8 Benefits that IoT brings to BMS

In our previous edition of this newsletter, we saw how an IoT BMS shifts the responsibility of the BMS's performance from the building owner or the facility team to the OEM of the BMS. Many of the key issues of traditional BMSs are resolved by this shift. It also bring down the building's energy consumptions or the carbon foot print.

In this edition, we look at 8 benefits of an IoT enabled BMS.

#8. Cloud

Hardware, software and space comes with its issues of management, support and cost. The traditional BMS is hardwired into the building it is managing. This is core to its architecture and make the architecture very inflexible. IoT BMS which inherently resides on the cloud, offers a radical change over the traditional BMS:

• The cost of the sever infrastructure is lower
• The server can scale from managing one floor, to multiple floors, to multiple buildings and multiple applications
• The Cloud architecture is completely decentralized. The OEM, who is the ultimate expert, manages the system

Technology has moved on since the traditional BMS first made its appearance several decade ago. In those days, the BMS offered building automation, which was in itself a big advancement. Now when automation commoditized, IoT BMS addresses problems of today.

7. Flexibility

IoT BMS offers flexibility of Application, Access and Location

• Flexibility of Application. Software Updates & Upgrades

Imagine that the OEM develops a new application (say, pollution monitoring, presence based cooling or any other) for one of his client. This application is immediately available to all his other client at an incremental cost. No more travel to each location and implementing the application on perhaps a ten year old server of the traditional BMS. The same applies to updates and upgrades too - these are immediately transmitted to all the OEMs' clients.

In case of the traditional BMS, we may need to upgrade the hardware, the server software, and the OEM's engineer will need to travel to all the locations as well.

Assuming, of course, that the client agrees to the OEM's commercials for the upgrade!

• Flexibility of Access

A IoT BMS on the cloud is not bound to one building. The OEM's engineer has ease of access, which means that s/he can now access the BMS from her/his office or home or wherever s/he is. This flexibility of access ensures (a) that one team can now manages multiple clients and (b) experts are now available to solve issues - no more workarounds which compromises with the functionality of the BMS.

• Flexibility of Location

Buildings are distributed across cities, states and even countries. It is not a trivial matter to build trained teams at several locations for the upkeep of the BMS. IoT BMS usually will be located at hubs where professionals are readily available. In addition, as access is not restricted to a physical office, the resources can be a distributed team working from homes and offices.

#6. Scalability

An IoT BMS, allows scaling the scope of services inside the building, and permits ease of adding new building.

• Scalability inside a building

Inside a building, things change - new floors are added, existing floors are modified. New applications are needed - say a new connected fire detection system or new pollution monitoring system may need to be added and integrated to the HVAC system. This scaling inside the building in a traditional system needs a complicated wiring to the BMS through conduits across the floors of the building.

In case of an IoT BMS, the devices can report on the internet to the IoT BMS and from there the HVAC can be controlled based on the inputs from the devices. Installing the application in old and incompatible hardware is not required as the application is already available in the IoT BMS.

• Scalability of adding new buildings

New buildings means a bunch of new devices and equipment. Unlike traditional BMSs, in IoT BMS, we need no new servers, wiring. The new building, represented by new set of devices, equipment, sensors, can be easily made to report the BMS on the internet.

#5. On-demand Data

IoT systems work on streaming data from the devices / sensors / equipment. The frequency of data streaming in seconds or minutes or hours. A large amount of data is now available, which can be used for analytics. This means that we can do novel applications, say for predictive maintenance or for energy optimization. This means a more efficient control of the building, a smaller carbon footprint and lower energy bills.

#4. Greater Security

Unlike popular perception, an IoT system on the cloud offer a higher security compared with a traditional BMS. Why? Because -

• The device and server software & firmware is always current

Devices and servers with old version of software and firmware can have several bugs which are addressed in the newer versions. Hackers exploit such vulnerabilities.

What changes in IoT BMS? The OEM will need to keep all versions current as it is on the cloud as there is only one version - the one on the cloud!

• All devices and users connect to the server after authentication

What changes in IoT BMS? As the OEM now manages the BMS, strict policies are followed for user control and management. Even the access rights are defined and restricted as per the user need.

In traditional BMSs, this is managed by the facility managers. As user rights management is not a core process the company, quite often, there are breaches or passwords are shared or simple enough to guess (admin, admin123!).

• All communication between the users, devices and server are encrypted

Old systems may have outdated encryption or no encryption at all! Or, when new devices are added, it is simpler to add them in unencrypted mode. Unless the facility manager has a process in place, such vulnerabilities will always remain because they many not have a defined policy in place.

What changes in IoT BMS? The OEM has a strict policy in place because a security breach means a loss of reputation which can lead to penalties and punitive actions as defined in the contract.

3. Functionality

In a traditional BMS, functionalities are limited due to these 2 primary reasons:

• Functionalities are limited by the PO you had placed years ago!

The BMS usually remains static after installation. The system could have been purchased years or even decades ago. Once installed, the BMS will remain functional and deliver the intended services for a few years. Subsequently, it sort of decays away to an "ON-OFF" system.

Why does this happen with most BMS's?

a) Wiring across the entire building which happened when BMS installation was in project stage is now quite difficult and costly in a building in active use.

b) The computer hardware becomes dated - adding features may need the hardware to be upgraded first. This may become technically and commercially challenging.

c) New additions may not be permitted by the OEM unless the license is updated, which in turn means payment of update and upgrade fees, which seldom happens.

• Functionalities are limited by the architecture:

The (hardware and software) architecture which was in place years ago may limit the features which can be added. A complete overhaul may be needed, which becomes tedious and expensive.

2. Low Cost

• Cost of ownership of an IoT BMS is lower because there is no upfront cost associated with hardware to be purchased. The machines are rented from a cloud service provider hence they have all the associated benefits - scaling (up or down), no obsolesce, no space and no other infrastructure (like power) is needed.
• Operational cost are lower because, operations being now the responsibility of the vendor wo ensures smooth functioning of both the hardware and software as payments are linked to performance and is bought after competitive bidding.
• Lower feature addition costs are lower too. Features which are developed as per the OEM roadmap or due to need expressed by one of the customers are available at an incremental cost to all the clients of the OEM. There are no software or hardware upgrade needed.

1. Sustainability

A strong emergent benefit of the IoT BMS is that it is inherently more sustainable, because:

• IoT BMS is always finetuned for efficiency because the engagement with the OEM makes efficiency the central premise of the IoT BMS.
• IoT BMS is always functioning as payments are linked to keeping it functional. A functional BMS is key to keep consumption low in the building, hence a step towards sustainability.
• An IoT BMS enhances circular economy - as the OEM is not in a running contract to keep the BMS functional, he ensures that the equipment / computers / devices supplied have a long functional life and is repairable.

A traditional BMS has outlived its utility. When it first made it appearance more than half a century, it was a great tool for automating various aspects of a building. In those days, there was no global warming or a lens on its purchase and running cost. It was a great step forward for those times.

However, unfortunately, we are stuck with its age-old architecture. The incumbent players have no incentive to upgrade.

But today, we have an opportunity. If we make the switch to the current technologies, an IoT based BMS will be the most logical choice. It will save wastage and solve some key entrenched issues in the way we manage buildings. Lets remember why we need it - buildings consumes as much as 55% of the world's energy.