HVAC Control in the New Millennium.pdf - HVAC.Amickracing

Energy and Power Management, Distributed Control Trends 37Chapter 2Energy andPower Management,Distributed Control TrendsThe late 1980s and the early 1990s were not the best of times forstarting advanced distributed control projects. This period wascharacterized by slow or no growth and recession. Industryresponded by cutting costs and drastic reorganizations. Thesetook the form of mergers with plant closings or cutbacks, layoffs anddelayed purchases for capital equipment.The reduction of personnel put some pressure on the survivingdepartments to increase automation and become more efficient. The financialstaff analyzed operations more closely and offered areas thatmight be improved. These economic factors as well as technologicaladvances in electronics and control hardware allowed changes that werenot possible before. Among the benefits of this new technology weretools that allow users to document procedures and justify them for thenext budget year.The mission to reduce costs did not mean quality could be sacrificed.Quality needed to be improved since quality expectations andstandards existed because of regulation, market competition and litigation.Deregulation IssuesPower deregulation is a reality in several states such as Californiaand pilot programs are going in several others. The way energy isbought is changing rapidly. Energy deregulation offers great potentialfor cost savings.©2001 by The Fairmont Press, Inc. All rights reserved.