ABSTRACT
This chapter describes the background of automation efforts in this domain. It focuses on open protocol standards of key relevance in the building automation domain. Besides a discussion of the three most popular representatives, it also includes information on the wireless world and Web services (WS) based specifications. Building services include “passive” installations for transport of energy, information, and materials as well as controllable, “active” systems such as heating, ventilation, and air-conditioning (HVAC). The task of building automation systems is to provide automatic feedback control as well as central monitoring and access to building systems. Building automation can be regarded as a special case of process automation, with the process being the building indoor environment. Communication services roughly fall into three categories: process data exchange, management, and engineering/diagnostics. Wireless communication has many interesting applications in the field of building automation. Building automation can increase comfort and decrease energy consumption at the same time.
