BACnet capability drives economies for ABB HVAC drives

Ease of integration with building-management systems has led to ABB HVAC drives being installed at the new Cheshire & Merseyside NHS Treatment Centre based at Halton Hospital. A Native BACnet building-management system was installed by Open Building Systems. Andy Dutton, which owns the company, explains, ‘The ABB drives are very easy to integrate with the BMS. We simply connect them to the communications network, enter their addresses in the system, and it is virtually done. It’s all very easy.. The BACnet communications protocol is native to the ABB HVAC drive, with no requirement for additional gateways. The protocol is developed specifically for building-services systems and is increasingly being adopted by leading BMS manufacturers. It offers plug-and-play’ integration of devices in building services. BACnet is embedded with the standard RS485 interface of the HVAC drives, which are used to run air-handling units and fans. Eight ABB drives are being used on the project, in sizes from 4 to 15 kW.

Related links:

• www.abb.co.uk