#253 Bring your Experience to Haystack Connect 2015 — Submit a Paper

John Petze Fri 30 Jan 2015

ShareYour Knowledge - Bring your Experience to Haystack Connect 2015 — Submit a Paper

Planning for Haystack Connect 2015 is well underway. With a bit over 4 months before the conference kicks off, the event has 14 major sponsors and exhibitors as well as 3 Media sponsors, with new companies signing up every week. See the current sponsors here

The technical program is taking shape as well with papers submitted on a wide range of topics. Here’s a quick preview of presentations that have been submitted and will be part of the program:

The Data Modeling Category is receiving a number of great submissions and shows the growth and maturation of the topic within the industry. Topics submitted as of today include:

Introduction to Project-Haystack — If you are new to project-Haystack and data modeling this is at the very best place to start to get up to speed and learn to hit the ground running

Project-Haystack Working Group Meeting — The group will focus on extending tagging models for a range of applications and addressing a number of open topics from the discussion forum. Think of this session as an in-person, real time, open forum discussion.

Reinventing the engineering process for automation systems using tagging. Since the beginning of the automation industry, the "point" (the sensor or control point) has been the primary data element. Everything revolved around the individual point and everything had to be bound to a specific individual point. Alarms, control logic and graphics all referenced individual point addresses. Transitioning to a tag-oriented data model enables a complete re-invention of the engineering process resulting in an order of magnitude reduction in engineering time.

New method of tagging convention and taxonomy for building HVAC control systems and equipment for automatic system mapping. Open communication protocols make information available. One important problem in using the technologies of communication protocols is the lack of a standard and naming convention for the identification of sensor within these systems. The procedure of naming convention is often personal to the installer. Therefore, it is difficult to use system data after installation even if the information is available. This study proposes a new method to encode information properties of sensor and control system equipment. The form of the naming convention is a code of several digits that gives information about the geographic position of the sensor, its position in the HVAC system, nature, unit and many other properties.

Current submissions for the Hardware Session include:

New Solutions for Getting Data out of Buildings: Haystack data pumps can lower that cost of getting data into enterprise applications and the cloud, via nomenclature definitions which enables one data source for multiple applications and how do we keep haystack installations updated with tag libraries.

IoT and Today’s Hardware IoT is enabling us to expand our reach to a range of devices and hardware that gathers and analyzes data and react to it in a variety of applications that we’ve never seen before. IoT is allowing us to move from connected devices to connected intelligence. The next generation hardware requires faster processors, more memory, secured access, a selection of connectivity and capacity options to support a variety of applications and go beyond simple device connectivity to include device configuration, device management, and device-level application enablement. This presentation looks at a new embedded edge device technology platform based on open-source, open programming and open hardware technologies.

The Analytics Topic is receiving a number of submissions. An interesting theme running through a number of them is how Data and Analytics are changing business models for Energy Consultants and Commissioning Agents.

Integrated Energy Analytics. The biggest challenge facing building operators today when it comes to controlling and reducing energy usage is the lack of the right information from the equipment systems that consume energy, and real-time analytics that fills the gap between the facilities operational layer and the business layer. In order to deliver analytics that have substance and value, you have to identify, connect, collect (securely), synchronize, organize, manage and understand where data is coming from and its meaning. The challenge is in bringing all this data together, blending the flavors of data from all the sources and making it actionable through predictive, forensic, automated fault detection and diagnostics and commissioning analytics. The presentation will focus on the challenges and opportunities of secure data acquisition to maximize the value of analytics software.

Connected Commissioning - The Business Case for Analytics Building data are ubiquitous - consider just the data generated from HVAC and lighting systems, let alone security, A/V, and other systems. How do building managers, portfolio managers, and operators efficiently manage this flow of information and translate it into actionable strategies?

This discussion shares a real world project involving a diverse team of building operators, property and asset managers, and engineers from a portfolio of medical office buildings. Their case study highlights the process of deploying a technology-enabled, value-driven data management and training program that results in lower costs and increased tenant satisfaction.

The team uses an automated data analytics platform, in combination with a tailored training program, to diagnose operational inefficiencies, implement fixes, and track performance of systems over time. The audience is encouraged to participate in discussions about strategies, implementation challenges, and keys to success.

Embedding Analytics at the Edge — This submission bridges the topics of hardware and analytics to explore what’s possible by embedding advanced analytics at the device level. Smart devices contain valuable information about their environment, operation and connected systems.

Recent advances in cloud-based software platforms have shown the benefits that can be achieved by applying advanced analytic techniques to sensor and equipment data, but these approaches carry with them the requirement that the data be transmitted to the cloud. This takes time, imposes costs, complexity and security issues related to transmitting large volumes of data up to cloud-based platforms.

It is now possible for the same level of automated analytics to be executed at the "edge" in small controllers and embedded devices that can be connected to existing remote devices and systems. Attendees will come away from the session with an understanding of the capabilities now available from automated analytics that can be cost effectively added to existing remote systems.

In the Cyber Security category:

Secured Connections: We're experiencing a new wave of technology that's being defined by connected devices, remote access and the smart data that resides in them. Today's connected business world means there are thousands of entry points in and out of companies. When it comes to the access of the devices, systems and applications that run and operate our buildings, they are smarter and more connected than ever before. With these threats, Cybersecurity models need to radically change to provide the right level of protection for this new, connected world. Central to this is the ability to securely connect. This presentation explores securing today's connected building devices, systems and applications and the exchange of data.

Developing End to End Security for Internet of Things: The Internet of Things is expected to bring huge benefits and to grow very rapidly, but that will only occur if we can be assured that the Solutions we have are Secure, and are not likely to the hacked or corrupted. Traditionally the control and management of the Things has had, at best, minimal security and protection. Fully programmable devices need to be protected from being corrupted and from being impersonated in order to infiltrate the rest of the Network. The adoption of more wireless products and technologies increases the opportunity for access to the system, and requires added protection to be Secure. This session will address the security issues that the Internet of Things presents and propose a practical set of measures and solutions intended to provide end-to-end Security in this fast emerging Industry.

And in the Energy Category

Utility Rates and Programs Create Opportunities for Systems Integrators. Gasoline prices may be low but electricity prices are not dropping. Many areas of the country will see significant increases in demand costs in 2016 and beyond. Utility rates and related programs are creating business opportunities for systems integrators — you just need to know where to look. This session will show you the way.

Energy and Analytics - A Path to Excellence. This session will focus on three topics:

  1. Best Practices for Next generation analytics technology
  2. Monetizing value from energy efficiency, Demand Response and energy markets and 3. Success stories for projects that demonstrate excellence

In the Wireless Track submissions include:

Where we are with Wireless? Wireless Technology is being increasingly used both for personal devices such as Smart Phones and wearables, and in machine to Machine use as part of the Internet of Things. This session will look at the various Wireless methods and Standards available with a look at the relative success and technical capability of the different, often competing, offerings. These will include Wide Area Connectivity using 3G and 4G LTE. WiFi and the opportunities offered by the new 802.11 ac 5MHz standard, and the various low energy solutions using Point to Point and Mesh including 802.15.4 with Zigbee, Hart, 6LowPAN, and other Low Energy solutions such as Enocean and Bluetooth Smart. There's a lot of options available with wireless and the field is changing quite rapidly. Wireless offers the lower installation costs, especially for existing facilities, but it has to be robust, reliable and secure. This session will give an overview of what's new and what's available technically and a view of the take up and adoption of these various wireless solutions.

This is just a sampling of the papers submitted to date. Consider joining the community at the Haystack Connect event — submit a presentation and share your expertise.

The detailed schedule of sessions will be published in March as we assemble submissions around the main conference themes.

The Call for Papers is open until March 15, but don’t wait! Submit a Paper here: http://events.haystackconnect.org/2015/#presenting

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