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Our product is specifically designed for organisations that have existing Apogee building controls and equipment in their buildings. If you are looking for an alternative to the Desigo Upgrade path in order to retain all of your existing equipment, then BACnetP2 is right for you.
Siemens Insight is a proprietary system. This means that the data is not available to outside applications and it is referred to as a closed system. If you want to get data out, then you must upgrade to a different, open system that uses a protocol like BACnet. Similarly, if you would like to add components to your system that are made by different manufacturers, you will need an open system. BACnetP2 allows you to keep your existing system in place, while reaping the rewards of an open system.
You can decide whether to keep Insight or change to a new interface. BACnetP2 will work alongside whichever you select. You will be able to choose a new BMS (Building Management System) with BACnetP2 and benefit from the flexibility of an open system.
You might want to keep using Apogee and Insight because your system is working well and why fix what isn’t broken? The problem comes in when you need to get visibility of your data, for analytics and monitoring but your software doesn’t “speak” P2. BACnetP2 allows you to get data out of your system by providing a "translator" between the two systems. If you decide to keep the Siemens Insight but would like to expose the data via BACnet then BACnetP2 is available with a "Read Only" option at a discounted price.
For Facility Managers BACnetP2 will allow your Computerized Maintenance Management System (CMMS) to use the data from the Apogee system by translating from P2 into BACnet.
You don’t need to spend a fortune upgrading your BMS to stay compliant with health regulations and meet your sustainability targets. Use BACnetP2 to upgrade at a reasonable price. You'll also save a substantial amount of time and your operations can continue seamlessly.
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Keep your equipment, keep your investment |
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Unlock your system |
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Good for the environment |
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Great for your health: Allowing you to monitor and improve the indoor air quality conditions |
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No down time: Keep your operations going |
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Saving you money: The lowest cost alternative that works |
When you have an existing Apogee system that you would like to upgrade, or add equipment to, you have three options:
Apogee is a closed system but, integrating with BACnetP2 unlocks access to all of the benefits and flexibility that an open system offers. For example you can add components into your system from other manufacturers, and you can also access the data you need.
Retrofitting: Your BMS is likely made up of controls that are almost all still in good condition. You can keep your equipment out of the landfill and save valuable non-renewable resources by only replacing and upgrading faulty controls.
Helping you stay compliant and meet your sustainability goals: BACnetP2 will allow you to get data out of your system to measure and manage your energy use. You can also upgrade certain pieces of equipment as needed to ensure optimum efficiency.
Indoor air quality has a direct impact on the health of building occupants. There are specific recommendations regarding indoor air quality aimed at safeguarding the health of occupants. For example the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) announced in May 2023 that air inside buildings should be replaced a minimum of five times every hour, and that it should be cleaned with minimum efficiency reporting value (MERV)-13 air filters, read more here. BACnetP2 allows you to get the data that you need for proper management of your indoor air quality out of your system. As mentioned, you can also replace faulty or inefficient pieces of equipment, which will help you meet your indoor air quality goals without replacing your whole system.
Keep your operations going. Many organisations cannot afford to let their system go offline, due to the nature of their operations. For example, in the Healthcare industry, the HVAC system cannot simply be turned off while upgrades are undertaken. BACnetP2 eliminates this issue, because integrating with BACnetP2 does not take the system offline at any stage.
There is minimal time involved in the installation: it usually takes less than two hours. This means that big projects with time sensitive budgets can easily be completed.
BACnetP2 is the lowest cost alternative that works, and there are no annual fees. Replacing existing equipment can be expensive, especially when you have a very large system. The mainstream path for upgrading your existing system can also be very expensive. BACnetP2 allows you to upgrade at a fraction of the cost. You have most likely been offered a quote to upgrade your system already, ask us for a BACnetP2 quote today, we guarantee you will be surprised at the price difference.
Whether you have your own building controls department with inhouse staff, or if you contract your building controls management out, you can benefit from BACnetP2. You can buy directly from us, or through a contractor.
1) If you have your own building controls capability we work directly alongside your controls team to supply and support the implementation of BACnetP2. Our technical experts will be with you every step of the way, from helping you get the reports for a quote, to the onsite install, to the post sale technical support.
2) If you subcontract your building controls management to a contractor we will happily work with your contractor of choice.
You don't have to worry about the price changing, it is the same if you buy directly from us or through a contractor.
We have implemented BACnetP2 at sites worldwide. BACnetP2 helps people in different industries save money, time and equipment while achieving their goals for their BMS. Some of our success stories can be found below, and more will be added soon.
BACnetP2 has been pivotal in an undertaking to modernise the BMS systems in schools in Baldwin County. This project involves 45 schools across the county and is taking a phased approach, the first of which has been completed with great results.
After a compelling demonstration of BACnetP2 to a USA based controls contractor, a proposal was taken forward to the schools. The flexibility of BACnetP2 meant that after they presented their proposal, the schools could choose to complete the project in sections, adding on to the licence as they go.
The first phase has been to install BACnetP2 in 9 schools with 29 panels and 505 TECs – most of the equipment is almost 20 years old but is still working well, so with the help of BACnetP2 the schools have been able to retain their investment in equipment while upgrading to a new front end.
The schools were unhappy with the system that they had because all 45 schools were routed to a single Insight server using the internet (WAN) and the results were poor with schools constantly going offline. The schools have over 30,000 students and stable system is a necessity in maintaining a healthy and comfortable learning environment.
We have installed a dedicated gateway at each school which removed the exposure to poor internet connectivity issues. The system has been more stable since the first install which took under 2 hours and was completed without interruption to the system or the students.
The schools now enjoy an upgraded system that is working well, without connection issues. They have been able to enjoy the significant savings associated with keeping all of their existing equipment as well as avoiding the environmental impact associated with replacing all of their equipment.
In May 2022 BACnetP2 was installed at a large University in the USA. This was our 17th install in the USA. We were contacted because the university wanted to get data out of their existing Siemens Apogee BMS, without upgrading due to the significant cost implications.
Their aim was to extract data from the system and then to create a graphical dashboard to encourage students to save energy. They could not access the data from the system, due to it being on a Siemens P2 proprietary system.
We worked closely with the technicians who manage the universities extensive Siemens Apogee installation. Alongside the technicians, we installed a pilot gateway on one of the smaller parts of the Apogee system in order to prove that the system would work.
One of the major challenges that we faced with this site was that their IT department supports Oracle Linux (OL) was not happy at the prospect of hosting an Ubuntu virtual machine (VM).
We worked to accommodate the IT department request and developed a build of our gateway software that is compatible with Oracle Linux. The development took about 2 weeks.
The result was that using BACnetP2 has given the university access to the data from their HVAC system, by translating between the Apogee P2 system and BACnet. They are using this data with the graphical interface that they created.
So far, one of the chemistry labs is set up and BACnetP2 is currently being used to monitor around 30 fume hoods to encourage the students to close them when they are done, and therefore save energy.
In October 2023 we assisted a large medical research facility in Seattle in accessing analytics data for their Apogee climate control system (HVAC). The facility contacted us following a referral by their analytics company.
Size: Large site
Panels: 67
TECs: 2754
The medical research facility's extensive HVAC system generates data from over 60,000 data points. Without modification, their system was unable to process the volume of data needed for the analytics company's trending purposes.
Given that they were satisfied with their existing system, they were not looking to move to an alternative Building Management System (BMS). They considered two options to expose the data points while maintaining their existing BMS:
The facility decided to use BACnetP2 with a reduced-cost read-only licence to expose all required data points, while maintaining a single interface. The integration was completed in under two hours, with no interruption to the facility's operations.
Our system is optimized for analytics trending applications, so the impact on their system performance is minimal.
The research facility can now access all data points in their BMS, enabling their analytics company to provide data driven insights to optimise building operations.
Our first integration was our beta site in 2018, and we are delighted at the market reception of our product. Since our beta site, we have integrated devices across sites and countries.
We have integrated with over apogee devices. That is over working pieces of equipment that have been rescued from being tossed into a landfill. Besides precious landfill space and plastic landing up in the ocean, when we consider the energy and natural resources that go into manufacturing new controls and equipment, saving devices is a win in our opinion. We are saving you money and helping you save the planet, one device at a time.
