Building Management Systems (BMS) are most commonly software, and web-based applications that enable the user interface (UI) for building operators in large facilities to remotely access, supervise, and manage a specific system or multiple systems in a centralized location.

A BMS allows building operators to visualize critical systems, monitor their performance and operation, and be alerted of developing faults to prevent failures that can cause a business operation interruption.

Managed Building Systems

The systems that are most commonly managed through a BMS are:

• Access Control System: Automatically authorizes or restricts access to facilities premises, assets, and other critical resources.
• CCTV System: Closed-circuit television (CCTV), also known as video surveillance, is a security measure used to detect and deter criminal activities by recording common areas within the facility as well as the building surroundings. 
• HVAC System: The heating, ventilation, and air conditioning (HVAC) system is responsible for maintaining the interior space comfort in a building, controlling temperature, humidity, and ventilation simultaneously.
• Lighting System: Provides proper illumination levels to both the interior and exterior of a building.

These are not the only systems that a building has, but in general, these are the most critical ones in terms of building security, comfort, and energy consumption.

Now, it’s important to point out that in a building there might be many different BMSs dedicated to different management functions. For instance, the BMS software used to supervise the access control system in a building is not necessarily the same as the one used for space comfort and air quality control.

This separation normally correlates with the different products, brands, and vendors used for the different applications, as well as the different management functions within the organization. In large facilities, the security team normally manages CCTV and Access Controls, while the facilities engineering team manages HVAC and Lighting Control System.

BMS Capabilities

Building Management Systems not only provide monitoring and control over different systems but also enable capabilities such as:

• Report Generation: BMS programs can generate automatic reports with snapshots of data for specific equipment or systems at any moment in time as per operators’ choice.
• Fault Detection: A BMS can detect malfunctioning operations, system anomalies, equipment faults and failures, and instantly advise building operators of these developing events.
• Historic Trends: Building management systems can store multiple points of data of the underlying systems and equipment, allowing operators to observe these data points in time charts and evaluate their performance.
• Data Analytics: BMS systems can analyze and evaluate large volumes of stored data to provide insights on changing environmental conditions and systems’ performance.
• System Integration: Building management systems are typically flexible platforms that allow integration or communication among multiple systems, expanding the existing smart building infrastructure.

These BMS capabilities provide benefits to building operators such as:

• Improved management flexibility.
• Reduced time response to equipment failures.
• Enhanced system performance and efficiency.
• Improved awareness over equipment conditions and changing environment.
• Reduced interruptions to business operations.

BMS, BAS, and EMS

Very often the terms BMS, BAS, and EMS are used interchangeably as if they referred to the same system. This is more commonly seen in the building energy management, HVAC controls, and building automation industries.

Although these terms are related to each other, they have their own distinctions and purposes that differentiate them from one another.

A Building Management System (BMS) is the term we covered in this article and refers to a broad term that encompasses software or web-based applications used by building operators to supervise critical systems in large facilities. A BMS is not tied to a specific type of system; any front-end interface that enables systems’ supervision, control, and monitoring can be categorized as a BMS.

On the other hand, a Building Automation System (BAS) is a network of controlling and monitoring devices mainly responsible for the HVAC control system in large facilities. The key word here is network; a BAS is not a specific device, control panel, or software interface but a network of devices. Facilities operators typically use a BMS interface to display the information of these network devices for control and supervision purposes.

Lastly, an Energy Management System (EMS) is very similar to a BMS, as it’s also a software application or web-based interface. The key difference lies in that, unlike a BMS, an energy management system is intended to display energy-related data such as power demand, energy consumption, and as well as energy efficiency ratios that help operators evaluate systems’ performance and make proper decisions from an energy consumption standpoint.

In Summary

Building Management Systems are management interfaces that help building operators manage, supervise, and control critical systems and building assets. Their proper utilization can dramatically improve management procedures on a scale and significantly contribute to supporting overall business operations.