Engineered Systems - September 2008 - (Page 4B)

COMPANY BACnet Feature PROFILE BACnet SUPPLEMENT SECTION Contemporary Controls Contemporary Controls’ Expertise Guides Customers Through the Network Maze The Business of BACnet®: Where Opportunity KNOCKS! Contemporary Controls is your ideal partner for applying robust network technology to your building automation project. With over 30 years in electronics design, development, and manufacturing, our Ethernet Plug-and-Play and managed switches, ARCNET® hubs, and BACnet® connectivity products facilitate communication between controllers, computers, sensors, and actuators in environments unsuitable to ofﬁce-grade equipment. The BAS Remote supports BACnet®/IP protocol providing universal input/output connections to common HVAC devices. The BAS Router supports BACnet®/IP to MS/TP connectivity to utilize existing Ethernet infrastructures. Contemporary Controls has the experience designing specialty products to meet the most demanding of applications including UL 864. BY ANDY MCMILLAN O CONTACT INFORMATION: Contemporary Controls Judy Thomas, Marketing Communications Coordinator 2431 Curtiss Street Downers Grove, IL 60515 630-963-7070 630-963-0109 http://www.basautomation.com 4B n the surface, BACnet® might appear to be all about products and technology. A casual review of Google search results on BACnet certainly supports that view. Glancing at the ﬁrst few pages of results suggests that most of what is published on BACnet focuses on its technical underpinnings, the system integration that it enables, or the products that support it. And, as an engineer at heart (and a long time ago by trade), I am enthused about the technology, the products, and the integration. But, BACnet is about much more than that. BACnet is about creating opportunities for a broad range of users and suppliers to build value for their organizations by doing business in new ways. The initial motivation for developing BACnet was more business-oriented than technical. It was driven by key users who wanted to give multiple suppliers the opportunity to competitively bid on projects, even when those projects had to be integrated with previously installed systems. While this required the development of a technical standard, the technology itself was not the point. Giving users and suppliers the opportunity to do business differently was the goal — and with the nearly universal adoption of BACnet by controls suppliers, it is becoming a reality. Beyond the opportunities for expanded competitive bidding though, BACnet is creating many other opportunities for users and suppliers who are willing to listen when opportunity knocks. One interesting area of opportunity is supplier “co-opetition.” Widespread adoption of BACnet allows competing controls suppliers to jointly develop products and/or OEM products with each other. This allows each participant to offer customers more product options while reducing development costs. The net result is higher value for users and better margins for suppliers. AVENUES FOR USERS AND ENTREPRENEURS User-supplier alliances are another new opportunity. Users typically obtain building automation-related systems, tools, and services from multiple suppliers. These necessarily interact in a variety of ways that could be optimized if BACnet devices, Web B ACne t C on f e r e n c e a n d E xp o Su p p l emen t http://www.basautomation.com

Table of Contents Feed for the Digital Edition of Engineered Systems - September 2008

Engineered Systems - September 2008 Contents Editor's Note HVAC Challenge Back2Basics Case In Point Commissioning Building Automation HVACR Designer Tips Application Checklist LEED®, Or Get (It) Out Of The Way? BACnet Supplement Race To Market Steam Humidification In Pharmaceutical Facilities Outside Air, Inside Data Centers Forecast: Increasingly Cloudy And Under Control Products Computers & Software Literature Glossary Classifieds Advertiser Index Tomorrow's Environment

Engineered Systems - September 2008

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