BAS Basics
This 3-letter acronym stands for the system that automates a building's mechanical and electrical systems.
What is BAS? (Building Automation System)
This type of air terminal device modulates airflow rather than maintaining a constant volume.
What is a VAV (Variable Air Volume) box?
This open communication protocol, developed by ASHRAE, is the most widely used in building automation.
What is BACnet?
This Johnson Controls platform is one of the most widely deployed enterprise building automation systems in the world.
What is Metasys?
This is the only mammal capable of true, sustained flight.
What is a bat?
DDC stands for this — the technology that replaced pneumatic controls with microprocessors.
What is Direct Digital Control?
A VFD controls this characteristic of a motor to save energy.
What is speed? (Variable Frequency Drive controls motor speed)
BACnet MS/TP runs on this physical layer, a differential signaling standard common in industrial controls.
What is RS-485?
Tridium developed this open, Java-based IoT framework used by dozens of OEMs to build their own branded BAS products.
What is the Niagara Framework (N4)?
An octopus has this many hearts.
What is three? (3 hearts)
This 3-letter acronym describes the most common control algorithm, made up of three mathematical terms.
What is PID? (Proportional, Integral, Derivative)
This type of unit, abbreviated RTU, sits on commercial rooftops and handles both heating and cooling.
What is a Rooftop Unit? (RTU)
BACnet was developed and is maintained by this engineering organization, which also writes Standard 90.1.
What is ASHRAE?
This Automated Logic Corporation product is a web-based BMS common in commercial real estate.
What is WebCTRL?
To compensate for its extreme height, this animal has the highest blood pressure of any land animal.
What is a giraffe?
In a control loop, this term describes the target value the system tries to maintain — like 72°F for a thermostat.
What is a setpoint?
Name the outdoor component of a split HVAC system that releases heat to the outside air.
What is a condenser?
This protocol, originally developed by Echelon, uses a peer-to-peer network and was commonly found in older Trane and Siemens systems.
What is LON / LonWorks?
Siemens uses this enterprise building management platform, replacing the older APOGEE EBI product line.
What is Desigo CC?
A group of flamingos goes by this gloriously dramatic collective noun.
What is a flamboyance?
This term describes testing and verifying that a controls system performs to design intent before handover to the owner.
What is commissioning?
This large central cooling machine circulates chilled water throughout a building.
What is a chiller?
In networking, this two-letter abbreviation stands for Internet Protocol — the addressing system BACnet/IP runs on.
What is IP? (Internet Protocol)
This Canadian company, now owned by Acuity Brands, makes the ECY series controllers and the ENVYSION programming environment.
What is Distech Controls?
The mantis shrimp punches at ~50 mph and sees 16 color channels. How many MORE color receptors does it have than humans, who have 3?
What is 13? (16 minus 3)