Engineering Platform

Point Naming Convention

Introduction
Point Naming Convention

● Why do we need a Buildings Americas Point Naming Convention?

●5 BAS platforms x 19 branch offices x Level 3= too many point names
●1 Schneider – share work across branches and between engineers
●Increasing pressure for higher quality, quicker delivery, reduced cost
●Clients expect consistency across business units

● What will a point naming convention accomplish?

●5 BAS platforms x 19 branch offices x Level 3 = 1 Point Name Convention
●Share solutions between engineers and B/Us with minimal review, rework or
frustration
●Tools, reports, and automation can work across BAS platforms and B/U
●Reduce information engineers, technicians and service need to learn
●Reduced training time for new engineers or learning new BAS platforms
●Standard System Library contain uniform and interoperable applications
●Client impression of BAS more consistent over time and across B/Us

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Objections to Point Naming Convention

● My branch already has a point naming standard

●Other branches have standards as well, sharing work between offices requires rework and adds wasted effort
●We desire a unified community of engineers focusing on solutions, not on lesser significant details
● My library and tools are based on another point naming standard
●We are not suggesting converting existing work. As new work is created the new convention can be applied
●Our vision is to create a common library across Buildings, existing solutions will migrate to new library over time
● The point naming is specified on a project or client site
●Exceeding client requirements will continue to be a priority, but customization may increase cost
●If client does not have a preference, we should lead with our common naming convention
● This is an addition or repeat work with an existing client
●Present new naming convention to the client, reducing cost, shortening delivery time, and assist in future
migration
●Future work will cost more to retain previous conventions
●Give value proposition to newer standards (cost, delivery time, quality, tools, migration, consistency, service)

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Point Naming Guidelines

● Common platform naming recommendations

●16 characters – use point description as needed for more clarity
●Must start with a character, not a number or period
●Underscores only punctuation allowed (“ , ; ‘ - . $ + / *, etc. not legal)
●No spaces
● Camel case format (joined together w/o spaces, first letter capital)
● Point name is combination of recommended abbr. in logical order
● A point names combines abbreviations from the following categories:
●System / Location
●Device / Service
●Action / Measurement
●Attribute / Property / Parameter
● May combine elements from within a category to add clarity (BypDpr)
● Numbers {##} should use preceding zeros when possible (Blr01)

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Point Name Categories

● System / Location
●The system name of the equipment or the location of the system / equipment
●System: Chilled water, Hot water, Smoke, Oil, Multi-zone
●Location: Outside air, Return air, Economizer, Hot deck, Building
● Device / Service
●The device being controlled or the service that it performs
●Device: Fan, Damper, Valve, Freezer, Pump, Filter
●Service: Supply, Return, Heating, Setback, Time Schedule, Isolation
● Action / Measurement
●The action on or the measurement from the controlled device
●Action: Command, Enable, Open, Position, Lead / Lag, Mode, Reset
●Measurement: Temperature, Humidity, Level, Average, High Static Pressure
● Attributes / Properties / Parameters
●Other descriptive attributes that clarify the purpose of the point
●Base, Delay on, Dead zone, Setpoint, Low Limit, High Alarm, Switch, Raw value

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Point Name Conventions

● Cmd – used for discrete outputs to directly start or stop equipment

● Pos – used for analog output to command a certain position
● Ena – used for discrete outputs to indirectly start or stop equipment
(other controls may be in place, i.e. thermostats, time clocks, etc.)
● Alr – used for hardwired, physical alarm points from equipment
● Al – used for internal software alarms for equipment or processes
● Reset schedules
●RstIn# - the values of the input variable, corresponding to an output value
●RstOut# - the value of the output variable at a corresponding input value
●RstVal - the point that is current value of the calculated value
● Calculations – the variable first, then the operation (TmpAvg, RhMax)

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Point Naming Tools

● SEBA Point Names.xls

● Point Name Abbreviation tab – list of all abbreviations
● Point Name Builder tab – basic tool to help build point names
● Recommended Point Names tab – list of standardized names (coming
soon)

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Point Name Examples

Point Name Description

HwP01Cmd Hot water pump #1 start/stop command
Blr01STmp Boiler 1 supply temperature
OaDprPos Outside air damper (analog)
RaSmkDet Return air smoke detector
SaFan01Spd Supply Air Fan 1 commanded speed
ChwDPSpt Chilled water differential pressure setpoint
Rm12Ovr Room 12 occupancy override pushbutton
RaFanSts Return air fan status
Ch03IsoVlvCmd Chiller #3 isolation valve command

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Point Name Common Questions

● When are we going to start using the new standard

●As soon as possible, specific transition plans will be finalized by
engineering management
●Recommend choosing a pilot project as a start
● Who do I contact if I have a question about a point name
●Branch Engineering Leader or Manager
●Engineering Steering team in your region
●Lonnie Caroon – Standards, Applications, and Solutions Manger
●Pat O'Konski / Jeremy McCullough – SI West
●Steve Chandler – SI Central
●Edward Fortuna / Ann Patten – East
●Bob Heinlein – Strategic Accounts
●Roy Cardwell – Energy Solutions
●Mike Higgs - Partners

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Questions

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