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t-mac second generation BMS

On the eve of new legislation being introduced in the UK governing energy consumption and efficiencies in buildings, Alan Wilkinson, Managing Director of t-mac Technologies and FAW Electronics, one of the UK's leading designers and manufacturers of customised electronic control solutions, voices his thoughts on the increasing importance of IT facilitated building control systems in meeting legislative requirements. With the impending implementation of the Energy Performance of Buildings Directive and the changes to Part L of the Building Regulations, due to come into force from next year, the need for facilities managers to provide tangible proof that buildings under their control are both energy efficient and managed responsibly is now firmly on the agenda. Flexible and interactive building control systems are becoming increasingly important to delivering optimum efficiency. t-mac is one of the new generation of internet facilitated remote monitoring systems to enter the market. This discreet 'second generation' building management system can remotely monitor, record and provide critical readings and historic reports on conditions imperative to the new regulations, such as heating, cooling, lighting and associated wastage levels. Listed on the Carbon Trust's Energy Technology List, it is one of the few approved solutions which meets this building management legislation. The t-mac device is easily integrated within or installed close to the HVAC&R equipment, or independently installed within the building. The unit continuously collects data on the equipment or building via analogue and/or digital inputs. This data is then automatically transmitted wirelessly over the Internet by General Packet Radio Service (GPRS) (or alternatively via Ethernet or telephone line) at regular intervals off site, to a central server for remote viewing and analysis via any Internet enabled PC. While data logging is not a new concept, it is t-mac's ability to allow users to remotely data log, monitor and control information and gain access to analyse this data via any Internet enabled PC anywhere, and at any time, that is way ahead of other BMS devices. t-mac does not require dedicated PC/maintenance stations and associated software. Users log-on from their PCs through a unique and secure access control portal (username and password) to view live and historic data relating to conditions and status of individual or multiple pieces of equipment, departments or entire property sites worldwide. Should the pre-set levels of equipment operation fluctuate outside the desired limits, which are imperative for condition critical zones, t-mac acts as an early warning system, sending accurate, detailed information about the change and requesting remedial action be taken. These alert notifications are sent via SMS and/or email to any number of pre-identified recipients as soon as a fault occurs, enabling decision-makers to respond promptly, on many occasions even in advance of a hazard or equipment failure occurring. Users can remotely change any of the programmed settings on the unit via a secure web page; these are then downloaded to the device. For remote control requirements, t-mac can be pre-set to automatically turn on air conditioning systems or remotely shut-down machinery should temperature levels become critical for example. Via the web page users can also carry out remote diagnostics on the equipment, department or site and request, through t-mac, to trigger a control application. Some media sources are lauding web based BMS as the next generation BMS. In my opinion there are many disadvantages to a web based system, mainly due to its connections through established Ethernet links and the requirement for users to log into the device via a dedicated IP address. There is no requirement for t-mac to be linked into a building's existing IT system as it communicates via wireless GPRS links - it is entirely stand-alone, therefore if a building's IT systems fail, t-mac won't - plus there is no additional network 'traffic' potentially slowing down internal IT systems. Part L of the Building Regulations requires that a log of building services, plant and controls is kept to highlight assets, methods of operation and maintenance and any other additional details that enable energy consumption to be monitored and controlled. t-mac can account for energy consumption of equipment through the following techniques: log meter and sub-meter total gas, electricity and oil consumed within the building measure heating or cooling energy supplied to the building measure the run-hours of equipment that operate at a constant load measure the load of equipment allow users to estimate energy consumption from metered water for hot water supply monitor run efficiency of the water heater estimate non-constant small power loads From monitoring and measuring the above conditions, t-mac can create necessary reports for the log book to prove that assets and buildings are being run in an energy efficient manner. Part L2 of the regulations is aimed at improving efficiencies of installed services (HVAC&R, etc) and their operations to reduce energy consumption. t-mac can assist with analysis and production of valuable management information relating to equipment conditions, associated wastages, energy and asset inefficiencies and costs. The system can determine and measure where and how much energy is being used over a specific period and compare it to annual targets. Facilities managers can log on through their dedicated web page to view this asset information via interactive graphs, tables and gauges, which can easily be downloaded into CSV format for standard database analysis and reporting. t-mac achieves all of this without additional costly software, via any Internet enabled PC and without the requirement for human interaction. This type of report analysis allows adjustments to be made to increase efficiencies and, once made, further tracking reports can be produced to see how great the level of energy efficiency improvements are and how much has been saved over a designated period. The legislation on meeting building performance criteria will be enforced no later than April 2006. Meeting new legislation should not be seen as a difficult or costly process. A t-mac system can be installed and up and running in a matter of minutes for under £2,000. Not only does t-mac's advanced remote monitoring capabilities ensure equipment and sites are controlled and managed 24/7, there is an immediate return on investment achieved through the reduction in requirement for service engineers to undertake site visits to monitor critical conditions first-hand or employees hired to manually monitor site-based monitoring systems from a centralised location/call centre on a 24-hour basis. In addition, t-mac provides accurate data for facilities managers' analysis and reporting requirements. Through its alerts and 24/7 data logging facility, t-mac highlights and records equipment or site inefficiencies allowing facilities managers to calculate and plan valuable cost-saving or energy management activities based on actual evidence. The t-mac system is listed on the Carbon Trust's Energy Technology List for Automatic Monitoring and Targeting. Companies installing a t-mac system benefit from 100% capital allowance on their first year of expenditure.

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