September 2011 |
Babel Buster Network Gateways: Big Features. Small Price. |
Everything gets old – dealing with obsolescence
One of the goals of using an open protocol based system is to be able to avoid obsolescence. |
Paul Ehrlich, Ira
Goldschmidt
& Angela Lewis |
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Many of the systems that go into a commercial building are anticipated
to have a long lifetime. We expect building materials such as
structural steel or concrete to last for the life of the building. The
mechanical and electrical systems are expected to have a service life
that may be from 15 – 40 years depending upon the systems
selected. At the same time though, there are parts of the
building that have fairly short lives. For example, carpet and
paint may only be expected to last for five years before it needs to be
refreshed. If we start looking at the owner’s equipment we find that
much of the IT gear, such as PC’s, printers, and networking equipment,
may have a service life of 2 – 5 years before it is functionally
obsolete.
So where do controls and BAS fit in this mix? Well since they are
part of the mechanical system, it seems reasonable to expect them to
last for up to 40 years. In reality some parts of the control
system (such as dampers or valves) might very well last that
long. But the vast majority of the control system is similar to
the owner’s IT gear than mechanical equipment and is going to
have a much shorter life span. How short? The answer is “it
depends”. Here are some general rules of thumb:
Open Systems and Obsolescence:
One of the goals of using an open protocol based system is to be able
to avoid obsolescence. While it may not make the problem go away,
it does give options for dealing with system components that have
reached end of life. Owners that are using open protocol systems
such as BACnet or LonMark can often select replacement controllers from
a variety of suppliers in addition to the OEM. If an owner has an
older, proprietary system, replacing obsolete devices may provide the
ability to move over to open systems. Owners need to be sure to
ask for this functionality from their suppliers – to be sure that their
upgraded system is open.
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