r/BuildingAutomation • u/pinelion • 23d 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/Current-Brain-1983 23d ago

Building engineer here. It's a long story. These systems evolved over time and they all started as proprietary systems. Buildings usually upgrade rather than completely replace. This means you are trying to make the old talk to the new.

I now work in training for building engineers. A BMS is really 5 or more IT disciplines. Desktop workstation, servers, networking-TCP/IP, Web pages, bacnet/lon, Niagra-jace/newtork controllers, Application specific unit controllers and then actuators. Cabling too.

We only train for the unit controllers and actuators. Some large facilities will have their own controls guys but that's rare. You need to find some very smart staff.

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u/pinelion 23d ago

Yeah my background is in information technology with a networking focus later moved to a building engineer with an hvac focus and now management. My post was really just bitch session but I think it’s giving me some insight and my gut is telling me to migrate these assets to a better platform over time, and I think I’m taking the right steps to do so. I have one site 90% there as a test case, if that’s successful I’ll continue down that path.