HANNOVER MESSE 2006, 24 April to 28 April Industrial Building Automation fair during HANNOVER MESSE 2006 showcases recent sector trends The operation of energy-efficient, intelligently-controlled building service systems can deliver substantial savings for building owners. The international "Industrial Building Automation" specialist trade fair during HANNOVER MESSE (Hannover Fair) 2006 is the ideal place to find out about the latest innovative solutions in the international building automation market and the expected trends for the years ahead. Modern industrial buildings are being fitted with increasingly sophisticated technology - from lifts and air-conditioning units to controlled ventilation systems.
But the growing complexity of these technologies is also placing increasing demands on the control system for the machinery located in all parts of the building, the building command center. This is the area impacted by the latest trends in building automation. But according to Bernd Wattenberg, a board member of several building automation associations, and himself a qualified engineer and leading expert in the field, concerns that these systems may not be able to meet these new challenges are unfounded. "Today's management systems clearly have to interact with a very wide range of subsystems. But the focus is shifting away from planning to implementation and practical application", he says.
Changes in legal requirements are an important consideration, for example provisions requiring 24/7 arrangements for the rapid evacuation of passengers caught in lifts. There is also an increasing focus on energy saving measures and efficiency improvements. The best source of authoritative information on current trends in the international market for building automation systems is the "Industrial Building Automation" specialist trade fair to be held in April under the HANNOVER MESSE umbrella. At virtually no cost, you will be able to discuss solutions for your building management challenges with specialists in the field.
Comprehensive integrated systems
Ahead of the trade fair we are seeing an increasingly clear trend towards ever larger packages of deliverables in construction contracts. Leading manufacturers in the sector are being contracted to design, deliver and maintain systems addressing every aspect of building automation. Siemens uses the term 'total building solutions', for example. This offers real benefits for users: they have a single contact person, and no longer need to sign a whole raft of service contracts or pay call-out charges for service technicians from multiple providers.
Bernd Wattenberg highlights another major trend: "We are also going to see more emphasis on the ongoing condition monitoring of industrial building automation systems." This ensures the early detection of any deterioration in the condition of the systems before a failure actually happens. Remote services are becoming more important in this context, he believes. Most of the technology required for IT connections between the service partner and the building automation plant is fully developed. Already today, for some buildings up to two-thirds of all failures or deteriorations in the condition of the systems can be dealt with from external helpdesks.
Combined command center? Another hot topic at the moment is the monitoring of production plant and building automation systems from a single, centralized command center. This acts as the "postman", forwarding the information to the appropriate locations. There are already some systems on the market that forward fault reports during a night shift requiring immediate attention to the central production command center, whereas non time-critical incidents can be routinely reported to the building management unit, to be addressed the next morning. But Bernd Wattenberg sounds a note of caution: "With a totally centralized system you have to remember that alarms can 'cannibalize' each other.
I generally recommend outputting alarm messages at the location of the staff who will have to deal with the problem."
About HANNOVER MESSE
The world’s leading exhibition of industrial technology takes place from 24 to 28 April in Hannover. The program for 2006 consists of the following flagship trade shows: INTERKAMA+, Factory Automation, Industrial Building Automation, Energy, Pipeline Technology, Subcontracting, Digital Factory, Industrial Facility Management & Services, MicroTechnology and Research & Technology. The featured Partner Country at HANNOVER MESSE 2006 is India, one of the world’s fastest-growing markets.