Building automation is the automatic centralized control of a building’s HVAC (heating, ventilation and air conditioning), electrical, lighting, shading, Access Control, Security Systems, and other interrelated systems through a Building Management System (BMS) or Building Automation System (BAS). The objectives of building automation are improved occupant comfort, efficient operation of building systems, reduction in energy consumption, reduced operating and maintaining costs, increased security, historical performance documentation, remote access/control/operation, and improved life cycle of equipment and related utilities.
Building automation is an example of a distributed control system – the computer networking of electronic devices designed to monitor and control the systems in a building.
Room automation is a subset of building automation and with a similar purpose; it is the consolidation of one or more systems under centralized control, though in this case in one room.
The most common example of room automation is a corporate boardroom, presentation suites, and lecture halls, where the operation of the large number of devices that define the room function (such as video conferencing equipment, video projectors, lighting control systems, public address systems etc.) would make the manual operation of the room very complex. It is common for room automation systems to employ a touchscreen as the primary way of controlling each operation.
