International. Johnson Controls is celebrating the 31st anniversary of one of its most recognized solutions in the building automation sector: Metasys. This solution was born in February 1990 when it was presented at the ASHRAE AHR Expo held in Atlanta, United States.
The newly launched platform included a Human Machine interface for system operation as well as application-specific controllers for HVAC applications such as Air Conditioning Handlers, Package Units, VAV Boxes, Fan & Coils and even Environmental Control, Power Management and Lighting Control.
This technology of the 90's can still be found operating in buildings of some customers who have operated and kept it in operation for all this time; they are now making preliminary preparations to upgrade their automation system to the latest version.
"Metasys® has evolved year after year, adding more functionality and add-ons to the platform, as well as adopting new requirements attached to industry standards in HVAC, energy, wellness, sustainability and information technology. Also the feedback on the functionalities and improvements that our customers have given us has been a driving factor to constantly innovate with our products and solutions to achieve that they impact on their comfort, safety and the environment, "said Carlos Vega, Business Development Manager in Products and Control Systems of Johnson Controls.
Platform Enhancements
• Integrations: Metasys® can monitor and control a wide range of building and business systems within buildings of any commercial line. Development of powerful Apps for an easy and transparent integration to interact with reading and writing data as well as commands and object control. Some of the protocols that can be integrated directly into the platform are: N2 Bus (proprietary Johnson Controls protocol in the 90s), Bacnet MSTP, Bacnet IP, Lonworks, Modbus TCP/IP, Modbus RTU, KNX IP, M-Bus and OPC.
• Cyber Security: Metasys prevents® unauthorized access to and through itself better than anyone else so as not to be a vulnerable and misused access point. Apps included in the platform for the administration of Metasys security policies and networks for administrators of Information Technologies. It also includes a Cyber Health dashboard dedicated to IT administrators to detect risks and statuses of computers connected to their WAN/LAN network.
• Building Optimization: Metasys® makes the most effective use of resources of all types of the building such as energy, equipment, personnel, etc. while maintaining a comfortable, safe and productive environment for its occupants. New Apps and algorithms to implement instructions for the optimization of the use of integrated building systems, as well as connectivity with the energy management platform in the cloud for information analysis with artificial intelligence and delivery of dashboards with processed information and ready for decision making for energy management and property assets.
• User Experience: Metasys® provides its operators with the most enjoyable, useful and productive user experience. New user interface and graphical environment for easy operation of the systems that supports the daily learning of the operations of Metasys. Mobility for access to the platform securely from anywhere and at any time from any mobile device through an internet browser and access credentials validated by the management system.
• Simplicity in the Implementation Process: Metasys requires® a minimum amount of time, effort, frustrations and surprise costs at the time of installation, commissioning and maintenance. Improved engineering apps and application tools for better on-site performance at any stage of the building's life.
The latest version of Metasys® 11.0 has some very useful functionalities for building operators, these are complementary software applications called as
Fault Detection App. This function identifies the failures related to the building system and sorts them by gravity, by which with the rules and conditions defined with a semantic data model for easy configuration. It helps the operator identify details in building systems that are not operating properly to prevent energy waste and avoid problems with occupant comfort; makes the daily operation of buildings more efficient.
Fault Selection App. This feature improves the order of the fault list by adding the duration and occurrence of the failure to the classification logic, which improves the handling of major and more important problems at the beginning of the list. It makes use of the field support database to suggest possible causes, their probability and appropriate corrective actions. It generates graphs of the occurrence of failures and allows an assisted experience for people with less experience in HVAC systems.
Restful integration app. Metasys® has a RESTful API designed to bidirectionally access and interact with data from other applications for processing and analysis with PowerBI® and Tableau® in a secure and cost-effective manner. This API also allows control and command functions that allow reading and writing data as well as controlling one or more objects and / or properties for a bidirectional integration with third-party applications. Custom development of the API according to the needs and requirements of integration between platforms.
