Issue link: https://cp.revolio.com/i/809568
18 | THE DATA CENTER JOURNAL www.datacenterjournal.com h VAC controls are a critical part of data center opera- tion, as they govern the cooling infrastructure that ensures a (thermally) safe operating environment for IT equipment. Some proprietary HVAC controls offer efficiency or capabilities that exceed industry-standard alterna- tives, but they may come at the cost of interchangeability with products from other vendors. Depending on the circumstances, the proprietary route can be better, but data center operators that choose it should be aware of what they're trading away. proprIetary controlS: rare, But avaIlaBle Open technologies have momen- tum in a number of markets today. Although they have their drawbacks, they oen provide value to customers that outweighs the benefits of closed or proprietary technologies. For HVAC controls, that momentum translates to a greater presence for industry-standard rather proprietary offerings. Accord- ing to Mike Kaler, president of HVAC manufacturer Mestex, "In my opinion proprietary controls are somewhat rare. Perhaps it's the nature of the customers: being in the IT and soware business, they seem to have specific control algo- rithms that they may have developed themselves, and they want to imple- ment those control strategies onto the HVAC equipment." He added that these customers "may, however, be missing an opportunity to run the equipment even more efficiently by using the HVAC equipment's built-in controls. As an industry, most of us work hard to create control strategies that optimize energy efficiency and also provide high reliability." On the industry-standard side, Kaler noted that the dominant protocols are BacNet and LonWorks. "Both of those protocols are pretty universally adopted by HVAC manufacturers," he said. "ere are some proprietary protocols out there, but even they usu- ally have translators to BacNet." So even in the case of proprietary cases, the industry seems to recognize the value of enabling a standard approach, in this case through translators. Kaler also said with regard to his own company, "We have been using direct digital controls in our equipment for over 15 years, and I don't think we have ever run into an interface problem with a building- control system. If there is a problem, it's usually related to the customer's security and firewall settings." the SacrIfIceS of goIng proprIetary IT-focused companies are oen keenly aware of the dangers of ven- dor lock-in, such as lost negotiating leverage, fewer equipment choices and greater difficulty in changing deploy- ment strategies. Naturally, vendors who offer products that span an entire ap- plication (e.g., data center IT) may feel some incentive to make their products work especially well together—perhaps at the expense of compatibility with similar products from other vendors. Such dangers apply to other markets as well, including HVAC controls. Taking an industry-standard approach rather than a proprietary one allows customers greater flexibility in choosing vendors that implement applicable protocols. Using standard controls may mean giving up certain benefits of proprietary alternatives, however; companies must carefully evaluate their needs and the relative advantages of each approach in light of those needs. Yet proprietary and standard HVAC controls aren't always mutually exclusive. Kaler believes that despite the dangers of the former ap- proach—including vendor lock-in, dis- continued technologies and incompat- ibility among different products—nearly everyone in the industry still makes an attempt to at least develop translators. weIghIng the alternatIveS Although open standards for HVAC controls may initially seem like the only acceptable standard, propri- etary controls offer advantages in some cases. us, as with any such decision, it's important to weigh both sides unless some overriding consideration prohibits one or the other. On the plus side for proprietary controls, Kaler noted that they "can have some unique control strategies that will optimize the performance of the indi- vidual HVAC units. ere may also be some speed advantages if the proprie- tary protocol doesn't carry the overhead of the universal protocols." On the other hand, he also observed that "speed is usually not a major issue with HVAC controls. e space you are trying to control usually has so much air volume that changes happen slowly anyway." Other considerations may lend support to proprietary controls, depending on the customer's particular situation. Al- though Kaler believes the disadvantages of proprietary controls outweigh their advantages, he nevertheless believes the decision should be case by case. One difficulty for proprietary tech- nology in an industry mostly focused on open technologies is the simple matter of numbers. More companies will be working with industry-standard controls than proprietary, so the former will gen- erally have a broader development and support base. At the customer level, a proprietary implementation can become troublesome, expensive or both in the long term. "Another thing to consider is 'rev control,'" said Kaler, expressing this general idea. "If something proprietary is developed for a customer or system, then managing the version or 'rev' for the life of the equipment can get messy."