Here you will find the latest BACnet news, the status of SSPC 135 activities, a comprehensive bibliography of BACnet publications - many of which are available on-line - along with a wealth of other information. In keeping with ASHRAE's long-standing tradition and policy of non-commercialism, this site contains no advertising. However, BACnet's success depends on the implementation of BACnet in commercial products. Thus, we are pleased to offer links to the Websites of manufacturers who are supporting BACnet through their product offerings.

The SSPC welcomes your comments and suggestions concerning this site!
 

• BIG-EU Celebrates "10 Years of Success!" (4/08) Frankfurt, Germany. BIG-EU knows how to celebrate its birthday! Following the close of business on April 9, 2008 at the Light+Building trade fair in Frankfurt, the stage was set at the BIG-EU booth for a great party. Two large and beautifully decorated birthday cakes (complete with pyrotechnic sparklers!), an extensive buffet, lots of champagne, beer, wine and even some specially prepared apricot schnaps, greeted the 100 or so revelers. And the cause was just: from its modest beginnings in 1998 with just 18 members, BIG-EU has grown into a powerhouse organization with 80 current members - and the rate of growth shows no sign of slowing.
   
  It is worth noting some of BIG-EU's accomplishments. Apropos Light+Building, the BIG-EU booth has grown from a tiny corner of the hall to one of the largest and most well-attended booths at the show. The BACnet Europe Journal, published twice per year, has nearly doubled in size. The current edition is 64 full-color pages and features extensive coverage of Fraport AG's decision to deploy BACnet at Frankfurt International Airport, the third largest airport in Europe. The BEJ has recently been joined by a sister publication, the BACnet France Journal. The BIG-EU business office, MarDirect, is even considering extending its publishing reach to China with the possible publication of a similar BACnet China Journal later this year. Meanwhile, the BIG-EU Technical Working Group has continued to provide technical feedback, suggestions for improvement and clarification, and expertise to SSPC 135 and has thus made a significant contribution to BACnet's success not just in Europe but around the world. Finally, the organization has worked diligently to ensure that the BTL mark will be held in high regard through the establishment and on-going support of the BTL testing program. All in all, it truly has been "10 Years of Success!" Congratulations to all who have worked hard to make BIG-EU what it is today!
   
• 14 European Companies Earn Certification/BTL Mark! (4/08) Dortmund/Frankfurt, Germany. The first round of European certification tests has been successfully concluded and appropriate certificates awarded along with the right to display the BTL mark. The formal award ceremony took place at the BIG-EU booth at the Light+Building trade fair in Frankfurt. Volker Röhl, President of the BACnet Interest Group Europe (BIG-EU) and Frank Bitter of WSPCert, the certification agency, made the presentations.

  The following companies received the highly sought-after certification: ABB Oy Drives, Delta Controls, Fr. Sauter, Honeywell, HSC Regelungstechnik, Johnson Controls, Kieback&Peter, Neuberger Gebäudeautomation, Plüth Regelsysteme, Priva, Saia-Burgess Controls, Samson, Siemens and TAC.

  In Europe, the certificates are taken as proof that the the BACnet conformance testing was conducted to the highest standards and is often required by specifiers and building owners. The certificates are considered evidence that the BACnet implementation tests were conducted by an independent and accredited testing laboratory.

  The BTL mark is a visible confirmation of the certification. Discussions between BIG-EU and BACnet International are currently underway to coordinate the listing of tested products and to ensure the reciprocal recognition of the test results, whether the tests were conducted at the WSPLab in Germany or at the BTL lab in Mumbai.
   
• BIG-EU Booth at Light+Building Attracts Thousands! (4/08) Frankfurt, Germany. The BIG-EU booth at the European trade fair "Light+Building" has been a major attraction. For one thing, the booth is the largest BACnet booth ever at about 1800 square feet. But it is far more than the size that is so impressive. This year's booth features 31 exhibitors from 7 countries, all of whom have interoperating BACnet equipment on display. They are: ABB Automation Products, Alerton, Axima, Delta Controls, GFR, Honeywell, I.T.E.N.O.S., INGA, INH-GmbH/HHO-Automation, Johnson Controls Systems & Service, Kieback&Peter, MBS, Messner Gebäudetechnik, Neuberger Gebäudeautomation, Novar, Plüth Regelsysteme, Priva, Promotor Verlag, Regel Partners, Saia-Burgess, Samson, Sauter-Cumulus, SE-Elektronic, Siemens SBT, SysMik, TAC, Trane, Trend, WAGO Kontakttechnik, Wonderware and WSPLab. The view of the enthusiastic crowd is that BACnet has come an incredibly long way in Europe since BIG-EU was established 10 years ago. Happy Birthday, BIG-EU!
   
• Prototype Implementation of Network Security Addendum Sought (3/08) Atlanta, GA. The Network Security Working Group of ASHRAE Standing Standard Project Committee 135 (BACnet) has completed work on proposed Addendum g to add state-of-the-art network security technology to the BACnet standard.

  Due to the scope of this addition, the Working Group desires that a phase of prototype implementations and in-depth specification review be completed before the addendum is submitted to ASHRAE for Publication Public Review. To download the Pre-Public Review draft, click here.

  If you've been waiting on the sidelines, now is your chance to get involved. But please don't delay. We would like to have review comments by April 18, 2008 so that they may be considered at the next meeting of the Working Group in Germantown (see below). Prototype implementations may take longer to develop, of course, but there's no reason to delay starting. Every prototype is highly valued in0 this process. Even partial or limited implementations will help exercise the specification and will move us toward the goal of publishing a solid and interoperable standard. Questions on participating in the prototyping should be directed to the Convener of the Network Security Working Group.
   

• ASHRAE Announces 45-day Public Reviews of 8 Addenda (3/08) Atlanta, GA. Eight addenda to BACnet-2004 are now available for public review. These are: Addenda b, h, i, j, m, n, q and r. The subject details can be found on our Addenda page. The reviews will be the first to use ASHRAE's new Web-based comment system that allows reviewers to submit comments via an online form. Committee members will be able to review the comments online and circulate proposed responses for consideration and editing by other committee members before being voted on for approval to send to the original commenter. To access the ASHRAE standards page, click here.
   
• SSPC to Hold Spring Meeting (3/08) Germantown, MD. Once again SSPC 135 and its working groups will hold an interim meeting Monday through Friday, April 21 to April 25, 2008 in the friendly confines of the Germantown Campus of Montgomery College, thanks to the generosity of Mike Whitcomb and his staff. For additional information click here and/or view the Meeting Schedule.
   
• Association BACnet France Launches its Second Journal Edition (3/08) Saint Cloud, France. With the publication of its second, 28-page, full color BACnet France Journal, the Association BACnet France is making exemplary progress in the promotion of BACnet on French soil! According to Association President Jean-Daniel Napar, the association had a booth at the interclima+elec home and building trade show in Paris, February 5-8; is planning a translation of BACnet into French; and is planning to create a BACnet France Website later this year. Congratulations to all of our French colleagues who are making these things happen!
   
• Bill Swan Speaks at Indian Conference (2/08) Bangalore, India. SSPC Chairman Bill Swan spoke at a Confederation of Indian Industry conference on "Energy Efficiency in Building Design & Construction" as a panelist on energy efficient equipment and systems. His talk, "Building Automation and Green Buildings," presented an overview of current and proposed ASHRAE and LEED standards and the various ways in which BACnet systems help achieve the requirements of the standards and earn points toward LEED accreditation. During his stay, Bill's hosts took him on a tour of Bangalore including the imposing Vidhana Soudha which houses the Karnataka state legislature, across from it the red state High Court building (sharing photo with a BACnet hat), and everywhere Bangalore's infamous traffic jams.
   
• NYC Meeting Yields Record Number of Public Review Docs (2/08) New York, NY. During the ASHRAE Winter Meeting, the BACnet committee recommended public review for 10 addenda to the BACnet standard including Addendum q, to tunnel BACnet over ZigBee wireless networks. "This will lead to a significant reduction in the cost of installation at the sensor and controller level by reducing the amount of wired networking required in a building automation system," said Jerry Martocci (Johnson Controls), convener of the BACnet committee's Wireless Networking working group.

  "Marrying these two technologies seemed obvious," said Martocci. "BACnet already had the object and services model designed specifically for building automation but no wireless network, and ZigBee had the wireless capabilities but no object model for building automation. We just had to put the two together to benefit from the synergies."

  "The project to draft this addendum began almost two years ago," said BACnet chairman Bill Swan, "with an intense three days of meetings between BACnet and ZigBee experts. During this time we learned about ZigBee's data communications and they learned about BACnet's networking and objects and services model. Together we looked at a number of approaches and discussed the pros and cons of each."

  Martocci noted that for various technical reasons battery-operated devices, including sensors, will probably be ZigBee only, but that powered controllers would have BACnet/ZigBee capability. He also observed that the "mesh" networking among ZigBee nodes leads to self-healing networks, so that even if a link between two nodes is obstructed the "mesh" network can route around the obstructed link, leading to reliable networks.

  In other developments, the BACnet committee worked towards approval of nine additional addenda during the meeting. "Only a few of these are going out for first public review," said Swan, "but it is our expectation that these are all likely to pass without significant comments."

  One such addendum is Addendum j, support for physical access control. This was drafted by the Life Safety and Security working group, comprised of BACnet committee members and experts from the physical security industries. Public reviews of Addendum j have been announced in journals and other media serving the security industry, with long review periods to help ensure it gets the most complete review possible.

  Another addendum being prepared for public review is Addendum i, support for lighting applications. This addendum was drafted by the Lighting Applications working group, comprised of representatives from lighting controls manufacturers and BACnet experts.

  The BACnet committee is continuing to work on a broad range of other items such as integrating buildings and the energy utilities, developing standard profiles for various building automation devices, CCTV control, and elevator monitoring.

• BIG-Finland Hosts Introductory BACnet Seminar (1/08) Helsinki, Finland. The Finnish Society of Automation was the venue for BIG-FI's first introductory seminar on the concepts of BACnet on January 10, 2008. The seminar was led by Frank Schubert (MBS Software and BIG-EU) and was attended by 20 participants, the majority of whom were building system integrators. Thanks to Teemu Heikkilä (ABB) for the photo.
   
• ISO/TC 205 Meets in Cairo (11/07) Cairo, Egypt. Rising up out of the sands of Giza, a BACnet hat dominates the view of the Pyramid of Khafre on the outskirts of Cairo. Back in town, ISO/TC 205, Building Environment Design, was meeting to discuss, among other topics, the continuing development of the 16484 series of ISO standards on control system design, of which BACnet (16484-5) and its companion testing standard (16484-6) play a central role. These discussions take place in Working Group 3 among experts from Australia, Austria, Japan, Korea, Norway, Sweden and the U.S. Representing the U.S. and ASHRAE SSPC 135 were Steve Bushby and Mike Newman, Past Chairmen, Bill Swan, current Chairman and Dave Robin, Vice-Chairman. One result of the meeting was the determination that 16464-3, Functions, had finally been republished by ISO to correct the mis-publication of an earlier draft version. Also, discussions of 16484-4, Applications, and 16484-7, Implementation, centered on providing suggestions to the drafting committee within CEN/TC 247. These two parts are under "CEN lead" pursuant to the "Vienna Agreement" between ISO and CEN that is designed to prevent duplication of work on the same area of standardization by both ISO and CEN committees.
   
• "BACnet Today" Supplement Articles Available Online! (11/07) Atlanta, GA. This years ASHRAE Journal BACnet supplement has just shipped with the November Journal. This is the seventh consecutive year that a "BACnet Today" supplement has been prepared by Journal staff. This year's articles include: "BACnet at Cornell", "BACnet Measures Up", "BACnet for Cleanrooms", "BACnet at Georgia Tech", "BACnet for Megachurch", "BACnet Down Under", "BACnet: A Capital Idea", and "BACnet Passes Test". The articles can be downloaded in PDF format from our Bibliography page.
   
• A Tale of Two Plugfests: Milwaukee (10/07) Milwaukee, WI. BACnet International held its 8th annual Interoperability Workshop at the Pfister Hotel in Milwaukee, October 16-18, hosted this year by Johnson Controls. The event allowed vendors to test their BACnet products with BACnet devices from other vendors in a neutral and friendly environment. This year the event was attended by a record 108 engineers from 34 different companies from 6 different countries. On the first day of the workshop, the group was divided into 46 different teams forming 23 work groups per session. Each team participated in 8 work sessions. Training sessions were offered on the second day as an alternative to attending additional testing sessions. On the third day time was provided for teams to schedule their own free-form sessions with other teams. This year's participants were: ABB, Aircuity, Alerton, American Auto-Matrix, Automated Logic, Carrier, Chipkin Automation Systems, Chloride, Cimetrics, Contemporary Controls, Delta, Fieldserver, Heat Timer, Honeywell HBS, ITT, Johnson, KMC, Leviton, Loytec, Lumisys, Mitsubishi Heavy Industries, Notifier, Phoenix, Reliable, Schneider Electric, Siemens, SoftDel, TAC, Touch-Plate Lighting, Trane, Trend, Tridium, Viconics and Wattstopper.
   
• A Tale of Two Plugfests: Stuttgart (10/07) Stuttgart, Germany. Two weeks later, October 29-30, the second Plugfest of the year was held at WSPLab in Stuttgart. This event set the European record for attendance with 20 participating companies! The devices tested covered the range from simple B-ASC and B-AAC to B-BC and B-OWS conformant machines. Five manufacturers tested their MS/TP devices while fifteen companies brought BACnet/IP devices to the party. The BACnet capabilities were built into variable speed drives, DDC controllers, graphical workstations and gateways. Altogether there were nine 2-hour test sessions. The companies participating were: ABB, CA Computer Automation, Danfoss, GFR, Kieback & Peter, Honeywell, Johnson, Loytec, MBS, Plüth Gebäudeautomation, Priva, Regel Partners, Saia-Burgess, Sauter, SE-Electronic, Siemens, SysMik, Trend and Wago Kontakttechnik.
   
• Ooops! New Version of Addendum k to be Reviewed (10/07) Atlanta, GA. An incorrect version of BSR/ASHRAE Addendum k was posted both here and on ASHRAE's Website. The correct version is now posted and the public review has been extended until December 10, 2007. This proposed addendum adds support for one "Character Encoding Form" at a time. The rationale for this addendum is that "support" for character sets has not been well defined but is needed for interoperability. In addition, this addendum updates the standard to reflect the fact that the Japanese Industrial Standards Committee has changed the name of "JIS C 6226" to "JIS X 0208." The addendum can be downloaded from ASHRAE with associated comment forms or you can download just the revised public review draft by clicking here.
   
• BI/BTL and BIG-EU Work to Strengthen Ties (10/07) Dortmund, Germany. In an effort to strengthen communication and to ensure that our mutual goal of consistent testing/listing/certification programs on both sides of the Atlantic is achieved, BI/BTL and BIG-EU have agreed that a liaison from North America will attend future meetings of BIG-EU in Europe. Carl Neilson (Delta Controls), Secretary of SSPC 135, has graciously agreed to serve in this role and attended his first meeting as liaison in Dortmund, Germany, October 9, 2007. In addition, Bill Swan (Alerton/Honeywell), Chairman of SSPC 135, was also able to attend in his new role as Buildings Standards Initiative Leader of Honeywell's Environmental and Combustion Control division. Considering that Bill will likely be able to participate in BIG-EU meetings into the future, the BIG-EU members decided to elect Bill to the position of Vice-President. Congratulations to Carl, Bill, BI/BTL and BIG-EU. We all look forward to working more closely together than ever before!
   
• AMEV Publishes "BACnet in Public Buildings" (10/07) Berlin, Germany. AMEV, the "Arbeitskreis Maschinen- und Elektrotechnik staatlicher und kommunaler Verwaltungen" (Mechanical and Electrical Engineering Working Group of German National, Regional and Local Governments), has just published "BACnet in Public Buildings - BACnet 2007", a recommended practice guide for use by governmental authorities throughout the country. The guide was developed with the help of the BIG-EU and Hans Kranz of HAK Engineering, among others. It is aimed at providing guidance for designers, implementers and operators of BACnet-based building automation systems in government buildings of all types. The development and publication of the guide is particularly noteworthy since AMEV has, for years, been the principal advocate for the use of an "island-to-island" protocol (FND - Firm Neutral Datacommunication) which they had developed many years ago. As evidence of AMEV's commitment to BACnet, a joint meeting of AMEV and BIG-EU engineers was held in Dortmund on October 8 to discuss ongoing cooperation between the two organizations. You can download an Order Form for the German-language publication in PDF format and you can read AMEV's introduction to the document here.
   
• BACnet Conference and Expo Largest Ever! (9/07) Phoenix, AZ. The 2007 BACnet Conference and Expo took place September 25-27 at the Wyndham Phoenix Hotel. Over 230 people from across the country and from many sectors of the building automation industry were in attendance. The conference was jointly sponsored by BACnet International and BNP Media, publishers of Engineered Systems magazine.

  Day one focused on BACnet-related topics including BACnet Web Services, wireless BACnet on Zigbee, effectively specifying interoperability, mining BACnet data, access control, security and life safety and others.

  Days two and three focused on the latest intelligent building strategies and equipment for retrofits and new construction, cutting-edge work for open systems and next generation lighting.

  Before, after and during breaks in the presentations an exhibition hall featured booths staffed by representatives of ABB, Alps Controls, Inc., Alerton, American Auto-Matrix, Automated Logic, Cimetrics, Contemporary Controls, Delta Controls, Elodrive, Field Server, Honeywell, Johnson Controls, KMC, Lumisys, Reliable Controls, Richards-Zeta, Siemens, Tridium, Touch-Plate Lighting, Trane, Veris, Viconics and Watt Stopper. The success of the conference has prompted both sponsors to consider a repeat performance, at a venue to be determined, next fall!.

• SSPC Interim Meeting in Atlanta Yields 6 Addenda! (9/07) Atlanta, GA. The fall interim meeting of SSPC 135 and Working Groups took place September 17-21 at Georgia Tech in downtown Atlanta and produced a record 6 addenda to BACnet-2004 for recommendation as publication public review documents:
   
  

  • Addendum 135-2004j is in 60-day public review, from September 14 to November 13. This addendum adds support for physical access control.

  • Addendum 135-2004k is, due to a posting error, now in an extended 45-day public review that will last until December 10. This addendum adds support for one "Character Encoding Form" at a time, needed for interoperability. Also incorporates the Japanese Industrial Standard Committee's change from "JIS C 6226" to "JIS X 0208."

  • Addendum 135-2004l is in 45-day public review, from September 14 to October 29. This addendum adds new operator workstation profiles and BIBBs.

  • Addendum 135-2004m is in 45-day public review, from September 14 to October 29. This addendum contains 12 independent changes to the BACnet standard, including: resolving Foreign Device registration period ambiguities, clarifying the GetEventEnrollment service's Priority Filter parameter, adding requirements to Alarm and Event BIBBs, and defining "object."

  • Addendum 135-2004n is in 45-day public review, from September 14 to October 29. This addendum adds support for devices with long Backup and Restore preparation times.

  • Addendum 135-2004o is in 45-day public review, from September 14 to October 29. This addendum accommodates remote operator access via Annex J BACnet/IP through NAT firewalls.

  All of these addenda may be downloaded by visiting our Addenda page that also provides details on submitting public review comments.

• BACnet Interest Group - Finland Joins the Fold! (7/07) Helsinki, Finland. A new BACnet interest group has emerged in Finland! The photo, taken in March, 2007, at the Building Systems Fair in Helsinki, shows, from left to right, the founding members of the BIG-FI Steering Committee: Markku Vasara, Siemens; Antti Vuorivirta, ABB; Veijo Lappalainen, VTT; Volker Röhl, DeTeImmobilien, Chairman of BIG-EU; and Börje Sandström, Honeywell. For more info, click here.
   
• BIG-EU Forum in Zürich, Tuesday, June 12 (6/07) Dortmund, Germany. BIG-EU has announced its second BACnet Forum of the year to be held in Zurich, Switzerland, on June 12, 2007. Click here to download the brochure or here for the forum Website!
   
• BACnet France Association Formed to Complement BIG-EU! (4/07) Paris, France. The ACR (Association for Comfort and Regulation) that changed a short time ago into "Syndicat des Automatismes du Génie Climatique et de la Régulation pour l'Efficacité Energétique du Bâtiment", has decided, according to its president, Jean-Daniel Napar, to create BACnet France with the support of its members: BACnet France was conceived in 2006 and will go into action in spring 2007. All companies offering BACnet-based solutions as well as the members of the ACR are cordially invited to join the association. BACnet France is a non-profit making, professional association.

  BACnet France will complement the BIG-EU which actively contributes to the development of the BACnet communication standard, its international promotion and to the guarantee of its quality in terms of interoperability, certification and standardization. To download the inaugural issue of the "BACnet France Journal" click here.

• June 21-23, 2008. SSPC 135 Meeting, Salt Lake City, Utah.