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BACnet Insight

© M&P GmbH

Technik passend zur Organisation und zu Prozessen.
Technology that matches the organization and processes.

gesamten Umfang der sicheren Gebäudedigitalisierung, tion to cyber security in the building by all parties involved. BACnet as part of the solution
welche eine angepasste Konzeptions- und Planungsweise The core component of cyber security for the operating
von allen Beteiligten erfordert, um die neuen Herausforde- technology of a building (OT security for short) is the record- Encrypted communication is a core component of a net-
rungen gemeinsam erfolgreich meistern zu können.  ing of goods/processes worthy of protection, assessment, worked building and should be considered in any require-
and reduction of the risk through appropriate protective ments planning. BACnet/SC provides the “key” to secure
measures. Risk management encompasses all information information exchange in the building. Furthermore, BACnet
Building digitization can be described with many synonyms, recorded in the building and the associated system inter- offers a standardized approach for interface and informa-
whether it's smart building in functional buildings or smart faces. tion management in the building, as this allows the flood
home in your own four walls. The basic idea is always the of protocols to be “tamed” with a uniform standard. In this
same: the complete networking of building technology to The planner: intermediary between demand and context, users, planners and operators must be familiar with
generate added value in terms of safety, comfort and effi- operation the capabilities and system requirements of BACnet to fully
ciency in building operation with the help of information and utilize its potential. However, this applies not only to BACnet,
clever algorithms. The basis for this is a resilient IP-based The task of converting and implementing the requirements but to the entire scope of secure building digitization, which
network infrastructure that can map both current and future of a user into an operational building is the responsibility of requires an adapted concept and planning approach from
requirements. the planner. A differentiated view between technology and all parties involved in order to successfully master the new
organization and processes is essential here. Fundamen- challenges together. 
Building digitalization as a “driver of networks” tally, technology has no added value for operations without
the associated structures and processes. What use is highly
The sheer volume of information that will have to be pro- digitized monitoring if the company cannot interpret the © M&P GmbH
cessed in various systems in the future can only be guessed information provided? Planning can only provide the tech-
about. Whether multi-sensors or communicative pumps and nology. Organization and processes must be structured as
control valves, these components already provide a large correctly as possible first. The difficulty in the field of digi-
amount of data that can be recorded and evaluated. Even tization lies in mapping all the new challenges. One com-
more data can be expected from the “Internet of Things”, ponent of this is expanding the expertise of a BA planner in
which enables many devices with smart, networked func- terms of network planning and describing the requirements
tions. for a secure BA network to meet the demands of tomorrow.
Cybersecurity expertise is also required. Strongly driven by
New challenges due to comprehensive interconnection new EU regulations, which will greatly expand the circle of
critical infrastructures from October 2024. This increases
One challenge is handling the flood of information provided the likelihood that planners will have to deal intensively with
by the building. The fundamental question is, what informa- the technical protection measures of BA networks in the
tion do I need to be able to carry out my operating processes future. To make matters worse, decisive factors for plan-
comfortably, safely and efficiently? It is also important to ask ning were usually not considered as part of requirements
who should process the recorded building data, when and planning. The mantra of “thinking from the operational per-
how. This requires consideration of the intelligent manage- spective” has not yet become established in some cases.
ment of building data at an early stage. Another challenge is Regarding cyber security, the gaps are sometimes even
the connection of the devices and systems themselves. The more serious, as a fundamental need for implementation is
number of protocols and interfaces in the building is mani- not seen. Statements such as “Security only costs money
fold. Starting with proprietary bus systems, through stand- and doesn‘t bring me any added value” are unfortunately Management im Umfeld der Gebäudedigitalisierung.
ardized building protocols to universal IoT protocols. Com- the order of the day. Management in the field of building digitization.
prehensive knowledge and management of system-internal
and external interfaces, as well as information management,
are key components of successful building digitization.

As great as the opportunities offered by connectivity are,
they also pose major risks. Creating connections between
systems creates the potential for attacks on the building's Nicolas Braun
various systems. This can result in sabotage or manipula-
tion of the cooling technology or unauthorized access via the Experte OT-Security GebäudeautomationM&P Braunschweig GmbH
access control system. This requires a high level of atten- nicolas.braun@mp-gruppe.dewww.mp-gruppe.de

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