Building management systems: Everything you need to know

Building management systems are a valuable addition to any property. These systems are designed to improve efficiency and save time and money for the building. In this article, I’ll be taking an in-depth look at building management systems and cover everything you need to know about them.

What is a building management system?

A building management system is an electrical network of hardware, software and sensors that work to make sure the environment of a building is comfortable for those who use it. Building management systems can control various aspects of a building’s operations: temperature, lighting, air conditioning, ventilation, security access and more.

Building management systems are used in commercial buildings (e.g., schools and offices), residential buildings (e.g., homes and apartments) and factories (which have similar needs to commercial buildings). They usually connect to the internet so they can be monitored or adjusted remotely by authorized users anywhere in the world.

A brief history of building management systems.

The history of building management systems can be traced back to the early 20th century, when the first “manual” BMSs were developed. As you might expect from the name, these required a lot of hands-on maintenance and could only control one function at once, such as air temperature or lighting.

Over time, these BMSs became more complex and capable of doing more things at once. The energy crisis in the 1970s prompted further advancements for BMS development; building owners worried about rising energy costs could now use automated systems to help them save money.

How do they work?

Building management systems (BMS) are tools for monitoring and controlling large-scale building systems. Think of the HVAC, lighting, and electrical systems in a skyscraper: these all could be connected to a BMS. The system collects data from all of these building features, such as temperature or humidity levels and energy consumption, to help you keep track of how they are performing and how they can be improved upon in the future.

The BMS is usually made up of two key components: software that monitors the building’s key systems and allows you to interact with them; and hardware that gathers information about the state of those systems. These are connected via a wired or wireless network like Wi-Fi or Bluetooth within the building itself, so they can constantly communicate with one another.

The data collected by your BMS can tell you exactly how your equipment is performing at any given moment—and perhaps more importantly, it can show you ways that it could be working better. This information about energy efficiency will let your facility operate at peak performance for years to come—which means saving money on utility bills down the line. (Our building owners report as much as 35% savings on energy costs after implementing our platform.)

In order for your staff members to harness this information effectively, however, you must have a BMS that’s easy to use—even if your company lacks extensive technical knowledge in this arena. To ensure maximum control over your equipment without compromising ease of use, be sure to look for cloud-based solutions like ours that don’t require any specialized hardware or complicated installation processes.

Common challenges in BMS operations.

  • BMS systems may be expensive.
  • BMS systems can be complicated.

How to choose the best building management system for you.

To help you figure out which building management system is right for you, we’ve put together a few things to keep in mind while making your choice.

  • Look for one that’s easy to use and understand. You don’t need a system that requires the user to have a PhD in computer science in order to operate it. Even if you are currently managing your building with spreadsheets, there are plenty of systems out there that can make this process easier and more effective.
  • Look for one that’s fast. You don’t want to be spending hours trying to send an email or download some documents from the cloud—and depending on what other software your building management system integrates with, certain processes may be able to happen automatically instead of feeling like an endless scroll down a never-ending checklist.
  • Look for one that will grow with your needs. The best part about finding the right building management system is knowing it will work well now and way into the future as well—so choose something designed with scalability in mind!

To help you choosing the best building management system for your home, seek the expertise of one of the reputable building management company chrelectmep. Com, they offer such services as building management systems.

Cloud and mobile apps are changing the way we control building management systems.

With cloud-based systems, you don’t have to be in the same room as your building management system to control it. The user experience is more efficient, because the data is stored on a remote server rather than on your laptop or smartphone.

As cloud computing becomes more accessible, it’s now easier than ever to run your business without being tied down to old-fashioned control panels in each of your buildings. Cloud-based systems are also more secure: with an all-in-one dashboard, you can monitor all of your buildings remotely and make sure nobody gains unauthorized access to them.

Mobile apps for building automation systems give you the flexibility to monitor and manage your facility from anywhere—not just when you’re sitting at a desk with a desktop computer. You can check how efficiently your equipment is running at any time of day, even if you’re on vacation or traveling for work!

 Mobile apps also come with added security benefits: if someone steals or loses their tablet or phone that has access to a mobile app for controlling building management systems, then they won’t be able to log into the app unless they enter their username and password first. This means there’s less risk of unauthorized people accessing sensitive information about how effectively those facilities are being run because only authorized users will ever be able set up an account (and they’ll need both their username/email address plus password).

The cloud and mobile apps are making building management more accessible than ever.

In the past, building management systems (BMS) have been intimidating for people to use if they are not in the BMS department. Unless you were a BMS engineer or worked with a BMS company such as Chrelectmep, it was likely that you didn’t even know how to open the file. Luckily, these days we’re all part of a mobile-first world. Most things can be accessed on our smartphones, and BMS is no exception. With cloud-based files and mobile apps like Alerter, anyone can be empowered to use this important technology without having to sift through an overwhelming amount of data.

The cloud is an amazing place to store data because it’s accessible from anywhere, scalable as your needs grow or shrink and secure. Mobile apps make cloud-based files easy to access from any device with an internet connection—and as more people become comfortable using their smartphones for everything from shopping to banking, finding and managing your BMS has become just as easy too!

It’s time for everyone in your organization to be part of the most important safety decisions: you should no longer need permission from the BMS team before running reports or making fast decisions about your building automation system. Instead of waiting around for someone else’s input (which could cost lives), now everyone can have access at their fingertips through a secure mobile app where they can operate their own emergency response systems with ease.

Building management systems can be complicated, but there are new technologies that make it easier for people to manage them. Through cloud and mobile apps, building owners and managers can remotely access the building management system from anywhere they have internet access. This helps reduce the need to hire additional control engineers or operators and allows for more flexibility in managing the building.

Connectivity is another way technology has improved building management systems. As a result of increased connectivity, you will have more data about your building which means you’ll get more accurate information about how your equipment is performing and identify problems before they happen. You will also have better control over your energy consumption so you can reduce costs by ensuring your energy usage is as efficient as possible during each season of the year.

Conclusion

As you can see, there are a lot of new concepts that go into building management systems, and each one is crucial to getting the most out of yours. Hopefully this article has helped you get a better idea of what goes into these systems, and how they can be tailored to suit the needs of your building. If you are in need of capable hands to help you in building management systems, chrelect is the company to contact!