5/11/2016 BenefitsofIELVSIBMS

BenefitsofIELVSIBMS

TheTraditionalApproach

Imagineanofficewhereeachdepartmentmanagement,accounts,production,sales,
engineering,HRallrandifferentsoftwarepackagesoperatingondifferentcomputernetworks.
Anytimeyouhadtoshareinformationorgenerateareport,variouspeoplewouldhavetopass
documentsaroundeitheronpaperorusingamemorystick.Datawouldhavetobereentered,
importedorconverted.Nothingwouldlineupandkeyinformationwouldbespreadacross
multiplesystems.

Thissoundsridiculous,butthisistheapproachthatisusedwheninstallingcontrolsystemsin
buildings.EachcontrolsystemBMS,security,lighting,metering,electrical,liftcontrols,
generators,hydraulics,etc.aresuppliedandinstalledasseparate,standalonesystems.

ThesecontrolsystemsareoftenreferredtoasExtraLowVoltageorELVsystemsasthey
operateatvoltageslessthan48voltsoverdatacables.

FacilitymanagersneedtolearneveryELVsystemandsomehowpulltogethertheinformation
neededinordertooperateeachsystem.Operatorsarerequiredtologintoandruneach
systemseparatelytomonitorandcontrolthefacality.

EachELVsystemwillhaveitsownworkstation,softwareapplicationsandloginpasswordsto
managefunctionssuchasgraphicdisplays,trends,reports,alarms,schedulesandhistorical
datastorage.Somesystemscanonlysupplysomeofthesefunctions.Infact,somesystems
cantprovideanyofthesefunctionsatall.

TraditionalELVImplementationwithdifferentworkstationsandnetworks
IfdatafromoneELVsystemisrequiredbyanotherELVsystem,itissolvedbyeither:

a.DevelopingaoneoffHighLevelInterfaces(HLIs)complex,custombuiltsoftwareand
http://www.ibms.com.au/benefitsielvs/ 1/6
5/11/2016 BenefitsofIELVSIBMS

hardwaretotransferlimiteddataback/forwardtoeachsystemor

b.Connectvialowlevelinterfaceusinghardwiredrelaysandmultiplecablestoconnect
controllerstogether.

Highlevelinterfacesareexpensive,difficulttomaintainandoftenfailifeithersystemhastobe
upgradedorchanged.

Lowlevelinterfacesarealsoexpensivetoinstallandyouarechargedtwicebytwosuppliersto
connectonewire.Theycanonlypasslimitedinformationsotheytendtobeusedforlimited
purposes(eg.alarmsandstatus).

Theongoingmanagementofchangesandadditionsforeitherinterfaceiscumbersomeand
expensive.

WhatisanIELVS?

AnIntegratedExtraLowVoltageSystem(IELVS)isanewapproachtodesigningand
integratingthedisparatecontrolsystemsinafacilitytoimprovetheoperationofthatfacility.

IELVSensureseverysystemconnectedcommunicatesandsharesallofitsdataviaanindustry
standardopenprotocol.IELVSalsoensuresthedatacollectedfromeverysystemismade
availableforotherclientapplicationtouse.

IELVSsuppliesanindependentuserinterfacethatmonitorsandcontrolseverysystemfroma
centrallocationandovertheweb,asopposedtoatraditionalpathofmultipleworkstationswith
differentloginsandapplications.

Onesetofgraphicsforallsystems.
Onealarmconsoletodisplay,acknowledgeanddispatchalarmsfromallsystems.
Onesetoftimeschedulesusedbyallsystems.

Onedatastorageareaforallhistoricaldatafortrendingandreportingforeverysystem.

IELVSConsolidated,consistentandsimplified

HowDoesitWork?

TheprimarydesignprinciplesofanIELVSareOpenCommunicationsandOpenData.

IELVSworksbyobtainingdatausingmultipleindustrystandardopenprotocols.Thisdatais
usedwithinIELVSandcanalsobeexposedforotherapplicationstouse.IELVScommunicates
directlytofielddevices,plantequipmentandopengatewaysintoeachsystemtoobtain,store,
diagnose,displayandexposedatafromeachsystem.

http://www.ibms.com.au/benefitsielvs/ 2/6
5/11/2016 BenefitsofIELVSIBMS

AnIELVSdesignalsousesasinglenetworktoconnectallsystemstogether.Thenetworkis
installedbyacertifiedcontractorusingindustrystandardequipment.Theconsolidationof
networksremovestheexpenseofseparatenetworksbeinginstalledbyeachsystem
contractor.TheIELVScontractorbecomesthesinglepointforallnetworkmanagement,
connectivity,securityandprovidestheserversorvirtualserversforallcontractorstouse.

IELVSImplementationwithsinglenetworkandnoworkstations
Traditionally,alldatafromeachsystemiseithernotavailableorstopsataproprietaryBMS.An
IELVSsolutionmakesthedataavailableaslive,realtimevaluesorhistoricalrecords.This
allowsclientstofreelychoosedifferentapplicationsthatarefitforpurpose.Opendataallows
applicationssuchasmaintenancepackagestoobtaininformationaboutequipmentsuchas
runtimes,alarmsandwarningstoaidwithpredictivemaintenanceoptions.Energyapplications
haveaccesstoallmetersandambientconditionsfordetailedreporting.Clientspecific
applicationscanbeusedtomonitorkeyperformanceindicatorsinrealtime.

IELVSOpenCommunicationsandOpenData
TheOpenDataprinciplesimplifiestheintegrationofotherapplicationsthatneedtoaccessdata
fromanyELVsystems.Theseapplicationscouldinclude:

TenantWebPortals
AfterHoursBookingandSchedulingSystems
RoomSchedulingSystems
Remotemonitoring,maintenanceandrepairofsystems
EnergyManagement
NABERSReporting
MaintenanceandAssetManagement
AdvancedFaultDetectionandDiagnostics
PredicativeMaintenanceScheduling

http://www.ibms.com.au/benefitsielvs/ 3/6
5/11/2016 BenefitsofIELVSIBMS

EnergyandPerformanceDiagnostics

TheOpenCommunicationsprincipleallowstheinstallationofdifferentsystemsforthesame
area.Expansions,upgradesandvariationscanbesuppliedfromdifferentsuppliersallowinga
competitivetenderprocesstotakeplace.Sincethecommunicationstoeachsystemis
governedbyindustrystandardprotocols,toIELVS,therewillbearenodifferencesbetween
systems.

OpenCommunications,OpenData,reliesonopenanddocumentedformats,standardsand
specificationsandavoidsallclosedproprietaryformatsthatcarrytheriskofbecoming
obsolete.Newsystemsthatbecomeavailableinthefuturewillbeabletointegrateintoan
IELVSdesignbecauseofthespecifiedopenstandards.

FeaturesandBenefits

IELVSbecomestheeyesandearsofafacilityandprovidesthesingleoperatorinterfaceto
viewinformationcollectedandhasthemeansofbeingabletoadjustandmanage,improving
operationalefficiencyandsafety.

AnIELVSdesignminimisestheduplicationofgraphics,trending,reporting,scheduling,data
storage,software,managementfunctions,networkequipmentandcabling.AnIELVSdesign
eliminatestheneedforanyworkstations.OperatorsaccessIELVSusingtheirstandardweb
browserontheirworkorhomecomputerandarepresentedwithaconsistent,consolidatedand
simpleuserinterface.

ThemajorfeaturesofanIELVSdesignare:

Specifiesanopenarchitecturethatusesopenanddocumentedformats,standardsand
specificationsandavoidsclosedproprietaryformatsthatlockaclientintoasinglevendor.
Specifiescertifiednetworkinstallationbasedonindustrystandardequipment.
AnIELVSdesignallowstheinstallationofdifferentELVsystemsforthesamefunctioninone
facility(e.g.DifferentairconditioningcontrolorDDCsystems,differentlightingsystems).
Expansions,upgradesandnewsystemscanbesuppliedfromdifferentsuppliersand
integratedintotheoneIELVS.
Providesaconsolidatedenvironmentforallliveandhistoricaldatastoragefromallcontrol
systemsmaximisingtheabilitytoreport,trendanddiagnosethefacilitiesoperating
performanceandenergyusage.
Providesasinglewebinterfaceintoallsystemsforalloperators.Beingwebbasedsolution
intranetand/orinternetaccesscanbeenabledforallusers.Webaccesscanbegiven
duringconstruction,implementationandcommissioningprovidinganoverviewofeach
systemsprogress.
Anindependentlayertovalidatethecommissioningandoperationsofeachcontrolsystem.

SomeofthemainfeaturesandbenefitsofanIELVSinclude:

http://www.ibms.com.au/benefitsielvs/ 4/6
5/11/2016 BenefitsofIELVSIBMS

Features BenefitsofanIELVS

SingleUserInterfacefor Easiertomaintainandupgrade.
allsystems Fastertroubleshooting.
CommissioningandverificationofallELVsystemsbeing
monitored.

WebbasedUser Easyaccesstoanyonewithauthority.
Interface LessTrainingcosts.
Minimalcosttogiveaccesstotenantsandotherusers.
Simplifiesremoteaccess.
NoWorkstations.

SimplifyOperations OnealarmconsoletounifyalarmsfromeveryELVsystem,
includingnetworkequipment.Thereisnolongertherequirement
tologintomultiplesystemstoseeandacknowledgealarms.
OnesetofgraphicpagesdisplayedusingstandardWEB
browsers.ELVsystemprovidersnolongerneedtosupply
separategraphicpageswhichreducestheiroverallcosts.
Timeschedulesandholidayassignmentsarecentralisedandset
fromonelocation.
Informationfrommultiplesystemscanbecombinedontrends,
reportsandgraphics.

OpenDesignbasedon Avoidsbeinglockedintooriginalsuppliers.
OpenTechnology Expansions,upgradesandmaintenancecanbeputoutto
competitivebidding.
Afutureprooffacility Reducesfitoutcosts.

Consolidatedequipment ELVsupplierscanreducetheirscopebyomittingcommon
requirements(hardware, featuressuchasgraphicpages,trends,reports,frontend
software,networksand equipment,storagedevicesandverticalcablingandnetwork
cabling) equipment.
InitialcapitalreductionsthatfundtheIELVS
Ongoinglifecyclecostsavings.
AllICTequipmentcanbeservicedbyanexperiencedcontractor.

Commonopendatabase Allthefacilitieshistoricaldataisstoredinasinglelocationforall
forgatheringinformation systems.
andreporting Improvedresponsetofaultsandproblems.

http://www.ibms.com.au/benefitsielvs/ 5/6
5/11/2016 BenefitsofIELVSIBMS

Improvesproductivityoffacilitymanagementteam.
Providequalityinformationandreportstomanagement,facility
ownersandtenants.
Easiertogeneratenewincomestreamsfromtenants.
Improvedcompliancemonitoringofessentialservices(fire,
emergencylighting,etc).
Abilitytopassdatafromonesystemtoanother.
AbilitytomixandmatchtrendsandreportsfrommultipleELV
systems.
Provideaplatformtoencouragecleverstrategiesforreducing
consumptionbyintegratingthefunctionalityofpreviously
separateELVsystems.
Simplifiestheimplementationofadvancedfaultdiagnosticsand
predictivemaintenancestrategies

Singlesourceforall ImproveNABERSratings.
EnergyEfficiency Reducedoperatingcosts.
Reporting Singlereportingplatformformonitoringenergytargetsfor
NABERS.

Independentoverview BecausetheIELVSisnotapartofanyELVsystem,itoffersan
andvalidationofELV independentmeansforverifyingtheoperationofalltheELV
systems. systems.Thiscangreatlyimprovecommissioningandongoing
faultidentificationwhenthefacilityisoperating.

Conclusion

WebelievethatprovidingafullyopenIELVStheendresultwouldbeafacilitythatisfar
superiortothatnormallyspecifiedandtheclientwouldhaveabuildingmanagementsystem
thatiseasiertouseandprovidemoreflexibilityforthefuture.Mostimportantly,theclient
wouldbeabletocloselymonitor,diagnoseandaltertheoperationsofthefacilityensuringthe
mostefficientperformanceisachievedyearonyear.

SectorsandProjects

http://www.ibms.com.au/benefitsielvs/ 6/6