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From Pneumatic To Digital Controls

When you publish a magazine like the Chief Engineer, you get a lot of phone calls, letters and press releases from companies that want to tell you about their products or services in the hope that you’ll write a story about them.

Most of the time, there really isn’t much contained in the information provided that we think our readers would enjoy knowing about. But every now and then someone shows us a new product that really excites us. Such was the case when Rich Silver, from G&O Thermal Supply Company in Chicago, stopped by our editorial offices to show us a new control technology from Cypress Envirosystems.

The system is comprised of wireless pneumatic thermostats that instantly convert pneumatic control signals into digital signals, providing fully automated, wireless control of pneumatic control systems through stand alone programming or integrated building automation systems.

No wiring needs to be run through the building and the changeover from pneumatic to direct digital control can take place in moments.

Controller set point can be programmed right at the thermostat or through a building automation system, permitting full programming functionality to every thermostat inside the facility.

Think about this! Now building engineers don’t have to choose between the smooth actuation and assured fail-safe protection of pneumatic actuators and the precise control offered from DDC. With this new technology – we can finally have it all!

While that alone will excite facility operators, we also saw in this new technology the first opportunity to bring energy conservation initiatives directly to commercial building tenants as well as building owners.

Today, most commercial buildings are leased on a net basis that leaves tenants responsible for their own HVAC/R equipment and associated energy costs. This fact has provided an economic stumbling block for engineers who try to reduce energy costs within their facilities. But with this new Cypress technology we have been given a tool that, for the first time, will appeal directly to building tenants who could make the change to digital control within their owned leased space - even if the building they occupy hasn’t put a single energy conservation measure in place.

For the first time, tenants in large commercial buildings have become empowered to control their own energy use, manage their own environmental comfort and reduce their own energy costs without having to rely on the building owner or manager to mount an energy conservation program.

Tenants can immediately make the changes needed to keep employees comfortable and to regulate thermostats when employees are on vacation or out sick and save up to hundreds of thousands of dollars annually on their energy bills.

Directly from a PC or laptop, every thermostat in the tenant’s leased space can be programmed, reprogrammed or overridden to maximize energy savings. If employees find they are working late one night, they can simply push a button on the nearest thermostat and override the computerized schedule for as much time as they need to conclude their unscheduled work in comfort.

Tenants will no longer have to rely on building operators to program or adjust thermostats within their leased space and when their lease is up, they can simply remove the Cypress controls from the space and take them to their new space.

It’s pretty clear to see that this new technology from Cypress Envirosystems is poised to change the way commercial building HVAC systems are operated in the future.

Cypress isn’t stopping with just thermostat technology. They already have a device that clamps over a standard analog gauge and actually reads the needle on the gauge – converts the reading to digitized signals and broadcasts the reading wirelessly. Obviously, actuator conversion can’t be far behind that will permit building operators to control every pneumatic device within their building through a wireless DDC system that can be installed in moments without running any wires or drilling a single hole in any wall or floor inside the facility!

Like I said, this new Cypress technology has really gotten us excited here in the office, and G&O Thermal has already contracted for the first major installation of the technology in Chicago. Once that project is complete, the Chief Engineer will be there to bring you a feature on the installation.

If you want to know more about the Cypress system, you can contact Rich Silver at G&O Thermal Supply Company at 312-563-1300. Tell him you read about Cypress in the Chief Engineer.

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