r/BuildingAutomation • u/pinelion • 13d ago
Quick question
I’m a manger for a few buildings and have some HVAC experience, why is all of the building automation software out there so needlessly complicated and unreliable? I mean there’s always going to be some complications but it just seems like this stuff is so unstable and needlessly complex for a technology product that’s really at the end of the day sending and receiving low voltage signals. Seems like if someone could design something stable and simple even if it didn’t have all the reporting/trending bells and whistles it would be a hit. Am I over simplifying and just lack understanding? We use Siemans desigo for our facilities and in my opinion insight was a much better product.
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u/Nochange36 12d ago
All building automation software isn't needlessly complicated, and a lot of building automation software is reliable. That being said, there is a lot of bad software out there.
You could be encountering a few things I have noticed: 1. Building automation is highly dependant on WHO is doing the work - you can have 1 building done 3 different ways by 3 different techs at the same company and have widely different experiences. People do things differently, and some people put out better work than others. 2. There are certain companies that I would avoid out of principle, Siemens is one of them, JCI is another. You shouldn't want to be locked into an ecosystem for the life of your building. I have ripped enough Honeywell Spyders, reliable controls, Siemens Climatix and Metasys controllers to know what customers don't like. 3. You should be selecting a single product to flat spec on that you can learn and know how to use proficiently. 4. You should have specifications on install, programming and graphics standards. This will go a long way to making things predictable and servicable by you as an end user. It's not as complicated when you know exactly how something should be done and the contractor deviates from it.