While scanning through the building automation and energy industry news recently I came across a term I hadn't heard before. The term, Transactive Energy, piqued my interest and upon reading further I found this article from The Energy Collective website to be excellent in succinctly describing where I believe our electricity market is headed; and the implications its evolution will have on the building automation space. As I've touched on in a previous blog, the utility industry's business model is shifting, … [Continue reading]
Who’s afraid of the IoT (Internet of Things)?
May 30, 2013 By Leave a Comment
A few weeks back I blogged about the IoT (Internet of Things) and its historical ties to and implications for the building automation industry. Given factors I discussed there and in another blog where I talked about the democratization of building controls, the intelligence of building automation systems is expected to grow exponentially in the coming years, creating an integrated network of points within buildings and beyond that could help us reach the holy grail of our industry: a building (or network of … [Continue reading]
The Democratization of Building Controls
May 2, 2013 By Leave a Comment
Yesterday I read an interesting article that focused on a cleantech startup's recent venture capital funding success story. The company, Enlighted, provides smart lighting sensors and software that reduce a building's power consumption. This concept is nothing novel to the building automation industry, however, according to the article, Enlighted has taken a bit of a different approach in that much of its system's "smarts" are located in the sensors themselves. Their sensors not only control lighting fixtures much … [Continue reading]
Wireless is Becoming More Visible
April 23, 2013 By Leave a Comment
New technology is always in some sense a little frightening and permeated with uncertainty, whether real or perceived. The very nature of it makes us cautious and reluctant to accept it. We then in turn, take smaller steps and fewer risks. While sometimes these new technologies give us cause to pause, it also offers us the greatest opportunities for growth. Wireless, in our automated HVAC world, evokes a range of emotions and opinions from total avoidance to complete incorporation. Some have tried it and failed … [Continue reading]
Honeywell T775 Controller
April 15, 2013 By 2 Comments
I started at Kele about 19 years ago. Over the years I’ve been fortunate to learn a good bit about controls from many very talented folks – mentors, fellow employees, industry experts, and customers. It is easy to have favorites in my line of work. Being in tech support over an extended period of time, I have a base of products that I lean on. Usually it’s because a product is dependable, easy to use, and most importantly – it makes my customers happy. One of those products is the Honeywell T775 … [Continue reading]
Building Automation and the Internet of Things (IOT)
March 21, 2013 By 1 Comment
A topic getting a lot of press these days (at least in the publications and on the websites I frequent) is the Internet of Things (IOT). If this phrase is unfamiliar to you now, it probably won't be for long. We are headed toward a world of greater and greater connectivity and IOT will increasingly play a big part of this. At a high level, IOT extends one of the greatest benefits of the internet now realized by humans (e.g., instantaneous global communication and connectivity) to things (i.e., machines, … [Continue reading]
