NBCIP Roundtable Summary:
What’s Wrong with Building Controls?
National Building Controls Information Program Sponsors
United States Environmental Protection Agency
Iowa Energy Center
2521 Elwood Drive, Suite 124
Ames, IA 50010-8229
515-294-8819 or fax 515-294-9912
Email: iec@energy.iastate.edu
Web sites: www.buildingcontrols.org
www.energy.iastate.edu
www.ddc-online.org
NBCIP Report: NBCIP/02/03
“NBCIP Roundtable Summary: What's Wrong
with Building Controls?” by John M. House.
© Copyright 2002 Iowa Energy Center
All Rights Reserved.
ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS
The Iowa Energy Center gratefully acknowledges
the following individuals for their participation in
the National Building Controls Information Program Roundtable: What's Wrong with Building
Controls?: Barry Bridges, Sebesta Blomberg
Associates; Allan Daly, Taylor Engineering; Tom
Ertsgaard, Pennsylvania State University; Ken
Gillespie, Pacific Gas and Electric; Thomas
Hartman, The Hartman Company; Damian
Ljungquist, JDL Business Services; Warren Lloyd,
KJWW Engineering Consultants; Jeff Rutt,
Department of Defense; Jay Santos, Facility
Dynamics Engineering; and Steven Taylor, Taylor
Engineering.
NBCIP Roundtable Summary: What’s Wrong with Building Controls?
ABSTRACT
As part of the scoping activities in the first year of
the National Building Controls Information
Program (NBCIP), roundtable discussions and
interviews are being conducted with controls
experts to help identify the most common control
problems that impact building energy use and to
help identify information needs to address the
problems.
The first NBCIP roundtable discussion was held
January 14, 2002, at the American Society of
Heating Refrigerating and Air Conditioning
Engineers Winter Meeting in Atlantic City. The
objective of the What’s Wrong with Building
Controls? discussion was to obtain feedback
regarding the types of building control problems
that are most prevalent, have the largest energy
impact, and lend themselves to improvement.
The experts considered programming, software
input/output implementation and operator interference to have the highest rates of occurrence
among the defined subcategories of control
problems. Programming was also considered to
be the subcategory having the largest impact on
energy use, although problems stemming from
software input/output implementation, input
devices, controlled devices and four separate
human factor subcategories were also considered
to have significant impacts on energy use. Information needs that could lead to improved building
controls were identified in a brainstorming
session. In addition to needs related to product
characteristics, process needs in the areas of
design, documentation, training/education/
certification, performance verification, operation
and maintenance, and dialogue were identified.
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NBCIP Roundtable Summary: What’s Wrong with Building Controls?
1. INTRODUCTION
The National Building Controls Information
Program (NBCIP) has been established at the
Iowa Energy Center. The objective of the NBCIP
is to develop a source of manufacturer-specific
performance information as well as broad-based
best-practice information on building controls and
related components that will promote energy
efficiency. Much of the work in the first year of
the program involves activities aimed at understanding the link between direct digital control
(DDC) systems and inefficient energy use in
buildings. One of the best sources of information
concerning control-related problems is the
individuals who design the systems, specify the
systems, trouble-shoot the systems, and live
with the systems on a day-to-day basis. As part
of the scoping activities of the program,
roundtable discussions and interviews are being
conducted with controls experts to identify the
most common control problems that impact
building energy use and to identify information
needs to address the problems.
The first NBCIP roundtable discussion entitled
What’s Wrong with Building Controls? was held
January 14, 2002 at the American Society of
Heating Refrigerating and Air Conditioning
Engineers Winter Meeting in Atlantic City. The
participants in the roundtable were invited
because of their extensive experience in the
application of DDC systems to HVAC equipment.
The participants consisted of seven consultants
from across the country, two facilities engineers
(one at a major university and the other at a
government institution), and a technologist from
a large utility company. A list of the participants’
names and brief descriptions of their professional
backgrounds are provided in the Appendix. In this
document the participants are referred to as the
“controls experts”.
This report summarizes the results of the
roundtable. Details of the process used to obtain
the results are provided in a separate NBCIP
report.1
2. RATE OF OCCURRENCE OF CONTROL
PROBLEMS
One of the main objectives of the roundtable was
to assess the rate of occurrence of control
problems based on participant experience. To
accomplish this, categories and subcategories of
control problems were used that were identified
in an NBCIP project that reviewed case studies
citing control problems in real buildings.2 The
categories and subcategories identified were:
HARDWARE CATEGORY
Input device – Refers to problems associated with
sensors, transducers, wiring, and related devices
used for measuring some condition and transmitting information regarding that condition to the
controller.
Controller – Refers to problems associated with
the hardware device that receives sensor input
data, applies control logic to those data, and
causes an output action to be generated.
Controlled device – Refers to problems with the
device that receives output signals from controllers and changes the state of an end device.
Examples include valve operators, damper
operators, electric relays, fans, pumps, compressors, and variable speed drives.
Communications – Refers to problems associated
with the hardware necessary for data transmission between controllers in the control system
(e.g., between an application specific controller
and a supervisory level controller).
SOFTWARE CATEGORY
Setup/Installation – Refers to problems arising
with the control software that occur prior to
building turnover to the end user. (The control
experts suggested one change to the subcategories – replacing the subcategory title “Setup/
Installation” with “Input/Output Implementation”.
This latter title is used throughout the remainder
of this document.)
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Programming – Refers to problems arising from
incorrect or inappropriate control logic.
Operation – Refers to problems arising after
system start up and while the building is in
operation.
Data Management – Refers to problems associated with data monitoring, display, alarming,
logging, and downloading, as well as problems
with software compatibility.
HUMAN FACTOR CATEGORY
Operator error – Refers to unintentional changes
to the control system made by the operator
during routine operation and maintenance that
result in improper operation of a system.
Operator unawareness – Refers to control problems arising from an operator’s lack of understanding or familiarity with the control system
due to inadequate training.
Operator interference – Refers to intentional
changes to the control system made by the
operator causing interference with the normal
operation of the system.
Operator indifference – Refers to any number of
control problems stemming from an operator’s
apathy toward operation and maintenance.
To assess the rate of occurrence different types
of control problems, individuals were given 12
votes and asked to vote for a subcategory as an
indication of how frequently control problems of
that nature occur based on their experience. The
maximum number of votes that any individual
could apply to a subcategory was four. The results
of this exercise are shown in Figure 1. Programming, input/output implementation and operator
interference were found to have the highest rates
of occurrence. Problems stemming from input
devices and operator error were also prevalent.
These results are strikingly similar to those found
in the review of the case studies.
3. ENERGY IMPACT OF CONTROL PROBLEMS
The second objective of the roundtable was to
assess the energy impact of control problems.
Roundtable participants were asked to indicate
the energy impact of control problems from each
subcategory using a weighted voting scheme of
low, medium, or high.
Occurrence Rate
High
Medium
Low
Hardware Related
Inp
ut
vi
De
Software Related
Human Factor Related
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Figure 1. Qualitative Representation of the Occurrence Rate
of Control Problems.
Results from this exercise are shown in Figure 2.
The results in Figure 1 and Figure 2 are quite
similar. In general, the subcategories of problems
perceived to have the highest rate of occurrence
are also perceived to have the highest energy
impact. Control problems stemming from software programming were considered to have the
highest rate of occurrence and the highest energy
impact of all subcategories. It is interesting that
all four categories of problems associated with
the operator are among the top eight categories
in terms of energy impact. Problems stemming
from input devices, controlled devices and
software input/output implementation were also
considered to have significant impacts on energy
use.
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4. ACHIEVING IMPROVEMENT
The final objective of the roundtable was to
conduct a brainstorming session with the goal of
identifying how the NBCIP can help achieve
improvement in the energy efficiency of buildings
through the development and dissemination of
information related to DDC systems. The specific
question posed was “What information is needed
to improve the performance of DDC systems?”
Following the brainstorming session, the ideas
were reviewed and categorized. The two primary
categories are product characteristics (e.g., clear,
easy to use programming interfaces) and process
improvements (e.g., better control design and
engineering). The latter category encompasses all
ideas that are related to the process of designing,
installing, commissioning, operating and
maintaining DDC systems. The subcategories
under process improvements and a summary of
needs identified by the group for each
subcategory follow:
• Design – The need for proven control strategies
and sequences was a pervasive sentiment in
the group.
• Documentation – Needs identified in this
subcategory ranged from the early planning
stages of control design to the as-built
documentation and owner’s manuals.
Examples of ideas offered were the need for:
1) a master planning guideline for owners; 2) a
standard specification template; and 3) an
effective way of conveying design intent.
• Training/Education/Certification – Needs in this
subcategory included: 1) training for owners,
installers, and operators; 2) the development of
college curricula for engineers on control
system design; and 3) certification of
operators.
• Performance Verification – The need for
standard field tests, protocols, and
performance acceptance criteria.
• Operation and Maintenance – The need for
troubleshooting tips and a field calibration
guide.
• Dialogue – The need for improved
communication among controls manufacturers,
designers, installers, and end users.
Clearly, solving the problems with building
controls was not the goal of the roundtable.
Identifying avenues that can help solve these
problems was the goal, and the brainstorming
session provided an excellent perspective on how
these experts would approach the challenge.
These ideas and results from other year one
efforts will be used to shape the agenda for future
NBCIP efforts
Energy Impact
High
Medium
Low
Hardware Related
Software Related
Human Factor Related
e
r
e
tion tation ming ration ment
ce troller
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vic
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De unica
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Figure 2. Qualitative Representation of the Energy Impact
of Control Problems.
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5. CONCLUSIONS
REFERENCES
The first National Building Controls Information
Program (NBCIP) roundtable discussion, What's
Wrong with Building Controls? was held January
14, 2002, at the American Society of Heating
Refrigerating and Air Conditioning Engineers
Winter Meeting in Atlantic City. The objective of
the roundtable was to gather feedback from
participants regarding the types of control problems that are most prevalent, have the largest
energy impact, and lend themselves to improvement.
1
House, J.M. 2002. NBCIP Roundtable: What’s
Wrong with Building Controls? NBCIP Report
NBCIP/02/02. National Building Controls
Information Program. Ames, Iowa.
2
NBCIP. 2002. Building Energy Use and Control
Problems: Defining the Connection. NBCIP
Report NBCIP/02/01. National Building Controls
Information Program. Ames, Iowa.
A previous NBCIP effort involving a review of case
studies in the literature revealed that control
problems stemming from input devices, software
programming, and operator interference had the
highest rate of occurrence. The roundtable
discussion with controls experts supported these
findings to a large degree and identified software
programming as the subcategory having the
largest impact on energy use. The experts also
considered problems stemming from software
input/output implementation, input devices,
controlled devices and all human factor subcategories to have significant impacts on energy use.
The experts also offered numerous suggestions
concerning what information is needed to improve building controls. In addition to needs
related to product characteristics, the discussion
also identified process needs in the areas of
design, documentation, training/education/
certification, performance verification, operation
and maintenance, and dialogue.
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APPENDIX
Following are brief descriptions of the roundtable
participants’ professional backgrounds:
Barry Bridges, Sebesta Blomberg Associates, is
an engineer who specializes in the application
of DDC systems to verify performance of
HVAC systems.
Allan Daly, Taylor Engineering, is a consulting
engineer involved with controls design and
commissioning.
Tom Ertsgaard, The Pennsylvania State University,
is an engineer supporting the design,
installation, troubleshooting, repair, and
operation of HVAC and controls systems.
Ken Gillespie, Pacific Gas and Electric, is a
technologist with an in-house consulting group
with the primary focus of researching ways to
improve building performance and
commissioning techniques. The group also
provides controls commissioning services at
company facilities.
Thomas Hartman, The Hartman Company, is a
technology development and applications
engineer who works with integrated systems
and advanced technology control systems to
improve energy performance and comfort of
commercial and institutional buildings.
Damian Ljungquist, JDL Business Services, is an
engineer at an energy management and
integration consulting and construction
management firm.
Warren Lloyd, P.E., KJWW Engineering
Consultants, is a mechanical department
manager with a consulting firm primarily
involved with building design. Services to
clients include design of control systems.
Jeff Rutt, P.E., Department of Defense, is chief
mechanical engineer at a large government
institution and is responsible for oversight of all
HVAC systems for 20 buildings totaling
approximately 7.5 million square feet.
Jay Santos, P.E., Facility Dynamics Engineering, is
an engineer at a consulting firm that
specializes in controls, commissioning,
training, and building diagnostics.
Steven Taylor, Taylor Engineering, is an engineer at
a consulting firm that specializes in high
efficiency HVAC system design and associated
control systems.
National Building Controls Information Program
2521 Elwood Drive, Suite 124
Ames, IA 50010-8229
515-294-8819 or fax 515-294-9912
Email: iec@energy.iastate.edu
Web sites: www.buildingcontrols.org
www.ddc-online.org
www.energy.iastate.edu
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