The rapid development of cloud-based applications
and the evolution of networking technologies have
set the stage for a radical change in how building
services will be delivered and managed going forward.
Building control and metering capabilities that were
once only achievable through large scale investments
in singular, proprietary systems are now accessible to
all building owners.
Not Your Father’s Multi-point Meters
Today’s multi-point electrical submeters are a far cry from their early
space-saving ancestors. With advanced, embedded computing
capabilities and a “reserved” footprint in a building’s electrical closet —
modern multi-point electrical meters are positioned to play a critical role
in delivering cost-effective building management capabilities to property
managers and owners that don’t have building automation systems
already installed, or have systems that are old and antiquated.
The Internet of Things
and the Promise of Big Data
Today local devices (desktop computers, mobile
phones, home appliances, security systems, you
name it) have become information and data grooming
instruments connected to a constellation of ready-
to-consume applications. Through web services
interoperability, this Internet of Things (Io T) can now share information
to form greater functionality — superseding the old locked-in single
vendor models with greater capability and better visibility of data for all
stakeholders. This is the promise of Big Data, where the whole is greater
than the sum of its parts.
The benefits for building management networks to follow this same multi-vendor path are clear — more energy management and building control
functionality that is easier and cheaper to deploy.
The Building Internet of Things
The difference between the Internet of Things (Io T) and the Building
Internet of Things (BIo T) is that complex buildings require an intermediary
to manage multiple and sometimes competing entities. Critical building
systems, multiple stakeholder interests, security concerns, and the
sheer volume of instrumentation necessitate some form of building
systems access, edge computing, and usage control. This is achieved
via a gateway device that uses open, standards-based networking
and communications protocols that allow information to flow from the
instrumentation layer to the application layer—and beyond.
Benefits All Round
The benefits to property managers and building owners of delivering
the Io T model via a standards-based BIo T gateway are huge, including;
From Space Saver to Building Information
Cornerstone: The Evolution of Multi-point Meters
making the right information available to the right people, at the right
time; gaining unobstructed access to new and emerging energy
management and building control applications; vendor independence
and consumer choice (no lock-in); plug and play replacement of
components at any level; and future-proof durable systems with software
that can be remotely upgraded.
Web Centric Building Management Services
Make no mistake, the future of building information management is about
web-centric services. A building’s metering infrastructure — designed
around open protocols and IP networking — is perfectly positioned to be
a cost-effective enabler of those services by providing both metering and
BIo T gateway capabilities.
In order to accomplish this, today’s and tomorrow’s multi-point
meters have to address security issues, have multi-homing capabilities,
use tagging and semantic data models, be fluent in internet protocols
and open communication models, and have built-in logic and
expansion capabilities for future-proof deployment — all in addition
to maintaining accurate, flexible electrical measurement and building
services monitoring.
Cloud-centric management is the future of building information.
The future of multi-point metering is moving beyond being simply a
metering platform, to becoming a generic building information intelligence
platform — cost justified by its built-in, valuable metering applications while
enabling building owners and property managers to incrementally add
energy management and building control measures directly from the meter.
FREE INFO: Circle 107 on Reader Service card or Buildings.com/freeinfo
www.buildings.com BUILDINGS 11
www.triacta.com/metering