The coming convergence in energy: change is needed to make the most of new technologies.(Energy online: management information systems)

The energy industry is undergoing continuous and massive change. Just a few of the critical issues are the fate of deregulation, demand-side management, federal energy policy, electrical system reliability, and convergence, which may be the most urgent issue of all despite its lack of industry recognition.

Convergence may be a new term for many energy users; however, in selected areas, convergence is the hottest topic of discussion. For example, the November issue of Engineered Systems (a BNP publication) features that publication's third editorial supplement this year devoted to convergence. Convergence extends the concept of building automation but addresses all special building systems, including fire, access, video surveillance, and information technology (IT) and how they are being integrated with each other and the Internet.

Defining Convergence

Several terms have been coined in an attempt to describe convergence, including enterprise energy management and real-time system integration, which is the title of my Association of Energy Engineers (AEE) online seminar.

Convergence is the logical extension of building automation, which has grown from heating, ventilation, air conditioning (HVAC) control to direct digital control (DDC). Convergence describes the process of integrating DDC and other special systems to enhance facility management.

The next step for DDC was Internet access, but convergence goes further than even that extension. Convergence can be compared to a freeway cloverleaf where the flow of data moves seamlessly from one direction, or source, to another in myriad combinations. True convergence migrates integrated facilities, HVAC, and process automation systems to the enterprise level via campus networks, such as Ethernet, where the systems may integrate with IT and the Interact. Migration and integration convert the independent systems from controls into a management information system.

The automation business has been moving steadily toward convergence for more than two decades, aided by the standardization of data communication and the desire for interoperable systems. Integrators can combine legacy DDC systems together or with new standard-based systems for interface via a single front end and sometimes to provide limited control integration. DDC data communication standards like BACnet and LON were convergence precursors that now enable convergence; yet it is possible that TCP/IP could be the ultimate data standard for the energy industry.