Over the last few years Building Automation has grown to encompass new capabilities as a result of specific demands in the market. One of the largest developments has been the introduction of the web enabled area controller. As the Internet has become more and more prevalent of a tool in our society, the need for systems that harness the convenience and power of such capabilities has grown along with it... View All

BACnet. This unassuming term might look to someone outside of the HVAC/controls world as a brand name for some sort of sporting equipment. Yet, in the world in which it originated, it represents a significant movement in the HVAC industry...View All

It is well known throughout the HVAC industry that laboratories and fume hoods are generally the largest consumers of energy in a facility. Volumes of information have been written and many studies have been performed outlining the substantial amounts of energy that labs and fume hoods consume over the lifetime of their operation. Various industry estimates put the energy consumed by a single fume hood in a year to be 1 to 3.5 times that of the average residential home. In most cases, the air required for the operation of the fume hood is totally exhausted out of the ventilation system due to the hazardous particles and/or gasses it may contain. This forces new makeup air to be introduced into the system, which requires a considerable amount of energy to condition. In regular HVAC ventilation systems designed for comfort, the system is typically designed so that a percentage of the air required by the system is “recycled” and the tempered return air is not being wasted to the atmosphere, thereby keeping energy costs lower...View All