Quality Ideas

Open Controls Solution

In 2001 Jarrell Mechanical started to recognize the demand from the marketplace to provide an open controls solution.  In the old days of building automation the controls contractor was married to the facility.  This was a growing problem to building owners as they were locked into a single, sole provider of their building automation system or energy management system.

There are two primary technologies that are recognized in the industry as open architecture.

* Lonworks implementation - utilizes a "peer to peer" technology without implementing a "magic box" to make sure all network task and device task are totally managed.  There are multiple tasks happening simultaneously through "peer to peer" communicating.

* Bacnet Implementation - Utilizes an object criteria that is a standard for all objects of the same instance regardless of the device manufacturer.

Jarrell Mechanical is providing both solutions to open architecture and total system interoperability.  Building owners, property management companies, and  facility managers are able to take competitive solutions from a number of open control solutions providers based on this controls model.In 2001 the United States Army Corps of Engineers decided that the Army would be better served if they developed an open solution.  In 2004 the Army Corps of Engineers released the first official open solution specification that was developed around the Lonworks implementation.

Jarrell Mechanical is proud of the following open solutions provided to the Army Corps of Engineers:

     Ft. Lewis (Seattle/Tacoma, WA)  Armed Forces Reserve Center : Tridium AX user interface combined with Loytec structured LON network and implementing Honywell LON application specific and Programmable I/O devices.

     Ft. Allen (Juana Diaz, Puerto Rico) Armed Forces Reserve Center : Loytec user interface combined with Loytec structured network implementing Distech LON application specific and programmable I/O devices.

     Ft. Campbell Dental Medical Office Building :  Tridium R2 user interface combined with a Loytec structured Lon Network and implementing Distech LON application specific and programmable I/O devices.

     Round Rock, Texas Armed Forces Reserve Center : Loytec user interface combined with Loytec structured LON network and implementing Distech LON application specific and programmable I/O devices.

     Tyler, Texas Armed Forces Reserve Center : Loytec user interface combined with Loytec structured LON network and implementing Distech LON application specific and programmable I/O devices.

     Ft.Lewis (Seattle/Tacoma, WA) Battalion Ops : Tridium AX user interface combined with Loytec structured LON network and implementing Honywell LON application specific and Programmable I/O devices.

     McAlester AAP (McAlester, OK) Armed Forces Reserve Center : Loytec user interface combined with Loytec structured LON network and implementing Distech LON application specific and programmable I/O devices.

In 2002 The United States Postal Service released its Bacnet Specification and Jarrell Contracting provided Bacnet Solutions on numerous projects including

     Southern Miami Distribution center - Alerton native Bacnet devices and user interface.

     Richmond, VA Distribution Center - Alerton native Bacnet devices and user interface.

Case Study: Linn State Technical college, Linn, MO

At Linn Technical College in central Missouri, Jarrell Mechanical was given the challenge to bring multiple control platforms together into a single user interface.  Jarrell Mechanical combined 3 different buildings utilizing 3 different control systems into one graphical interface at the end user level.  The college consisted of two existing buildings one having a legacy Johnson Controls system and the other having a Johnson Controls bacnet system.  The third building was being built and Jarrell Mechanical designed an open LON system utilizing Trane devices.  Jarrell Mechanical implemented a Trane user interface combining all three buildings into one workstation.  The Johnson Legacy, Johnson Bacnet, and Trane LON devices all appear the same to the end user on the graphical User Interface.  One Scheduling, Trending, Alarming, Reporting Platform for all of the systems.  At Linn Technical College Jarrell Mechanical completed the task of combining a proprietary legacy platform with both open platforms LON and BacNet and at the user level they see only one interface for all controls on the entire campus.