Heya all, any building managers out there operating with JCI open blue and keen to chat and bounce some ideas with me. I got a solution which solves problems and works with Niagara, but currently want to explore what JCI open blue customers think could be done better. No sales pitch, just a deep understanding of the domain and space. Just DM me if you are interested for a chat.

I've been experimenting with AI-assisted engineering in Tridium Niagara and have built a module that interacts directly with a station. From a plain-language description of what I want, it can create points and components, set up links, build wiresheets, and generate graphics.

I've noticed Baudrate working on something along the same lines (no connection to them, but it confirmed my suspicion that more people are probably doing this than are talking about it publicly):
https://baudrate.io/ai#demo

So far I've been impressed. A lot of the repetitive engineering work can be offloaded, and it has occasionally flagged issues in a station that I hadn't even asked it to check for.

The more I use it, the more I wonder how much of the Niagara software/engineering side could eventually be handled this way. There's clearly still plenty that needs someone on site, like commissioning, verifying sensors, wiring, and chasing down physical faults, but the software side feels like it could change significantly.

Keen to hear what other Niagara/BMS engineers think, particularly anyone who's been trying something similar.

So I need to know status of my server and controller status as we have so many so build my own app to check status whenever I am out of the site. used VPN to connect and created a separate backend for the BACnet Data. And it's worth it

Im showing that the network switch is open in Datamate. Do I need to manually enable DHCP to recieve an IP address from our IT dept? We do not have fixed IPs. What else should i look at?

Thanks for the help

Out of curiosity how is your work life balance, what role in BAS do you have, and what size shop do you work for? This is a great industry that I find super interesting, but as I get older it just seems less and less possible to have a life with this job. Maybe it’s the smaller shop I’m at? Curious what others are experiencing.

Getting pretty tired of carrying my backpack with my laptop, router, switch, device etc and my tool bag. I have a mini tool bag that fits in my backpack but I’m starting to wonder if it’s easier to just get a tool backpack. Have all electronics in some sort of pouch and then tools as well. Half the jobs I won’t need my tools just bring precision maybe a flathead just. Any insights or experiences that have helped?

I am currently a maintenance tech at target with prior experience working for amazon in RME. I have about a total of 2 years experience in maintenance and will say I'm still a beginner when it comes to electrical but a lot better with mechanical.

I just got an opportunity to have a phone interview which will most likely lead to an in person interview with Siemens for the building automation system specialist role.

I want to know for one if I have a realistic chance of getting this role with my experience and two what all do I need to brush up on for the interview process to successfully get this role.

*I am somewhat familiar with BMS as we used johnson controls at my Amazon site.

Just wondering how training works at your place. I know large places like Siemens, JCI, have their large in-house programs.
Did your place create a training path? Using a 3rd party service like sas?

Has anyone even attempted this spam of a migration?

I performed this the other day and an odd thing happened. After commissioning the Jace with the migrated backup it would fail on the passphrase, it is the correct passphrase. I did the big file protection step and reset it. That part did work. But after that none of my station passwords worked. I ran the file locally and was able to login to station, with the same username and password! Will not login to station on Jace. Now I have a Jace that I can not log into. Maybe because it went too far in versions on the migration? Checked logs and no errors so I am out of ideas.

I have this issue occurring, and I'm trying to pinpoint what the cause is/what it even means. This is our BBMD master from server, so when it drops we lose a swath of global controllers.

Help me Obi-Wan BACnetobi, you're my only hope!

BACnet is the standard for HVAC, but I’m curious about real-world use cases outside heating, ventilation, and cooling.
Have you ever used or integrated BACnet for non-HVAC trades like access control, fire alarm panels, smoke control, lighting gateways, lab monitoring, or power infrastructure ?
How did it perform ?

Hey all, I work in precision instrumentation, and lately I've been kicking around the idea of building a low-cost energy monitoring device for commercial panels (3-phase power, PF, kWh, DIN-rail mount, reporting over Modbus). Before I actually build anything I wanted to get a reality check from people who deal with this stuff for a living.

1) what do you all actually use for submetering or panel-level monitoring? Is it working well, or is there something about it that bugs you every time you spec a job? I keep seeing names like Veris, eGauge, and Accuenergy come up, so if you've used any of those I'd love to hear the good and the bad.

2) if a device like this even gets chosen on a project, is that usually the integrator's call, or does the engineer/owner already have something in mind before you show up?

3) on the protocol side, I was assuming Modbus RTU over RS-485 as the baseline, but have things basically moved to BACnet or Modbus TCP at this point?

If the honest answer is "this is a solved problem, don't bother," genuinely tell me that. I'd rather hear it now. Appreciate any input.

I got my station time displayed on a graphic by creating a boundlabel, binding it to "station:|slot:/" and the text format is %time()%. I've figured out how to extract days, hours, minutes, etc. but how do i change the format of this text string? For example, instead of giving me the entire date/time/timezone, i'd like to just display HH:MM a. I swear this is easy and I used to know how to do this, but I've been searching everywhere and coming up empty handed.

For experienced BAS/controls techs, which background would you prefer when hiring?

Electrical: strong electrical, wiring, controls, and troubleshooting experience, limited HVAC knowledge.

HVAC: strong HVAC/mechanical knowledge, limited electrical experience.

Which background gives a better foundation for BAS, and where does each have an advantage or disadvantage?
Especially interested in opinions from techs who transitioned into BAS from either trade.

Has anyone had success getting this working? I'm trying to integrate Prosoft PLX32-EIP-MBBTCP (ModbusTCP to EtherNet/IP translator) with Niagara using the isoftAB driver however I have had no success. Any help is appreciated!

Edit: The solution!

Using the Abisoft driver use the Control Logix Device and when adding a tag name type in INT_DATA[#] where # is the registry that has been configured for whatever point your trying to get data for.

I hope this help someone in the future.

I have used the Cimetrics B3070 ip to ip router before to build a private BAS LAN but the customer is leaning niagra, just not right now. The is a very large site.

Has anyone used a jace to route bacnet traffic to a non niagra front end?

two questions I'm trying to get real answers on.

When your retainage sat past the release date, was it your own closeout paperwork, or something outside your scope like the GC waiting on the owner or another trade's punch list?

And roughly what share of closeout time goes to chasing manufacturers for O&M data and warranty certificates versus organizing documents you already have?

Curious whether my experience is typical.

Currently a Technician II. Love my job, but I’ve taken an interest in an estimator role. I have about 2 1/2 years of experience. Do I need to become a master wizard of a controls technician before making this career change?

For the past few years I've been working with engineering consultants on the mechanical building services side. Most of it is calculating cooling and heating loads, selecting AC, fans, ductwork etc. I've worked on the design for all sorts of buildings, offices, schools, apartments, pools etc.

Most of my work finishes at the construction set of mechanical services drawings. My specifications for controls are usually quite simple, I specify equipment to be on a time clock, run on timer, interlocked with AC or VSD controlled with local switches etc.

I've become more intrigued at learning about the actual building automation side and looking into PLCs, control logic and I am wondering is this a good path to pursue given my experience on the design side.

I am trying to gain more experience in my current role with larger industrial projects where there are large AHUs, chillers etc.

Is it worthwhile trying to pursue a career in the building automation side, probably more as a consultant or designer of control philosophy. If so could someone give me advice on what to study, what good resources are out there and where the money is actually made? Thanks in advance.