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BenefitsofIELVSIBMS

TheTraditionalApproach
Imagineanofficewhereeachdepartmentmanagement,accounts,production,sales,
engineering,HRallrandifferentsoftwarepackagesoperatingondifferentcomputernetworks.
Anytimeyouhadtoshareinformationorgenerateareport,variouspeoplewouldhavetopass
documentsaroundeitheronpaperorusingamemorystick.Datawouldhavetobereentered,
importedorconverted.Nothingwouldlineupandkeyinformationwouldbespreadacross
multiplesystems.
Thissoundsridiculous,butthisistheapproachthatisusedwheninstallingcontrolsystemsin
buildings.EachcontrolsystemBMS,security,lighting,metering,electrical,liftcontrols,
generators,hydraulics,etc.aresuppliedandinstalledasseparate,standalonesystems.
ThesecontrolsystemsareoftenreferredtoasExtraLowVoltageorELVsystemsasthey
operateatvoltageslessthan48voltsoverdatacables.
FacilitymanagersneedtolearneveryELVsystemandsomehowpulltogethertheinformation
neededinordertooperateeachsystem.Operatorsarerequiredtologintoandruneach
systemseparatelytomonitorandcontrolthefacality.
EachELVsystemwillhaveitsownworkstation,softwareapplicationsandloginpasswordsto
managefunctionssuchasgraphicdisplays,trends,reports,alarms,schedulesandhistorical
datastorage.Somesystemscanonlysupplysomeofthesefunctions.Infact,somesystems
cantprovideanyofthesefunctionsatall.
TraditionalELVImplementationwithdifferentworkstationsandnetworks
IfdatafromoneELVsystemisrequiredbyanotherELVsystem,itissolvedbyeither:
a.DevelopingaoneoffHighLevelInterfaces(HLIs)complex,custombuiltsoftwareand
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hardwaretotransferlimiteddataback/forwardtoeachsystemor
b.Connectvialowlevelinterfaceusinghardwiredrelaysandmultiplecablestoconnect
controllerstogether.
Highlevelinterfacesareexpensive,difficulttomaintainandoftenfailifeithersystemhastobe
upgradedorchanged.
Lowlevelinterfacesarealsoexpensivetoinstallandyouarechargedtwicebytwosuppliersto
connectonewire.Theycanonlypasslimitedinformationsotheytendtobeusedforlimited
purposes(eg.alarmsandstatus).
Theongoingmanagementofchangesandadditionsforeitherinterfaceiscumbersomeand
expensive.

WhatisanIELVS?
AnIntegratedExtraLowVoltageSystem(IELVS)isanewapproachtodesigningand
integratingthedisparatecontrolsystemsinafacilitytoimprovetheoperationofthatfacility.
IELVSensureseverysystemconnectedcommunicatesandsharesallofitsdataviaanindustry
standardopenprotocol.IELVSalsoensuresthedatacollectedfromeverysystemismade
availableforotherclientapplicationtouse.
IELVSsuppliesanindependentuserinterfacethatmonitorsandcontrolseverysystemfroma
centrallocationandovertheweb,asopposedtoatraditionalpathofmultipleworkstationswith
differentloginsandapplications.
Onesetofgraphicsforallsystems.
Onealarmconsoletodisplay,acknowledgeanddispatchalarmsfromallsystems.
Onesetoftimeschedulesusedbyallsystems.
Onedatastorageareaforallhistoricaldatafortrendingandreportingforeverysystem.
IELVSConsolidated,consistentandsimplified

HowDoesitWork?
TheprimarydesignprinciplesofanIELVSareOpenCommunicationsandOpenData.
IELVSworksbyobtainingdatausingmultipleindustrystandardopenprotocols.Thisdatais
usedwithinIELVSandcanalsobeexposedforotherapplicationstouse.IELVScommunicates
directlytofielddevices,plantequipmentandopengatewaysintoeachsystemtoobtain,store,
diagnose,displayandexposedatafromeachsystem.

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AnIELVSdesignalsousesasinglenetworktoconnectallsystemstogether.Thenetworkis
installedbyacertifiedcontractorusingindustrystandardequipment.Theconsolidationof
networksremovestheexpenseofseparatenetworksbeinginstalledbyeachsystem
contractor.TheIELVScontractorbecomesthesinglepointforallnetworkmanagement,
connectivity,securityandprovidestheserversorvirtualserversforallcontractorstouse.

IELVSImplementationwithsinglenetworkandnoworkstations
Traditionally,alldatafromeachsystemiseithernotavailableorstopsataproprietaryBMS.An
IELVSsolutionmakesthedataavailableaslive,realtimevaluesorhistoricalrecords.This
allowsclientstofreelychoosedifferentapplicationsthatarefitforpurpose.Opendataallows
applicationssuchasmaintenancepackagestoobtaininformationaboutequipmentsuchas
runtimes,alarmsandwarningstoaidwithpredictivemaintenanceoptions.Energyapplications
haveaccesstoallmetersandambientconditionsfordetailedreporting.Clientspecific
applicationscanbeusedtomonitorkeyperformanceindicatorsinrealtime.
IELVSOpenCommunicationsandOpenData
TheOpenDataprinciplesimplifiestheintegrationofotherapplicationsthatneedtoaccessdata
fromanyELVsystems.Theseapplicationscouldinclude:
TenantWebPortals
AfterHoursBookingandSchedulingSystems
RoomSchedulingSystems
Remotemonitoring,maintenanceandrepairofsystems
EnergyManagement
NABERSReporting
MaintenanceandAssetManagement
AdvancedFaultDetectionandDiagnostics
PredicativeMaintenanceScheduling
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EnergyandPerformanceDiagnostics
TheOpenCommunicationsprincipleallowstheinstallationofdifferentsystemsforthesame
area.Expansions,upgradesandvariationscanbesuppliedfromdifferentsuppliersallowinga
competitivetenderprocesstotakeplace.Sincethecommunicationstoeachsystemis
governedbyindustrystandardprotocols,toIELVS,therewillbearenodifferencesbetween
systems.
OpenCommunications,OpenData,reliesonopenanddocumentedformats,standardsand
specificationsandavoidsallclosedproprietaryformatsthatcarrytheriskofbecoming
obsolete.Newsystemsthatbecomeavailableinthefuturewillbeabletointegrateintoan
IELVSdesignbecauseofthespecifiedopenstandards.

FeaturesandBenefits
IELVSbecomestheeyesandearsofafacilityandprovidesthesingleoperatorinterfaceto
viewinformationcollectedandhasthemeansofbeingabletoadjustandmanage,improving
operationalefficiencyandsafety.
AnIELVSdesignminimisestheduplicationofgraphics,trending,reporting,scheduling,data
storage,software,managementfunctions,networkequipmentandcabling.AnIELVSdesign
eliminatestheneedforanyworkstations.OperatorsaccessIELVSusingtheirstandardweb
browserontheirworkorhomecomputerandarepresentedwithaconsistent,consolidatedand
simpleuserinterface.
ThemajorfeaturesofanIELVSdesignare:
Specifiesanopenarchitecturethatusesopenanddocumentedformats,standardsand
specificationsandavoidsclosedproprietaryformatsthatlockaclientintoasinglevendor.
Specifiescertifiednetworkinstallationbasedonindustrystandardequipment.
AnIELVSdesignallowstheinstallationofdifferentELVsystemsforthesamefunctioninone
facility(e.g.DifferentairconditioningcontrolorDDCsystems,differentlightingsystems).
Expansions,upgradesandnewsystemscanbesuppliedfromdifferentsuppliersand
integratedintotheoneIELVS.
Providesaconsolidatedenvironmentforallliveandhistoricaldatastoragefromallcontrol
systemsmaximisingtheabilitytoreport,trendanddiagnosethefacilitiesoperating
performanceandenergyusage.
Providesasinglewebinterfaceintoallsystemsforalloperators.Beingwebbasedsolution
intranetand/orinternetaccesscanbeenabledforallusers.Webaccesscanbegiven
duringconstruction,implementationandcommissioningprovidinganoverviewofeach
systemsprogress.
Anindependentlayertovalidatethecommissioningandoperationsofeachcontrolsystem.
SomeofthemainfeaturesandbenefitsofanIELVSinclude:
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Features

BenefitsofanIELVS

SingleUserInterfacefor

Easiertomaintainandupgrade.

allsystems

Fastertroubleshooting.
CommissioningandverificationofallELVsystemsbeing
monitored.

WebbasedUser

Easyaccesstoanyonewithauthority.

Interface

LessTrainingcosts.
Minimalcosttogiveaccesstotenantsandotherusers.
Simplifiesremoteaccess.
NoWorkstations.

SimplifyOperations

OnealarmconsoletounifyalarmsfromeveryELVsystem,
includingnetworkequipment.Thereisnolongertherequirement
tologintomultiplesystemstoseeandacknowledgealarms.
OnesetofgraphicpagesdisplayedusingstandardWEB
browsers.ELVsystemprovidersnolongerneedtosupply
separategraphicpageswhichreducestheiroverallcosts.
Timeschedulesandholidayassignmentsarecentralisedandset
fromonelocation.
Informationfrommultiplesystemscanbecombinedontrends,
reportsandgraphics.

OpenDesignbasedon

Avoidsbeinglockedintooriginalsuppliers.

OpenTechnology

Expansions,upgradesandmaintenancecanbeputoutto
competitivebidding.

Afutureprooffacility

Reducesfitoutcosts.

Consolidatedequipment

ELVsupplierscanreducetheirscopebyomittingcommon

requirements(hardware,

featuressuchasgraphicpages,trends,reports,frontend

software,networksand

equipment,storagedevicesandverticalcablingandnetwork

cabling)

equipment.
InitialcapitalreductionsthatfundtheIELVS
Ongoinglifecyclecostsavings.
AllICTequipmentcanbeservicedbyanexperiencedcontractor.

Commonopendatabase

Allthefacilitieshistoricaldataisstoredinasinglelocationforall

forgatheringinformation

systems.

andreporting

Improvedresponsetofaultsandproblems.

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Improvesproductivityoffacilitymanagementteam.
Providequalityinformationandreportstomanagement,facility
ownersandtenants.
Easiertogeneratenewincomestreamsfromtenants.
Improvedcompliancemonitoringofessentialservices(fire,
emergencylighting,etc).
Abilitytopassdatafromonesystemtoanother.
AbilitytomixandmatchtrendsandreportsfrommultipleELV
systems.
Provideaplatformtoencouragecleverstrategiesforreducing
consumptionbyintegratingthefunctionalityofpreviously
separateELVsystems.
Simplifiestheimplementationofadvancedfaultdiagnosticsand
predictivemaintenancestrategies

Singlesourceforall

ImproveNABERSratings.

EnergyEfficiency

Reducedoperatingcosts.

Reporting

Singlereportingplatformformonitoringenergytargetsfor
NABERS.

Independentoverview

BecausetheIELVSisnotapartofanyELVsystem,itoffersan

andvalidationofELV

independentmeansforverifyingtheoperationofalltheELV

systems.

systems.Thiscangreatlyimprovecommissioningandongoing
faultidentificationwhenthefacilityisoperating.

Conclusion
WebelievethatprovidingafullyopenIELVStheendresultwouldbeafacilitythatisfar
superiortothatnormallyspecifiedandtheclientwouldhaveabuildingmanagementsystem
thatiseasiertouseandprovidemoreflexibilityforthefuture.Mostimportantly,theclient
wouldbeabletocloselymonitor,diagnoseandaltertheoperationsofthefacilityensuringthe
mostefficientperformanceisachievedyearonyear.
SectorsandProjects

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