Thus, in the beginning of the project, iBMS guidelines and specifications were formulated to standardise the data collection requirements. A checklist was developed for standard project submission mandating BTL certificates and PIC statements for newly installed products to assure quality and conformance in fulfilling the iBMS connection. In 2019, EMSD set up its first iBMS platform at the Headquarters, integrating operational data from widely dispersed buildings at the city level. Targeted buildings were prioritised based on their electricity consumption and readiness for connection. The platform offered opportunities to enhance system reliability to enable benchmarking and linking up with big data analysis with an aim to achieve a better building performance. This project improved the building data structure which rendered support to Hong Kong towards a smart city.

Several unique problems were encountered during the course of development. With the increasing age of a building, there often appeared at different degrees of inconsistencies on BMS settings due to past retrofits and deterioration of the existing system. In some buildings, communication through BACnet might not have been possible because of the use of proprietary protocol. Interoperability became a critical issue for a successful integration. Meanwhile, the iBMS network architecture required continuous review to accommodate the quick expansion of the system when more buildings were being connected. The method to establish a remote BACnet network was another challenge. The experience in our first trial of applying Foreign Device Registration (FDR) for the connection to the central iBMS workstation raised troubles on the manual update of the network address when testing with third party protocol analysers. This hindered future migration to any new system platform. Since iBMS data was built up through direct communication with BACnet devices at the venue level, the variety of object naming conventions and trend log/alarm settings at each venue would impair the quality and the application of iBMS. Another challenge in this project was the requirement to export iBMS data to our Regional Digital Control Centre (RDCC), which consisted of an in-house developed data server for further machine learning and Artificial Intelligence (AI) applications.

Making iBMS a sustainable solution to the department, EMSD took advantage of the vendor neutral environment under BACnet in 2020 to engage the current system integrator to review the iBMS architecture and carry out server upgrades to cope with the continuing expansion. Enhancement included making available a BACnet router with the Network Address Translation (NAT) function at the venue level such that all BACnet devices resided on the same IP subnet i.e. virtual devices at venues could share the building data with the iBMS platform located at the Headquarters under the same IP network. Despite the data scope not covering sensitive information, security on data transmission was always a primary concern, especially for critical government venues delivering essential public services. To achieve a secured converged network, a Virtual Private Network (VPN) configuration was used to ensure cyber security. The use of a dedicated VPN IPSec tunnel allowed for the segregation of venues per owner basis which further enhanced data privacy. The cyber security of the iBMS system architecture was further proven upon satisfactory testing through a Security Risk Assessment and Audit (SRAA) in accordance with the government IT security policy. An independent Certified Information System Auditor was appointed and it was concluded that the connection method could be similarly applied for future venues. The abuse of a vendor’s proprietary properties led to the absence of meaningful representation of a data object when communicating with other vendors’ BACnet devices, which could ruin the iBMS system quality. To resolve these issues, engagement of the frontline staff who performed daily operation and maintenance of the BMS at the venues was crucial to the success. Site visits were conducted to enhance colleagues’ understanding of how to implement necessary modifications on the BMS for a better iBMS. The iBMS team also convened meetings and workshops to collaborate with key players in this project to promote the importance of BACnet compliance. As a baseline, BACnet standardised data structures shall be strictly followed. Other requirements include (a) object name should be properly defined according to the point abbreviation presented in the iBMS guidelines, (b) simple number assignment with cross reference to proprietary filed should be avoided, (c) other than input/output (I/O) objects, all software points are required to be BACnet compatible to achieve full compatibility, and (d) for venues with genuine difficulties, new dedicated building controllers for iBMS might be considered to ensure object properties, including naming convention, alarm and trending, are properly set.