PDF: BACnet Europe Journal 11 - 10/09

ing BACnet vendors from Europe,
US and Canada along
with 33 developers from Australia
to the US and India to
Finland.”
The highlight of the event
was testing the latest products
in system sessions where
all vendors and most of their
devices were connected together
within the same BACnet
system. Round table testing
gave all the companies the
opportunity to do some specific
testing, like sub-network
testing or MS/TP interoperability
testing. “The idea of
BACnet is to combine multiple
buildings to the same system,
which actually can be up
to almost 4.2 million devices.
Each building usually has its
own network, which is seen
as a sub-network from the
top, in such as way that MS/
TP is a sub-network to BACnet/IP,”
explains Heikkila.
A new concept at this year’s
meeting was the use of
Plugfest tables, or stations,
with wheels, so that each
participant could move freely
between each test session
without having to use tools
to disconnect devices.
The BACnet highway
“This created a BACnet highway,
with tables down the
left and right side of the room
and with users travelling with
their table along the highway,
in an agreed direction to
the next session,” says Frank
Schubert from MBS GmbH.
“Previously we used permanent
tables and had to disconnect
devices. Now we simply
disconnect the controllers and
as laptops use batteries, there
is minimal disruption, while
maximizing time. We need to
adopt this format for future
Plugfest events.”
The last “all in” test was described
by delegates as “going
very well,” with all devices
and vendors connected
together and sharing valuable
information about how each
other’s devices work together.
The event was opened by
Panu Virolainen, Vice President,
Technology, of ABB’s
low voltage AC drives business,
who highlighted the
importance of BACnet for
ABB’s low voltage AC drives
used in HVAC systems
within the building sector.
“BACnet is growing fast,”
Virolainen said, “thanks to
an excellent underlying product,
BIG-EU’s promotion of
BACnet globally; and the
enormous marketing efforts
through newsletters, campaigns
and exhibitions like
Light & Building. This is definitely
a big opportunity for all
of us.”
The future with BACnet
During the meeting Bill Swan
of Alerton outlined the ambitious
future direction of
BACnet, indicating that some
120 change proposals are in
the pipeline. The extent of
the work is reflected in the
number of active working
groups which include lighting
applications, safety and secu-
BACnet Interest Group
rity, MS/TP LAN and serial
communications, utilities integration
and XML applications.
Other applications being
studied for BACnet include
CCTV monitoring, with
proposals already submitted
from China and Germany;
elevator monitoring, where
Hong Kong is planning to
monitor the alarms and status
of thousands of elevators;
and building energy utility
integration within BACnet,
with active discussions
taking place between the
US utilities and the BACnet
committee.
Meanwhile Frank Schubert
of MBS GmbH outlined
what was new in the
next BTL test plan which
was released in the summer
of 2009 including workstation
tests and profiles such as
advanced workstation, lifesafety
workstation, operator
workstation and operator
display.