Building automation system (BAS/BMS)
also: BAS · building management system · DDC controls
The controllers, sensors and software that run a commercial building's HVAC, lighting and other systems, with central monitoring and alarms.
A BAS links direct digital controllers (DDC) on air handlers, rooftop units, chillers, boilers, VAV boxes, pumps and lighting to a supervisory system with schedules, setpoints, alarms, trend logs and graphics. Communication typically uses BACnet, Modbus or proprietary protocols, increasingly over IP networks.
A well-tuned BAS saves significant energy; a neglected one drifts (overridden schedules, failed sensors, simultaneous heating and cooling) and wastes it. Fault detection and diagnostics and analytics layered on BAS trend data help find these problems.
Where it bites: integrating new products with systems from different eras and vendors, securing networks never designed to be connected, and control sequences that exist only in someone's memory.
Founder takeaway
If your product must integrate with commercial buildings, support BACnet (and often Modbus), and expose clearly named points with units and descriptions.
engineer review pending