The Next Frontier for Building Automation Systems

The building management systems (BMS) industry has traditionally been a conservative one, dominated by well-established global players like Honeywell, Siemens and Johnson Controls. But in the past few years, a number of factors have converged to shake up the industry and bring in new players, with companies like Cisco and IBM acting as bridges between heating, ventilation and air-conditioning (HVAC) systems and IT networks. And with 50 percent of all energy consumption coming from the operation of buildings, the incentive to monitor and reduce energy usage by automating systems within buildings — from lighting to air-conditioning to security — is increasing.