BMS INTEGRATION
Connect the operable facade to the building management system.
Automated windows and louvres can become an active part of the wider building-control strategy when the facade-control system and BMS are designed to exchange the right information in the right way.
EBSA develops the interface around the required building operation — defining commands, status, monitoring, priorities and communication pathways so the operable facade works with the BMS, mechanical services and other connected systems rather than operating as an isolated subsystem.
The interface follows the operating strategy — not the other way around.
LOW-LEVEL INTERFACES
Hard-wired commands and status signals for straightforward system coordination
HIGH-LEVEL COMMUNICATION
Networked communication where the project requires richer control, status or monitoring
GATEWAYS + NETWORKS
Selected controller, gateway and network architecture connecting facade controls with building systems
COMMISSIONING
Interface testing carried through to the final movement and response of the operable facade
INTERFACE STRATEGY
Define what the building needs to exchange before choosing the interface.
BMS integration is most effective when the project first defines what the building needs the operable facade to do, what information has to move between systems and which system is responsible for each part of the sequence.
A simple application may only require an enable, inhibit or open/close command with a small amount of status feedback. A larger project may need multiple zones, defined positions, operating states, alarms, faults, monitoring, diagnostics or coordinated sequences across distributed control systems.
EBSA starts with those operational requirements and develops the interface architecture from there.
01 — BUILDING REQUIREMENT
02 — OPERATING MODES
03 — COMMANDS
04 — STATUS + FEEDBACK
05 — PRIORITIES
06 — CONTROL ARCHITECTURE
07 — INTERFACE TYPE
08 — GATEWAY / NETWORK
09 — TESTING
10 — COMMISSIONING
COMMANDS
Define what the BMS needs to ask the facade-control system to do.
STATUS
Define what operating, alarm, fault or position information needs to be returned.
PRIORITIES
Establish how BMS commands interact with local control, weather response, mechanical operation and any higher-priority smoke-control sequence.
ZONES
Map the building-control zones to the actual facade-control groups and operating areas.
RESPONSIBILITY
Define which system owns the decision, which system issues the command and which system confirms the outcome.
The interface should carry only the information the project needs — but it should carry that information clearly.
INTERFACE PATHWAYS
Use the level of integration that matches the project.
Not every project needs a network protocol. EBSA selects the integration pathway around the required operating outcome, the control platform and the level of information the BMS needs to exchange.
LOW-LEVEL HARD-WIRED INTERFACES
Straightforward commands and status between systems.
Hard-wired interfaces can provide reliable coordination where the project needs defined commands, enables, inhibits or status signals without a wider networked data exchange.
Typical uses can include:
• Open / close or ventilation commands
• Enable / inhibit signals
• Operating-state confirmation
• Alarm or fault indication
• Mechanical-system interlocks
• Defined mode selection
Low-level does not mean low capability. For many projects, a well-defined hard-wired interface is the clearest solution.
HIGH-LEVEL / NETWORKED COMMUNICATION
Exchange richer operating information through the selected architecture.
Where the project requires broader control, monitoring or data exchange, the facade-control system can use suitable network and gateway pathways to communicate with the wider building system.
The final pathway depends on the selected D+H control architecture, the required data points, the BMS platform and the project sequence of operation.
High-level communication should add useful control or visibility, not complexity for its own sake.
BUILDING OPERATION
Coordinate the facade around the way the building needs to operate.
The BMS interface can sit within a wider operating strategy that combines facade automation, environmental inputs, local control and mechanical services.
NORMAL VENTILATION
Enable or coordinate automated openings during normal building operation.
PURGE + NIGHT VENTILATION
Support scheduled or commanded opening sequences where they form part of the project ventilation strategy.
WEATHER RESPONSE
Coordinate BMS operation with the facade-control system’s defined rain, wind or other weather priorities.
MECHANICAL COORDINATION
Exchange enables, inhibits, mode commands or status so operable facade elements and mechanical systems support the same building strategy.
LOCAL USER CONTROL
Define how local switches or touch controls interact with central building commands.
STATUS + FAULT MONITORING
Return useful operating information to the wider building system where the selected architecture supports it.
The BMS does not replace the facade-control system. It coordinates with it.
PRIORITY + CONTROL
Different building systems can share the same facade — but not the same priority.
Automated windows and louvres may participate in day-to-day natural ventilation, mechanical coordination and smoke-control operation within the same building. The control architecture must define how those operating modes interact and which commands take priority.
BMS / NORMAL OPERATION
The BMS can supervise or coordinate day-to-day facade operation through the selected interface.
MECHANICAL SYSTEMS
Fans, dampers, air-conditioning and mixed-mode ventilation can exchange operating signals with the facade-control system where the project strategy requires coordination.
WEATHER FUNCTIONS
Rain, wind or other environmental conditions can modify or inhibit normal facade operation according to the selected architecture.
SMOKE-CONTROL OPERATION
Where the same openings form part of a smoke-control strategy, the required emergency sequence takes priority over normal ventilation and BMS commands as defined by the project.
The sequence of operation determines the priorities. The interface carries them.
COMMUNICATION ARCHITECTURE
Move the right information between facade controls and the building.
EBSA can use applicable D+H controller, gateway and network technologies to connect facade automation with the wider building-control environment.
The architecture is selected around the required system outcome rather than around a protocol name.
MODBUS
Suitable EBSA control architectures can use Modbus pathways to exchange defined information with building systems.
BACNET + KNX
Gateway-based pathways can support BACnet or KNX integration where the selected D+H architecture and project requirements call for them.
ADCOMNET
D+H AdComNet can coordinate compatible D+H control components across distributed or multi-panel architectures before information is exchanged with the wider building system.
ACB DRIVE COMMUNICATION
Compatible D+H ACB drives can support addressed communication, defined positioning, operating information and diagnostics within suitable control architectures.
GATEWAYS
The selected gateway provides the translation point between the facade-control architecture and the external building network where required.
The protocol is part of the architecture. The operating requirement remains the starting point.