What Is a Building Management System?

Continuously Enhancing HVAC and other energy operations across campus is critical for reducing costs and maximizing an asset’s useful life. To manage these systems, many enterprises use a building management system (BMS). Learn more about how these are integrated into a building’s performance, the benefits they provide, and the innovative BMS solutions offered by BuildingLogiX.

What Is a Building Management System?

A BMS is an innovative control system that monitors and manages various mechanical and electrical services throughout a building or campus. These systems are usually implemented in major facilities and serve a critical role in managing energy consumption. Most BMSs are made up of three main components:

Hardware: Including digital controls, sensors, actuators, and cables
Software: programming and configuration elements for control, operations, and programming & maintenance
Networking protocols: Including transfer control or internet protocols and building automation controls

These elements enable maintenance teams to have a holistic view of a building’s performance and reduce waste by making real-time improvements.

How Does a Building Management System Work?

Implementing a BMS throughout a building plays a critical role in managing internal conditions throughout the day. These systems connect to various sensors, valves, and switches and monitor them to manage activity efficiently. BMS monitor the following elements across a building:

Terminal Air Devices

Terminal air devices such as VAV boxes, fan coils, unit ventilators and the like are dispersed throughout the facility and are the “touch point” of providing occupant comfort to the intricacis of a building’s HVAC system. With so many Terminal Air devices in a facility, a physical inspection of all of these critical components is nearly impossible. Yet their poor performance is harming occupant comfort and wasting energy. Leveraging BMS is a practical means to ensure efficient and proper operation of your vast campus of Terminal Air Devices, and puts you squarely on a path for proactive facility maintenance and less at the tyranny of constant reactive hot and cold calls.

Lighting Control Systems

Implementing a BMS provides value by monitoring and controlling a building’s lighting systems. . These elements are spread throughout the building and are easy to leave on consuming energy even with a space unoccupied. External and signage lighting is often a culprit to be found left lit 24 hours per day. Utilizing a management system reduces operational costs by alerting your maintenance team to minor issues before developing into major problems.

HVAC Systems

HVAC systems are crucial for maintaining occupant comfort. A BMS monitors duct temperature, pressure, humidity, and exhaust temperature to ensure operational efficiency.

Central Heating

Having a functioning central heating system is important for maintaining occupant comfort during the winter. Utilizing a BMS helps your team monitor performance and reduce energy usage.

Chilled Water System

Chillers are frequently seen in large buildings and are one of the biggest energy consumers for a structure. Implementing a BMS generates long-term cost savings by extending the asset life of this expensive equipment. A BMS regularly monitors a chiller plant’s behavior and issues an alert when water temperatures reach improper levels.

Looking for a Building Management System That Suits Your Needs?

Contact BuildingLogiX today to learn how our Connected Building Services simplifies energy management by turning critical data into actionable solutions.

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Building Automation System vs. Building Management System: Which is Right for Your Building?

Building management systems and building automation systems are frequently used interchangeably because they offer similar solutions. Both systems continuously monitor building operations to increase energy efficiency and enhance flexibility and control.

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Benefits of Integrated Building Management Systems

Two of the biggest issues facing maintenance teams across the country are the shrinking workforce and budgets. These problems mean facilities technicians must work smarter, not harder. Implementing BMS throughout a building allows staff members to regularly monitor systems and verify their operational efficiency. Other benefits include:

Increased Energy Savings

The primary purpose of BMS is to enhance various systems and reduce energy waste. A facility’s BMS limits long-term energy consumption by leveraging innovative diagnostic and user-friendly alert tools.

Reduced Downtime

Maintaining occupant comfort is a top priority, and enterprises can’t afford lengthy downtime with critical energy systems. A properly functioning BMS reduces downtime by alerting your maintenance team to minor issues. This allows them to repair problems while keeping essential systems operating.

Extended Asset Life

Many energy systems are designed to keep working despite minor issues; they just work harder to maintain productivity. A BMS enhances asset life by allowing your technical team to solve small problems that don’t impact long-term efficiency.

Enhance Your Building Management System With BuildingLogiX

Partnering with the right provider is critical when determining which BMS suits your needs. BuildingLogiX understands that building systems offer large quantities of time-consuming data that are difficult to read. Our Connected Building Services (CBS) simplifies energy management by efficiently gathering and reading data and converting them into actionable solutions. We offer BMS that certify your building’s operational efficiency and help maintenance teams reach their performance goals. Some of CBS’s features include:

Fault Detection and Diagnostics

Locating and resolving problems is challenging if your team doesn’t know where to look. With CBS and our Fault Detection and Diagnostics (FDD) tool, your maintenance technicians will already know where problems exist before arriving on location. FDD is configurable to suit your system and deliver the relevant data that matters most to your maintenance staff.

Data Visualization

Many systems generate data that only trained technicians can read. BuildingLogiX understands that time is critical when repairing equipment and offers data visualization tools that simplify data translation. Our solutions generate graphs, tables, and other graphics that help anyone understand where issues exist.

Chiller Plant Optimization

Efficient chiller plants are critical for reducing energy waste. CBS provides a chiller plant tool that continuously monitors systems and ensures they operate smoothly. If issues develop, FDD alerts your team to the exact location and enables them to repair minor problems rapidly.

Optimize Integrated Building Management Systems With BuildingLogiX

BuildingLogiX is a technology-driven service provider that’s helped facilities across multiple industries since 2006. We understand that large enterprises treat buildings as assets and work hard daily to maximize value. Our team works with clients to seamlessly implement CBS throughout their campus and provide regular check-ins to offer improvement suggestions. We’ve deployed CBS in more than 500 million sq. ft. and regularly see more than 10% utility cost reductions in the first year. Contact BuildingLogiX today to learn more about our innovative BMS solutions.

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What Is a Building Management System?