Beckhoff is one of the leading companies in the automation and control technology field. Components and system solutions from Beckhoff are used in a wide range of industries and applications worldwide.
Beckhoff’s strides with advanced technology
PC-based control technology from Beckhoff, which has already been used successfully for almost three decades in all areas of industrial automation, has become an integral component of intelligent building automation. The demands on the intelligence of buildings have increased constantly in recent years, such that the energy efficiency as well as a good ‘return on investment’ is the priority.
The idea of a ‘green building’ based on sustainable, energy efficient construction and building use can be realised with intelligent, integral building automation. Beckhoff offers a universal, scalable building automation control system covering PC and Ethernet based controllers and a modular I/O system for logging all data points in buildings. Future-proof buildings with automation, 41 per cent of the total worldwide primary energy requirement is consumed by buildings. About 85 per cent of that is used for heating and cooling rooms and 15 per cent for lighting. It is, therefore, immediately obvious that the question of investment in new buildings or modernisation projects is above all a question of optimising energy efficiency. Assessing demands at an early stage when planning a building from the ecological perspective determines whether it already fulfils the desired energy efficiency class. From the economic perspective, by choosing a highly efficient building automation system from Beckhoff, one tap into an energy saving potential of up to 30 per cent, which directly affects the profitability of your investment.
How can this be achieved? The answer is with a system-spanning, holistic automation solution that has all information from all building systems at its disposal at all times and uses this information specifically to optimise efficiency. Whether lighting or facade, air conditioning or access control is concerned, the intelligent automation solution from Beckhoff allows all building systems to be coordinated and finely adjusted. Moreover, the option to continually optimise the system ensures maximum reduction in energy consumption over the entire life cycle of the building. Combined with an inexpensive implementation, two key benefits can be derived on one hand the possibility of an especially fast return on investment (ROI) in building automation in comparison with other energy efficiency investments. And on the other hand, future-proof buildings. With a building automation solution from Beckhoff, not only can you rely on the technology, rather also on the long-term availability of the components. System-spanning building automation from Beckhoff brings with it all the characteristics that are required for an energy-efficient building:
• A broadly diversified mix of inputs and outputs are available to connect all sensors and actuators in buildings.
• A comprehensive portfolio of scalable, highperformance controllers meets any requirements for computationally intensive building automation functions such as shading correction and blinds adjustment for sun tracking control. Features such as load optimisation for energy providers, integration with a building management system and transmission of central data, such as from a weather station, are all implemented on the basis of fast and open communication.
• As the interoperability of the system increases, inter-disciplinary knowledge is required of all areas of the building’s technical equipment: our specialists have this know-how and convey their knowledge in hands-on trainings on building automation.
• TwinCAT 3 Building Automation enables consistent structuring of TwinCAT project files and is thus, the basis for proper system maintenance. The central underlying idea is our component identification system, which assigns a name to each data point and program module in accordance with defined rules.
Beckhoff Building Automation fulfills the requirements of all various partners involved in a building project:
• Investors can safeguard their investments with forward looking building automation. Architects enjoy maximum freedom in planning in order to implement changes of use flexibly.
• Specialist engineers gain planning certainty through the openness and flexibility of the Beckhoff building automation platform.
• System integrators benefit from simplified engineering, since all building functions are executed with a universal software solution.
• Building operators are supported optimally in operating their technical facilities through central system monitoring, preventive maintenance and continuous energy optimisation.
Business plan for 2020
Beckhoff is focusing on optimising cost of HVAC, cablings, ease of operation, remote diagnostics and higher availability BMS solutions and ensuring sustainable BA system that benefits the building maintenance company and the owners over the complete building life. Beckhoff plans to promote this technology business to new buildings.
