Direct Digital Controls Commissioning | Building Automation Systems

Direct Digital Controls Commissioning | Building Automation SystemsDirect Digital Controls Commissioning | Building Automation Systems - Preface –This article is not all-inclusive of everything required to properly commission a control system. I wrote this because of my observations of a colleague. The colleague called me in as a consultant to complete the controls commissioning. My colleague’s background was lacking in experience for controls, whereas my background does not suffer from this lack of experience in both controls engineering and commissioning control systems.

Anyhow, buckle your seat belts. It’s a long piece where I cover a lot of ground, although I feel it is not complete. It is simply too long to add to, and I will likely write an accompanying article in the future when I have time from my busy schedule. Comments are always appreciated in the comments section below.

Direct Digital Controls Commissioning | Building Automation Systems - On many commercial construction projects, the HVAC, lighting, electrical, and other systems including life and health are controlled by direct digital controls (DDC). Otherwise referred to as building automation systems (BAS), building monitoring systems (BMS), or energy management systems (EMS).

These systems can be complicated without proper understanding. It is vital before the building is turned over to the owner that these systems are correctly commissioned. Or otherwise set up and tested to ensure they operate correctly. That includes ensuring the operators are trained in its use and are given proper access levels to monitor equipment and systems DDC controls in the building. (more…)

DDC Control Loop | Building Automation

DDC Control Loop | Building Automation - Direct Digital Controls are nearly everywhere in commercial and some industrial processes. We have several articles here at High Performance HVAC, which describe the basics of DDC and how DDC works. There is also a page here concerning DDC, where we describe the process of DDC, including the DDC control loop.

We wanted to make the process a little simpler for the layman audience and to make it more helpful for the new HVAC technicians and Control Technicians to learn the process in simpler terms. In the basic control loop, we have input, processing, and output.

HVAC DDC Control Loop (more…)