Ashrae Journal - November 2008 - (Page B10)

Seeing The Light ® With BACnet By David Fisher, Member ASHRAE T he international standard ISO 16484-5, also known as “BACnet” began as an ASHRAE (then ANSI) standard in 1995. From the beginning, BACnet was intended to embrace all types of systems found in building automation including lighting and lighting applications. BACnet’s vision has never been limited to simply integrating lighting with other building automation. The intent, and actual practice, has always been to provide a technology that could serve as the primary means of communication between any type of automation device, and lighting systems certainly figure into that vision. This article describes some features of BACnet for lighting applications that, as of the time this article was written, are not yet part of the standard, but are expected to be published soon. BACnet provides standardized mechanisms for many types of building automation system (BAS) interoperability based on an object-oriented model. Individual B10 safety, and access control. Each device that participates in the BACnet network has its own device instance that uniquely identifies that device. Devices organize their information into objects identified by their object identiἀers. Some of the most basic lighting applications for BACnet can be easily based on combinations of the nine basic object types: analog, binary and multistate input, output, and value. When lighting applications get more complex, these object types are more limiting. While a Binary Output object (BO) can be used for simple on/off lighting outputs, there are common lighting applications that require additional features that do not map so obviously onto the BO object’s standard properties. For example, a commonly used feature in on/ off lighting outputs is called blink warning. When the output is turned off, as a result of writing OFF or INACTIVE to About the Author David Fisher is president of PolarSoft Inc. in Pittsburgh. He has been active in the development of the BACnet standard since its inception. automation system devices can perform any type of function, from lighting controllers, to dimmers, to wall stations, as well as HVAC, security, fire and life B A C n e t ® To d a y | A S u p p l e m e n t t o A S H R A E J o u r n a l November 2008

Table of Contents Feed for the Digital Edition of Ashrae Journal - November 2008

Ashrae Journal - November 2008 Contents Commentary Industry News Meetings and Shows Feature Articles Reducing Data Center Energy Consumption Building Sciences Feature Articles Sustainable Nature Center Emerging Technologies Special Products Washington Report Special Supplement: BACnet® Today BACnet® Goes Green Seeing the Light with BACnet® BACnet® on Campus BACnet® for Net Zero Analyzing BACnet® BACnet® at Xerox Campus BACnet® in Europe BACnet® for Green Library BACnet® at the University of Minnesota: Flexibility, Interoperability InfoCenter Product Showplace Classified Advertising Advertising Index

Ashrae Journal - November 2008

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