ASHRAE Journal - November 2021 - 38

CYBERSECURITY
Column
Jim Butler
Introducing BACnet
Secure Connect
BY JIM BUTLER, MEMBER ASHRAE
Cybersecurity-conscious building owners should consider using the new
BACnet/Secure Connect (BACnet/SC) as an alternative to BACnet/IP to augment cybersecurity
measures that protect their building automation systems (BAS). This column
gives an overview of the features of BACnet/SC and provides a summary of the differences
between BACnet/SC and BACnet/IP.
Both BACnet/IP and BACnet/SC are both interoperable
communication methods found in ANSI/ASHRAE
Standard 135-2020, BACnet, A Data Communication Protocol
for Building Automation and Control Networks. BACnet/SC
was introduced in the 2020 edition of the standard.
While both methods define interoperable methods for
the transmission of BACnet messages on IP networks,
they are different in some important ways. At a very
high level:
* BACnet/IP is widely used today because it is
straightforward to implement in products, and the
communication parameters of BACnet/IP devices are
simple to configure in the field. However, BACnet/IP is
considered to be " IT unfriendly " in some ways, and it
does not have any built-in network security functionality.
*
BACnet/SC has state-of-the-art communication
security features inherited from modern data communication
standards that are widely used in the IT world
to improve cybersecurity. Implementation of BACnet/SC
in a product requires significant computing resources
(CPU and memory), which means that many installed
BACnet/IP controllers will not be able to be upgraded to
38
ASHRAE JOURNAL ashrae.o rg N O V E M B E R 2021
support BACnet/SC. Also, the deployment of BACnet/SC
devices is more complicated than the deployment of
devices that use other BACnet communication methods.
Networks of BACnet/SC devices can be connected to
other BACnet networks (BACnet/IP, MS/TP, etc.) using
BACnet routers. This gives building owners the flexibility
to deploy the types of BACnet networks that are most
appropriate for their facilities.
Let's look at the differences between BACnet/IP and
BACnet/SC in more detail, starting with a brief review of
BACnet/IP.
BACnet/IP
BACnet/IP, added to the BACnet Standard in 1999, is a
relatively simple communication method for internet
protocol (IP) networks that has been widely implemented
in HVAC control devices as small as thermostats.
The configuration of the IP communication parameters
of BACnet/IP devices is straightforward, and no special
network infrastructure is needed to use BACnet/IP.
Jim Butler is CTO of Cimetrics Inc. He is the convener of the BACnet committee's IT
working group, and he served as the first manager of the BACnet Testing Laboratories.
http://ashrae.org

ASHRAE Journal - November 2021

Table of Contents for the Digital Edition of ASHRAE Journal - November 2021

Contents
ASHRAE Journal - November 2021 - Intro
ASHRAE Journal - November 2021 - Cover1
ASHRAE Journal - November 2021 - Cover2
ASHRAE Journal - November 2021 - 1
ASHRAE Journal - November 2021 - Contents
ASHRAE Journal - November 2021 - 3
ASHRAE Journal - November 2021 - 4
ASHRAE Journal - November 2021 - 5
ASHRAE Journal - November 2021 - 6
ASHRAE Journal - November 2021 - 7
ASHRAE Journal - November 2021 - 8
ASHRAE Journal - November 2021 - 9
ASHRAE Journal - November 2021 - 10
ASHRAE Journal - November 2021 - 11
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ASHRAE Journal - November 2021 - 18
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ASHRAE Journal - November 2021 - 20
ASHRAE Journal - November 2021 - 21
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ASHRAE Journal - November 2021 - Cover3
ASHRAE Journal - November 2021 - Cover4
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