Distributed Ethernet based system of measurement and visualization for buildings monitoring

Abstract

Despite advanced facilities and sophisticated control algorithm which are available in engineering practice, heating, ventilating and air conditioning system (HVAC) constantly works not properly in many buildings. Despite that control loop normally works without any faults, an air quality is often measured in non-representative way. Finding a reason of any defect in HVAC and efficiency assessment is a common task nowadays. Although new buildings are often monitored by building management system (BMS), the extensive analysis involves additional measurements. In this paper authors describe a developed from scratch, distributed measurement and visualization system, which consist of measuring devices with Ethernet connectivity and visualization software. Designed solution seeks to be scalable, flexible and user-friendly. Developed visualization system can operate with different external data sources. Visualization system performance was tested by connecting to heating plant and it usability was assessed. The results show that online visualization rationalizes maintaining of monitored system.