Issue link: https://www.e-digitaleditions.com/i/1132978
July/August/September 2019 I 41 FIGURE 3: IoT's continued growth makes it an undeniable influence for the BAS and BACnet. Image source. Digital Engineering Magazine. $7.065B $30.7B $151B $470B Global IoT revenue will reach $7.065 billion by 2020, up from $2.712 billion in 2015. The installed base of IoT devices will reach $30.7 billion in 2020 and $75.4 billion in 2015. The industrial internet of Things (IIoT) market will reach $151 billion by 2020. Annual revenues for IoT vendors could exceed $470 billion by 2020. "IDC Market in a Minute: Internet of Things" "IoT platforms: Enabling the internet of Things," IHS, March 2016 "Industrial IoT Market by Technology, Software & Geography, Markets," Mind Commerce, LLC "How providers Can Succeed in the Internet of Things," Bain & Company IP-driven systems and related IP devices. These devices need to be carefully configured. For example, a thermostat may be sending out updates on every small incremental change of temperature, which means it will constantly send out data, adding to traffic overload, slowing the network, and potentially making the devices unresponsive or erratic. Consider the case at Princeton University. "For weeks, the school's football stadium lights would suddenly turn on in the middle of the night. Each time, these blazing lights would wake up residents on campus. Controls engineer Gary Brancato would get a phone call at 1 a.m., and his staff would have to drive down to reset panels and turn off the lights. Gary dis- covered serious problems with the Princeton network. There were almost 200 Global Who-Is broadcasts and 14 unresponsive devices. Too much communication was flooding the network with activity, causing denial of service and bringing devices down. Not only does this sort of network activity cause problems in daily operations, it can also be dangerous for cybersecurity." 3 Furthermore, when BAS devices are not configured properly, impor- tant data collection suffers. The purpose of collecting data on devices is to better understand the devices and their role in the building system. How can the building become more energy efficient? How can systems better fit the needs of the occupants? For example, data may be collected about what time people begin coming into the office (via the access control system) so that the HVAC starts up earlier in the day and is at an optimal temperature when people arrive. Through proper data collection, the building at every level, from occupancy to energy use, patterns in behavior, maintenance, and more can be used to develop the optimal smart building. Without this knowledge, many buildings will be stuck in the 20th century. As facilities engineers and man- agers are embarking on new IP- enabled technologies, many IT departments are also treading on unfamiliar territory with little in-depth knowledge of a BAS and BACnet protocols. BACnet and other OT protocols do not always integrate well with IT protocols, such as address resolution protocol (ARP). Naturally protective of their networks, many IT departments are reluctant to provide IP addresses or help control engineers get their devices online and generating data because of the security risks. They worry about a hacker overloading the network with traffic causing a distributed denial of service (DDoS) attack. They worry about a perpetrator being able to hack the IT system through a chiller or thermostat. Therefore, many of the BAS devices do not get assigned IP addresses and do not get properly integrated into the building network. Since IoT is here to stay and growing (Figure 3), there needs to be increased collaboration between IT and facilities management to make the most of the technology. IP connectivity brings both dangers and opportunities, but it cannot be avoided in the BAS industry any longer.