The recent AHR Expo in Las Vegas was a terrific show. I hope you were able to follow our daily coverage of the show online. One prominent element of the show was a continuation of the trend toward connected, communicating and smart controls and components.
[CHARTBEAT:]
The idea, pioneered by Nest Labs that you don’t need to program the thermostat because it will “learn” your patterns, has spilled over into other products. Power-Flo Pumps displayed a hydronic circulator that you could program if you want, but it can also learn the performance patterns of the heating system. Taco Inc.’s SmartPlug Instant Hot Water Control won the 2017 AHR Expo Innovation Award Product of the Year at the Show’s Innovation Awards ceremony in Las Vegas. You don’t need to program it because it learns how and when you use domestic hot water.
Daikin Applied has integrated connected and communicating controls into its commercial lines. Daikin’s Intelligent Equipment connects directly to 150 data points on rooftop and air-cooled chiller units to monitor energy consumption at the equipment level for more accurate performance measurement. Intelligent Equipment was named a finalist for the 2017 AHR Innovation Awards in the Building Automation category.
Vertiv, formerly Emerson Network Power, announced that two of its most popular Liebert cooling systems for small IT spaces are available with the iCOM CMS Monitoring and Control System that enables remote monitoring, management and alarm troubleshooting for IT managers and service technicians.
Connected and communicating controls play a big part of Armstrong Fluid Technologies’ entire pump line from 1-HP to 1,250-HP. The pumps come with wireless connectivity, new integrated controls, Parallel Sensorless Pump Control, and on-board web services.
I’m old enough to remember when early building automation systems were just used to open and close valves because we frankly had no idea what else to do with them.
Delta Controls debuted the eZNTW, an advanced BACnet thermostat, to expand its enteliZONE thermostat product line. Also a finalist in the AHR Expo Innovation Award in the Building Automation category, the eZNTW comes with onboard WiFi to make it IoT-ready and enOcean wireless capabilities for HVAC controls. The eZNTW performs functions from basic temperature monitoring to indoor air quality and occupancy sensing.
I was eating lunch in the press room during the show when an engineering editor I’ve known for years noted that adoption of smart controls isn’t setting the world on fire and opined that users don’t want smart and connected controls. I think, however, that the industry hasn’t done a good job showing the benefits to users. I’m old enough to remember when early building automation systems were just used to open and close valves because we frankly had no idea what else to do with them.
Here’s a good example of the benefits. Aerco boilers, a Watts subsidiary, talked about its onAER Remote Monitoring function. onAer is a monitoring system that provides contractors or facilities managers with an overview of all sites; plant efficiency status; a list of which units require immediate action, demand attention or need maintenance; a breakout of individual unit performance including efficiency; O2 levels; cycles per hour; a list of fault events with possible causes and suggested actions, and technical data including heartbeat records with ability to graph data so you can view trends.
Is that not useful? A pump manufacturer once told me that a sewage treatment plant could have 600 pumps. That’s a lot of electricity. Wouldn’t a dashboard like that be useful?
Better user interfaces will help, including functions that suggest fixes to problems. Maybe they should include voice control like Google Home or Amazon Alexa, such as, “onAer, show me the boilers in building two.”
I’m a believer in smart controls, and I think you should be too.