BMS AND

INFRASTRUCTURE
SERVICES REPORT

AMAL SHAIKH
5TH YEAR | SR NO. 04
 BUILDING MANAGEMENT SYSTEMS
What is a Building Management System?

A building management system is an umbrella system that monitors and controls the numerous other
systems in a building, for example:

• Power - monitors usage and flow to the various areas within a building.

• Climate Control - monitors air flow and temperature within a building.

• Building Entry/Exit - monitors activity at all entrances and things like intrusion detection, alarms,
and logging within a building.

• Water (pumps) - monitors and controls pump activity for water distribution within a building.

• Elevators - monitors car occupancy and movement, and controls their operation within a
building.

• Lights - monitors power consumption and conservation, along with control of the many lights
within a building.

A building management system (BMS), otherwise known as a building automation system (BAS), is a
computer-based control system installed in buildings that controls and monitors the building's
mechanical and electrical equipment such as ventilation, lighting, power systems, fire systems,
and security systems.

Why do we need a Building Management System?

All Buildings have some form of mechanical and electrical services in order to provide the facilities
necessary for maintaining a comfortable working environment. These services have to be controlled by
some means to ensure, for example, that there is adequate hot water for sinks, the water tank is full the
cooling with ventilation and possibly heating is provided to ensure comfort conditions wherever,
irrespective of the number of occupants or individual preferences. the security is well controlled and
monitored, etc. Basic controls take the form of manual switching, time clocks or temperature switches
that provide the on and off signals for enabling pumps, fans or valves etc.

What is the purpose of a building management system?

The purpose of a Building Management System (BMS) is to automate and take control of these
operations in the most efficient way possible for the occupiers/business, within the constraints of the
installed plant

What is a Building Management System and how does it work?

The BMS is a “stand alone” computer system that can calculate the pre-set requirements of the building
and control the connected plant to meet those needs. Its inputs, such as temperature sensors and
outputs, such as on/off signals are connected into outstations around the building. Programs within
these outstations use this information to decide the necessary level of applied control. The outstations
are linked together and information can be passed from one to another. In addition, a modem is also
connected to the system to allow remote access.

The level of control via the BMS is dependent upon the information received from its sensors and the
way in which its programs tell it to respond to that information. As well as offering a precise degree of
control to its environment, it can be made to alarm on conditions that can’t meet specification or warn
of individual items of plant failure. Occupancy times for different areas are programmed into the
Building Management System such that the plant is brought on and off to meet the occupier
requirements. These times are often under optimum start control. This means that the cooling plant is
enabled, at a varying predetermined time, to ensure that the cooled space is at the set desired
temperature for the start of the day.
The Building Management System therefore, based on the outside air temperature the space
temperature and the building structure, determines the plant start time.

A list of systems that can be monitored or controlled by a BMS are shown below:

• Illumination (lighting) control

• Electric power control

• Heating, ventilation, and air conditioning

• Security and observation

• Access control

• Fire alarm system

• Lifts, elevators etc.

• Plumbing

• Closed-circuit television (CCTV)

• Other engineering systems

• Control Panel

• PA system

• Alarm Monitor

• Security Automation

Fire alarm system

A fire alarm system has a number of devices working together to detect and warn people through visual
and audio appliances when smoke, fire, carbon monoxide or other emergencies are present. These
alarms may be activated automatically from smoke detectors, and heat detectors or may also be
activated via manual fire alarm activation devices such as manual call points or pull stations. Alarms can
be either motorized bells or wall mountable sounders or horns. They can also be [(speaker strobes])
which sound an alarm, followed by a voice evacuation message which warns people inside the building
not to use the elevators. Fire alarm sounders can be set to certain frequencies and different tones
including low, medium and high, depending on the country and manufacturer of the device.

Building energy management systems

Building Energy Management Systems (BEMS) are integrated, computerized systems for monitoring and
controlling energy-related building services plant and equipment such as heating, ventilation and air
conditioning (HVAC) systems, lighting, power systems and so on.

Small buildings may have independent controls for energy systems, but for larger or more
complex buildings, sites with a number of buildings, or organizations with buildings on a number of sites,
the integration of systems operation through a single Building Energy Management System offers
greater control and can achieve significant savings. NB Increasingly, simple BEMS are being developed
that are suitable for even the smallest buildings.

BEMS provide real-time remote monitoring and integrated control of a wide range of connected
systems, allowing modes of operation, energy use, environmental conditions and so on to be monitored
and allowing hours of operation, set points and so on to be adjusted to
optimize performance and comfort. BEMS can also trigger alarms, in some cases predicting problems
and informing maintenance programs. They allow records to be kept of historical performance,
enable benchmarking of performance against other buildings or sites and may help
automate report writing.

Heating ventilation and air conditioning HVAC

It refers to Heating Ventilation and Air Conditioning, which can be used in buildings to:

▪ Maintain internal air quality.

▪ Regulate internal temperatures.

▪ Regulate internal humidity.

In mechanically ventilated commercial developments, HVAC is often provided by air handling

units (AHU) connected to ductwork that supplies air to and extracts air from internal spaces. Air
handling units typically comprise an insulated box that might include some, or all of the
following components; filter racks or chambers, a fan (or blower), heating elements, cooling elements,
dehumidification, sound attenuators and dampers. Air handling units that consist of only a fan and
a heating or cooling element, located within the space they are serving, may be referred to as fan coil
units (FCU). See Air handling units for more information.

HVAC can consume large amounts of energy, and where possible, demand should be reduced and
passive systems adopted.

Extracting internal air and replacing it with outside air can increase the need for heating and cooling.
This can be reduced by re-circulating a proportion of internal air, or by heat recovery ventilation (HRV)
that recovers heat from extract air and uses it to pre-heat incoming fresh air.
It is important that all aspects of HVAC systems are considered together during the design process, even
where involve independent systems. This is because of the interaction
between heating, cooling, humidity control and ventilation. This is particularly complicated when
other elements of environmental behavior are considered such as solar gain, natural
ventilation, thermal mass, and so on.

The design of HVAC systems is generally a specialist task, undertaken by a building services engineer,
and because of its interaction with other elements of the building it is important that it is considered
from the outset, as a fundamental part of the design process, and not an 'add on' at the end.

HVAC may be controlled by a building management system to maximize occupant comfort and
minimize energy consumption.

Regular inspection and maintenance is necessary to ensure that systems are operating optimally.

Benefits

• Possibility of individual room control

• Increased staff productivity
• Effective monitoring and targeting of energy consumption
• Improved plant reliability and life
• Effective response to HVAC-related complaints
• Save time and money during the maintenance
• Occupancy sensors allow automatic setback override during unoccupied periods as well as
adaptive occupancy scheduling.
• Lighting controls reduce unnecessary artificial lighting via motion sensors and schedules as well
as by controlling daylight harvesting louvers
• Controllers save water and energy by controlling rainwater harvesting and landscape irrigation