Building Controls I: An Introduction to Building Controls

Course Transcript

Slide 1
Welcome to Building Controls I: An Introduction to Building Controls. This is the first in a series of Building
Controls courses offered by Energy University. It is recommended that you participate in this course before
taking the other Building Controls courses we offer.

Slide 2
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normal play of the course. Click the Notes tab to read a transcript of the narration.

Slide 3
At the completion of the course, you will be able to:
• Summarize what a basic control system is
• Describe the main types of control loops
• Explain the role of input devices, controllers and controlled devices in a control system, and
• List the commonly used control technologies and identify their advantages and disadvantages

Slide 4
This class is the first in a sequence that will provide an overview of basic control technology used in
buildings, so that you will understand how it can contribute to energy efficiency. Building controls allow an
operator to maintain a comfortable environment for occupants, and meet requirements for ambient
conditions for industrial processes or storage of materials. Automated controls help to accomplish this with
less labor from the facility team, thus reducing operating costs. Building controls also help to optimize
energy consumption and reduce utility bills.

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owners.
If we can control an environmental system (for example - a collection of equipment that maintains the
environment of a building) we can tell equipment:
• When to turn on and off
• How slow or fast to run
• How cool or warm the temperature of the air or water needs to be.

In following classes we will see how a controller can respond to measurements and how controlled devices
change or maintain environmental conditions.

Slide 5
What is a control system at the most basic level? For an environmental control system, or a Building
Automation System to effectively work, three things must take place:
• Data must be measured and provided as input to the system
• Measured data then can be compared to a set of desired outcomes or instructions
• An output is produced based on the measured data to change or maintain the environment

Controls may be manual or automatic. Manual controls are things like light switches or dimmers that a
person has to set. The output then doesn’t change until a person changes the setting – the person is
actually the controller. Automatic controls rely on technology to perform the controlling.

Slide 6
Input devices are used for measuring data. This is the first step of control. Input devices may be sensors or
contact closures. Sensors are used to repeatedly measure variables, such as temperature, humidity,
pressure or flow rate. Contact closures may be devices such as switches or buttons that provide input to
the system.

Slide 7

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owners.
The components that take in that data and process it using logic are called controllers. Controllers collect
needed data from input devices, and then compare those measurements with a set of standards or
instructions. The controller can be a mechanical device such as a pneumatic controller, or mathematical
logic in a microprocessor based system.

Slide 8
In a building, if the conference room is too warm, say 26 degrees C / 79 degrees F, the controller would
receive that input from the sensor.

The controller would have a programmed set point as determined by the design engineer of around 23
degrees C / 74 degrees F. The controller would make a response happen, perhaps to increase airflow to the
space to reduce the space temperature.

Slide 9
An output is the result of a calculation from the controller. A controlled device is a device that changes state
based on the output. The controller activates a controlled device in order to produce a change in the
environment. A controlled device could be an actuator or a relay. They are tied to devices in the
environmental system such as fans or dampers, which are used to control airflow or temperature. A
controlled device could also be a lamp or an alarm, such as a warning lamp or fire alarm.

Slide 10
Inputs and outputs may be digital or analog. A digital input or output has only two states: off or on, which
can be represented by zero (0) or one (1). An analog input or output has variable values within a range, e.g.
from 0% to 100% in 1% increments.

Slide 11
So let’s summarize what a control system is:

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owners.
It is a system that measures data (such as temperature), then feeds that data to a controller that compares
that measurement to a standard, (such as a targeted temperature set point), and when needed makes a
change with a controlled device.

Slide 12
A simple control loop is defined as one input to a controller housing the control logic, which provides an
output to one controlled device. More complex loops may have multiple inputs and outputs.

A controller typically will contain a collection of control loops used to manage a system such as an air
handling unit, boiler or chiller. There will generally be many controllers combined to form the complete
building system. Building systems can be scaled to manage floors and zones within a single building, or
multiple buildings within a campus.

To learn about what a control system can accomplish, such as adjustments to heating, ventilation, air
conditioning and lighting, please take our classes on Energy Efficiency with Building Automation.

Slide 13
Let’s look at control loops in more detail. There are three types: open, closed, or cascading.

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owners.
The input signal to the control loop is called the controlling variable. The controller in the control loop
decides what to do, based on the value of the controlling variable. This could be the air temperature in a
room, for example. The controlled variable is whatever is affected by the controlled device. This might be
air flow rate, or water flow rate.

Slide 14
In an open control loop, the output has no effect on the controlling variable. This is sometimes referred to
as a no-feedback control loop. An example would be a simple electric laundry dryer. The dryer is turned on,
and the controlling variable is the drying time set with a dial on the front.

The output, the controlled variable, tells the dryer to keep rotating and heating the laundry. The dryness of
the laundry has no effect on the timer setting. The dryer will continue running until the end of its preset time,
even if the laundry is already dry.

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owners.
Slide 15
In a closed control loop, the controlling variable is affected by the actions of the controlled device upon the
controlled variable. This is sometimes referred to as feedback. This is the most common type of loop used
in building control systems. In our laundry example, we might measure the moisture leaving the dryer, and
feed that back into the control loop. When the moisture drops below a certain level, the dryer will stop.

A thermostat is an example of a single device that integrates both a sensor and a controller in a closed
control loop. If the sensor indicates the temperature is too low, the thermostat will issue a control signal to
change the performance of the heating or cooling system to increase the temperature. The sensor will
continue monitoring the temperature and the thermostat will issue another control signal when the desired
temperature is reached. This “closes the loop” between the control and its effects. Another example would
be a dimmable ballast fitted with a photoelectric sensor to control a lamp. In bright daylight the ballast will
dim the lamp. When the sensor detects lower light levels, the ballast will provide more energy to the lamp
and increase the light supplied.

Slide 16
Cascade control loops are sometimes referred to as reset control loops. With a cascade loop there are two
inputs. Typically, one of the inputs is closed loop and the second is open loop. The open loop input is
typically used to modify the performance of the closed control loop. We generally design closed loop control
systems for specific design conditions. These design conditions include assumptions for the number of
people, the heating load from equipment, the outside temperature and humidity and so on. Those exact
design conditions may only actually occur infrequently. The rest of the time the system is coping with
conditions that may be slightly different, or very different.

By adding the second input, we can modify the performance of the closed control loop for “off design”
conditions and achieve more effective and efficient control.

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owners.
These types of control loops are very helpful in optimizing energy efficiency in buildings. Many buildings are
heated by using fans to blow air over hot water coils. The heat is transferred to the air and then distributed
within the building. When the outside air temperature is higher, less heating may be required. The outside
air temperature would be provided to the controller, to adjust its logic for the hot water temperature. It would
give different instructions to the controlled device, in this case, a valve which controls how hot the water is
that comes from the boiler. The input sensor for hot water temperature closes the loop. In summary, the
controller will:

• Use the outside air temperature in its control logic

Slide 17
Control systems vary in their complexity and capabilities. A variety of controller technologies have evolved
including pneumatic, electrical and electronic controls.

Slide 18
Historically, pneumatic controllers were common, but these are now rarely if ever installed in new buildings.
They were popular because they were the first solution for automatic control at a time when the only
alternative was to have operators control system manually. For their time, pneumatic controls were a cost-
effective solution. They were reliable, well understood by designers and facility maintenance staff, and
allowed easy implementation of proportional control.

Slide 19

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owners.
The downside was that pneumatic control combined a variety of physical components to create a control
loop. Consequently they were not flexible, since to change the “programming” a new piece of equipment
had to be physically connected. They were high maintenance since the controllers tended to drift and
require re-calibration, and the pneumatic systems required care and attention, such as ensuring water did
not contaminate the pneumatic system. They could not be remotely monitored, so operators had to be
present if observation of the equipment was required.

Producing compressed air for pneumatic controls is an energy-intensive process that loses a lot of energy
as heat and is prone to lose compressed air through leaks. Over time, pneumatic controls became less
attractive as more cost-effective and flexible alternatives became available.

Slide 20
Electrical controls are similar to pneumatic in that they are systems built up from physical devices. In this
case the devices are relays and contactors rather than pneumatic components. Some of the advantages
and disadvantages are similar.
The advantages are…
• Reliable and accurate
• Relatively low maintenance, since they should not drift or need to be recalibrated as a pneumatic
system did, although this depends on the sensors that are used
• Lower cost than pneumatic systems due to the high cost of compressed air

A disadvantage was inflexibility, since electronic controls rely on dedicated parts that are not easy to
interchange. These systems don’t interface directly to the computer control systems that are more
commonly used today.

Slide 21
There are two primary types of electronic control: direct digital control and enable/disable, which is also
called red-wire (slang).

Slide 22

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owners.
Direct Digital Control systems use electronic controllers that can support single or multiple control loops. An
electronic board with multiple control loops can control a built up system that has several devices to be
controlled such as an air handling unit serving an entire floor of a commercial building.

These electronic controllers use software based control algorithms created by an application engineer and
as such can deliver very complex and precise control strategies designed to control the human environment
as efficiently as possible.

Slide 23
An advantage of these software based algorithms is that someone with the relevant application engineering
skills can easily change them when required without having to change hardware. In many cases re-
programming for different functions can be done remotely. This makes DDC control flexible. Provided this is
done well, the control system should be low maintenance, since DDC controllers do not experience drift and
don’t have to be recalibrated. Once we move above the residential level into commercial and industrial
facilities, the higher cost DDC systems typically have excellent return on investment numbers. Increasing
standardization means that DDC systems can integrate a wide variety of best-in-class components. Since
the controllers are computer based, they can be tied to systems that provide visualization of the building and
tools to analyze the performance of the system.

However, application engineering skills are required to correctly configure and program these systems.
Since DDC control is entirely automated and often complex, troubleshooting is sometimes difficult. Facility
maintenance staff may require support in the event of changes.

If possible, the system owner should ensure that members of the facility team have skills to allow them to
program the system. Otherwise, they will be obliged to rely on the supplier whenever changes are required.

Here we see a summary that outlines the advantages and disadvantages of DDC systems. Be sure to click
the play button when you are done viewing this summary.

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owners.
Slide 24
Enable / disable control is another form of electronic control. It simply turns another controller on or off.
One controller will determine when another controller is able to perform its function.

For example, a DDC system may enable the controller dedicated to a chiller. The chiller would then perform
according to the manufacturers programming of its controller. Unless the DDC system had specific inputs, it
would not know anything about the internal functioning of the chiller.

Another example is that a DDC system might enable a thermostat to control the temperature in a space.
This has been referred to as Red-Wire control by many engineers as in this case the enable / disable
method relied on interrupting the power supply of the thermostat, and typically uses the red power wire.

Slide 25
Let’s summarize some of the information that we have discussed in this course.
• For an environmental control system to effectively manage the environment in a building, thereby
increasing energy efficiency and occupant comfort, three things must take place:
• Data must be measured and provided as input to the system.
• Measured data then can be compared to a set of desired outcomes or instructions
• An output is produced based on the measured data to change or maintain the environment

© 2023 Schneider Electric. All rights reserved. All trademarks provided are the property of their respective
owners.
A simple control loop is defined as one input to a controller housing the control logic, which provides an
output to one controlled device. Inputs and outputs may be analog or digital.

A controller may contain many control loops, and a control system may contain many controllers
There are three types of control loops
• Open
• Closed
• Cascading
And there are three common control technologies
• Pneumatic
• Electrical, and
• Electronic
Electronic controls may be
• Direct Digital Control, called DDC, or
• Enable / Disable Control
Slide 26
Thank you for participating in this course.

© 2023 Schneider Electric. All rights reserved. All trademarks provided are the property of their respective
owners.