When the BACnet protocol received approval from the American National Standards Institute (ANSI) in 1995, manufacturers of building automation systems knew they would need support in educating their end-user customers about this important advance in building technology.
By 1999, the industry had established the BACnet Manufacturers Association (BMA), a non-profit organization comprised of companies that design, market, and install building automation products. The association provides a forum in which manufacturers as a group can promote the benefits of using BACnet to end-users - their customers - through testing, educational programming, and other ongoing promotional efforts.
Association objectives include:
• Developing a BACnet conformance certification and listing program that
will award the BACnet Testing Laboratories (BTL) logo after successful completion.
• Establishing a test laboratory to support compliance and interoperability
testing.
• Promoting interoperability and compliance with the BACnet Standard by
developing conformance-testing software and organizing multi-vendor interoperability
testing.
• Providing the latest information about BACnet technology and products
through educational events and a website that displays listed products.
• Marketing and promoting the use of BACnet to consulting engineers, end-users
of building automation equipment, and the building automation community at large.
• Working with existing organizations to promote and improve BACnet.
Current corporate members include Alerton Technologies, American Auto-Matrix,
Automated Logic, Belimo Aircontrols, Cimetrics, Delta Controls, Field- Server
Technologies, Honeywell, Invensys Building Systems, Johnson Controls, Lithonia
Lighting, McQuay International, Nara Controls, Reliable Controls, Siemens Building
Technologies, SimplexGrinnell, Teletrol Systems, Trane, and Tridium. All BMA
members offer BACnet products and are committed to assuring that their BACnet
products will interoperate.
The BMA recently formed the BACnet Testing Laboratories to perform compliance
and interoperability testing of building automation products that use BACnet.
This testing will result in a product-listing program similar to that used by
Underwriters Laboratories. Products passing BTL tests will bear a special logo
and be listed on the BMA website as approved products.
Robin Suttell, based in Cleveland, is a frequent contributing editor to Buildings magazine.
