Features of integrating fire alarm systems into building automation systems.
The architecture of building security systems largely depends on the type of facility being equipped, so I will start my notes with the classification of buildings and structures. There are several known classification approaches. The most common is by application. This classification divides objects into:
- residential and public buildings;
- administrative and household buildings of enterprises;
- industrial buildings;
- public utility facilities;
- general industrial facilities;
- specialized structures and installations for industrial or other purposes;
- engineering communications;
- transport communications;
- treatment facilities.
On the other hand, all these objects can have different sizes: small (cottages, small offices, shops, etc.), medium (office and shopping centers, educational and medical institutions) and large (large business and shopping centers, hotel complexes, airports and train stations, etc.). Designers and installers of security systems, as a rule, have adopted this classification of objects, because the choice of this or that equipment depends primarily on the size of the protected area.
In general, building automation systems. The entire line of Siemens equipment for building automation and dispatching systems.
are usually included in the design of a modern building. This includes the following systems:
- elevator control;
- ventilation and smoke removal;
- power supply;
- emergency lighting.
The installation of fire alarm systems, automatic fire extinguishing and evacuation notification is required in accordance with the requirements of regulatory documents — without this, the building cannot be put into operation.
But the design and installation of security alarm systems, access control and management, video surveillance often coincide with the start of the building's operation. Many of my colleagues have probably encountered a similar problem. It is clear that equipping an object with security systems «on a residual basis» does not benefit anyone. The owner of the building bears additional material costs. Designers and installers get an additional headache, because not all systems can be integrated.
Therefore, the correct approach to design and, at this stage, the selection of all systems that can be integrated with each other in the future are very important.
In this case, it is necessary to take into account the interaction of systems. Thus, elevator control is affected by access control systems, fire alarms and, to some extent, security alarms. Ventilation control is affected by the fire alarm system. Emergency lighting and automatic fire extinguishing are also affected by the fire alarm system. The notification system is usually an integral part of the fire alarm system.
Of course, the possibility of integrating video surveillance, security alarms, access control and management systems must be provided.
So, on the one hand we have automation systems, on the other – technical security systems. And the single task is to ensure complete safety for people in the building.
Important market parameters of security systems are:
- reliable alarm detection;
- system speed;
- information content;
- control and monitoring of the system from the outside.
The integration of security and control systems with automation systems is usually done using a relay method. It is also called the «dry contacts» method, which switches one or another equipment.
A more expensive and therefore less common method is integration at the software level. Naturally, both approaches have their pros and cons.
One of the main requirements for fire and security alarms is the ability to integrate them into the overall system.
The choice of one or another system depends on the purpose of the facility, as well as the construction budget.
Small and medium-sized facilities
For economy class facilities (small and medium), systems that include the greatest number of functions for little money come to the fore.
They should have both security and fire alarm functions with the ability to control automatic fire extinguishing systems, provide access control and management functions, as well as interfacing with a video surveillance system. For example, the Orion (Bolid), INTEGRA (Satel), Rubezh (Sigma-IS) systems.
By installing such a system, the consumer receives a powerful fire alarm system with access control system functions, with the ability to control any automation devices, notification.
Its monitoring is carried out both in the usual way — via a telephone line, and via GSM channels and the global Internet.
In this case, it is possible to use almost any notification system, since the interaction is built on a relay level.
The disadvantage of such systems is that they are designed for a certain volume, limited by the power of the station, and their expansion is possible either by replacing the central control panel or by connecting them via software.
Medium and large area facilities
Security systems for medium and large-sized facilities are usually built on the basis of intelligent systems that have all the necessary components that interact at the software level and rely on software that can integrate any new equipment into them.
There are two possible integration paths here. The first path is to create powerful software that supports equipment from various manufacturers. As a rule, the core of such a system is an access control system, which is justified in the case when security and fire alarm systems from various manufacturers are already installed at the facility.
But a significant disadvantage of such integration is the fact that the capabilities of the installed security and fire alarm equipment are used only in the area of issuing alarm messages. Most of the equipment functionality remains unclaimed. That is, as a result, we get low-information systems.
The second way is to use complete solutions that have all the necessary components and software that 100% uses the capabilities of this equipment. Such systems include security system equipment presented on the market by such brands as BOSCH, GE, HONEYWELL, Siemens.
Unlike the previously considered solutions, where one control panel acts as the central equipment, these systems include specialized central panels that control only one type of equipment. Security, fire alarm, access control, fire notification systems, and video surveillance systems are built separately, and all this is combined using a software core (Alliance BIS, WINMAG). The advantages that the client receives in this case are the ability to purchase such systems systematically as needed (both for each subsystem and within them), and not at once, which will avoid large one-time costs. The control panels are connected to each other, as a rule, via their own data exchange bus of the BUS-1 type.
In addition, the reliability of the system increases. The failure of one component does not lead to the failure of the entire system. As a rule, all these systems have Internet access, which allows you to manage and monitor the security and automation systems of the facility from any place on the world map that has an access point.
The disadvantages of this equipment begin to appear at fairly large, in particular, distributed facilities due to the increase in the number of central panels and the complexity of information processing.
For such facilities, it is advisable to offer systems with high-capacity central units (GE, Simplex) in conjunction with powerful software packages (Casi Rusco, Lenel).
The panels of such systems control up to 2000 addresses, and when the panels are combined into a network, the total capacity of the systems can be up to 392,000 addresses, they combine the functions of warning and evacuation control systems and support open protocols such as BACNet, which allows them to be integrated with building engineering systems from other manufacturers.
The software offered for such systems is already a powerful computer security system for a building or office, allowing full integration of digital video surveillance, access control, video surveillance, fire alarm, alarm monitoring, property management, personnel and visitor management systems via the Internet/Intranet. The use of this software is the only multi-server solution with a unique database synchronization technology, allowing the creation of security systems for corporations with geographically remote facilities.
It is important to note that when it comes to protecting facilities where a large number of people can be present at the same time or facilities where expensive equipment is installed or stored, it is necessary to use special fire-fighting systems. This equipment must ensure 100% detection of a fire, so that, firstly, the necessary measures can be taken to localize the situation at the earliest stage of its occurrence, and secondly, false alarms can be completely eliminated. After all, emergency evacuation of people is also associated with a certain risk. In addition, the activation of automatic fire extinguishing systems can lead to damage to goods and property.
In such cases, it is advisable to use equipment for very early smoke detection — VESDA (Very Early Smoke Detection Apparatus). The Russian market offers equipment from Stratos, XTralis. Such systems, as a rule, are integrated at the relay level with all the above systems, their use allows to increase the reliability of protected objects by several orders of magnitude.