Check out my interview with Chris to see why he is so popular with the world wide ControlTrends community. Voting ends January 15th, so make sure to vote for your ControlTrends favorites.
Caution: Disruption Ahead! Data Sent to Cloud (Not to BMS) — Daikin Applied Intelligent Equipment. The Daikin-Intel disruption bell tolled rather loudly and clearly at the June 2014 Realcom/IBcon show in Las Vegas. Daikin, one of the world’s largest and most progressive equipment manufacturers, had already rolled out their Rebel Rooftop line, which put them in the pole position (kinda), because merging equipment and controls by utilizing the potency of IoT and new disruptive technology is great and does offer additional value to Daikin’s customers.
ControlTalk NOW’s first guests, John Donahue, owner and CEO of 
Sam McDonald, Honeywell Sales Rep, a controls expert, who answers the following question asked by a building owner from Oakland, CA: We are undergoing a major renovation to one of our facilities. Our contractor has proposed installing the 
ControlTalk NOW’s second guests are Chris Favre and Jeff Houpt from 
.
ControlTalk NOW welcomes our first guest Blue Ridge Technologies’ CEO Bill Dunkleberger and his team of industry all stars. 2015 ControlTrends Awards Finalist 
More from 2015 ControlTrends Awards Finalist Blue Ridge Technologies. 
ControlTalk NOW’s second guest: Dwyer Instruments’ Eric Fritch, Global Business Development Manager. Dwyer Instruments is nominated for the 2015 ControlTrends Awards Peripheral Vendor of the Year. Since 1931, 
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