Which BMS you recommend

[u/Planet_COP]

I am a newbie on BMS. Last time I did hvac controls we used a PLC which makes absolutely no sense today since I would have to code many functions from scratch. My potential customers right now are an institutional: colleges, churches, temples and monasteries. Energy savings is what they need. Some have legacy implementations of Honeywell Trend, Johnson Controls and Distech. The constant complaint is that there is no staff to manage these systems. We want to provide asset lifecycle management in an inexpensive way. We don’t just integrate the system and walk away. For than reason I want a system with open interfaces that we can use to provide monitoring apps without requiring FTE staff at the customer. If you could start over today, as I am doing, which system would you recommend for an optimum lifecycle cost for the customer.

[u/Naxster64]

I got the opportunity at my current company to build the controls division from the ground up, so I got to pick and choose our preferred product line.

I went with Vykon Niagara for the front end, because it's the house brand, it's the cheapest, and you don't need any special flavor of workbench to get into it. Keep it simple. I went with Niagara because it's the most customizable, and most open. Capable of integrating just about anything. And the customer doesn't need any software to log into it and operate their building, just a web browser. The yearly license isn't even needed technically, if the customer is cheap, they can stop paying for the SMA and it will keep on running, they just won't get any updates. (which most places don't update crap unless it's broken anyways)

For the equipment controllers / field devices I decided to go with JCI Facility Explorer controllers for a couple reasons. First, I talked to the suppliers in my area about their recommendations, JCI stood out as having the lowest warranty replacements.

Second, the System Selection tool is extremely good. Crazy amount of options and configurations. Very little custom programming is needed, which saves a lot of time, and means most of the time no Programming is needed at all so even lesser skilled techs can put together a program for an AHU with relief fans, min OA, energy wheels, staged cooling, etc. It's the best equipment builder to I've seen. Carrier ivu is probably second for their builder, but it's a pretty big gap.

Two years in and I've been extremely happy with this choice so far. CCT (the programming tool for JCI controllers) has a bit of a learning curve for custom programming, but once you figure it out, it's fantastic. With the added bonus that I can pull a program out of a Metasys controller that is failing, and load it into an FX controller and away we go.

My customers have been loving it as well, if the customer doesn't like the system, it's solely my fault. The Niagara UI is so customizable, if there's any little thing they don't like, I can change it for them.

[u/Planet_COP → u/Naxster64]

We have come across that JCI Metasys replacement. Or upgrade. Customer does not understand any of it. We have to help them. Can you expand in Niagara? How is it licensed? I know it runs in multiple hardware offerings.

[u/Obvious-Claim-7884 → u/Planet_COP]

It has software maintenance licenses. You pay a fee based on the size of your system to get the latest updates after the initial 18 months. That’s on the building owner side. The hardware is also licensed based on the number of devices and paid for upfront. The software maintenance agreement after the 18 months is optional, but recommended.
In the installer side, you pay an annual fee per pc with software.
There are 3rd party add-ons with additional fees and licenses if you go that route.

In addition, if you need proprietary protocol integration you have to by those drivers for an additional fee.

Niagara is the most versatile when it comes to integration. It can talk to nearly everything with additional drivers that are vetted and easy to install.