This week’s ControlTalk NOW reviews publisher and owner of Automated Buildings, Ken Sinclair’s 2015 Connected Community Collaboratory. This unique and informative video series captures the wisdom and insights of some of the brightest minds in Smart Building and HVAC Industries, teaming John Petze, SkyFoundry with Marc Petock, Lynxspring; Andy McMillan, BACnet International; Paul Oswald, ESI; and Jim O’Callaghan, EnOcean Inc. generated powerful experiential knowledge — shared in a very consumable video format. Don’t miss! Four more videos sections to follow.

Marc Petock, Vice President Marketing, Lynxspring drew attention to the reality that cyber security considerations were absent when the founding protocols were established. The industry as a whole was unaware of, or naive to, the dangers that cyber-terrorism now poses to our industry. The solution requires a collaboratory response, because no single business or party can remedy the threat by itself. It requires awareness and dialogue at every level: manufacturers, C-Suites, systems integrators, service providers, and building owners need to pro-actively deal with all of the existing and potential issues.

BACnet International President, Andy McMillan’s thought-provoking dialogue was a compelling case for managed lighting and the natural power of lighting where focus has shifted from the energy-savings aspects to hospitals releasing patients in shorter periods of time (circadian rhythm), learn well classrooms that ramp students’ energy and alertness, and retailers that sell more of the things they want to sell — these are the nouveau marketing ways. Also, lighting problems are in the construction and procurement processes. Much more collaboration required.

This year’s theme was “Our Connection Community and the Internet of Things” ( CCIoT). The meeting was designed to be fast moving and expected the attendees to have a basic understanding of the evolving connection communities’ needs, and a list of required reading from the presenting thought leaders was provided to get attendees up-to-speed. Presenters were given five minutes after which, Ken Sinclair served as moderator to ask a few questions for clarity. No power points allowed; only old school face-to-face collaborating. Great stuff.

Introducing Honeywell’s Q50204 Retrofit Globe Valve Linkage. Honeywell is pleased to introduce their new Q5024 globe valve retrofit linkage. This linkage allows you to use Honeywell Direct Coupled Actuators (DCAs) to retrofit most manufacturers’ globe valves in the field, with no valve disassembly required. This linkage is easy to install and the wide variety of collar combinations fit most of your globe valve retrofit jobs. Save money and time by replacing old electrical or pneumatic actuators with reliable Honeywell DCAs. View as a PDF.

Share Your Knowledge – Bring Your Experience to Haystack Connect 2015. Planning for Haystack Connect 2015 is well underway. With a little over 4 months before the conference kicks off, the event has 14 major sponsors and exhibitors as well as 3 Media sponsors, with new companies signing up every week. See the current sponsors here: www.haystackconnect.org/sponsors. The technical program is taking shape with a number of papers and presentations submitted on a wide range of topics around the conference themes that include Data Modeling, Hardware, Analytics, Cyber Security, Energy, Wireless and more. Consider joining the community at the Haystack Connect event — submit a presentation and share your expertise.

Lynxspring Announces 2nd Generation Modbus to BACnet® Bridge. Lee’s Summit, MO – February 2, 2015: Lynxspring, a premier developer and provider of open, IP-control solutions for building automation, energy management, cyber protection, and device-to-enterprise integration today announced the release of the OnyxxTM-MB311, their 2nd generation Modbus to BACnet Bridge solution. Embedded with a Lynxspring’s Smart ModuleTM and running Lynxspring’s HelixxTM IP-software framework, the Onyxx-MB311 is more powerful and takes Modbus to BACnet protocol translation to the next level.

Better Buildings Summit, May 27-29. 2015 — Registration Now Open! Marriott Wardman Park, Washington, DC. This year, the Better Buildings Summit is expanding into new sectors and engaging a diverse set of market leaders. Over two and a half days Better Buildings partners and stakeholders will come together in Washington D.C. and participate in sessions and meetings focused on the sharing of the most successful strategies for achieving energy savings through energy efficiency. Check out our interactive Agenda At A Glance and be sure to register today.

ACI Releases New “Universal” Dry Media Differential Pressure Transmitter. ACI understands that sensor applications can often differ from job to job. To accomodate most differential pressure sensing applications, we now offer a universal range option. A single unit, A/DP2-10U, will give you field adjustable ranges of o to 1″, 0 to 2.5″, 0 to 5″, and 0 to 10″ and output flexibility of 4 to 20 mA, 0-5 VDC, 0-10 VDC, and 4-20 VDC. This is critical for optimizing pressure within your facility.

Belimo ZIP Economizer Training. On Thursday, February 12, 11:30-12:30 EST, Stromquist will be live streaming a training session on Belimo’s award winning ZIP Economizer. Belimo’s product specialist will be on hand to explain what makes this product so unique and how it can make saving energy easier. The ZIP Economizer is the most technologically advanced Airside Economizer solution in the market and is designed to provide the most energy savings through advanced economizer logic strategies.

Rob Allen’s 7 Minutes in Control: Mike Marston. Join Stromquist Company’s Rob Allen and EasyIO’s Mike Marston as they discuss the reasons for EasyIO’s meteoric global success and the 3-time ControlTrends Award winning FG-32, as Plant Controller of the Year, Gordon Chan’s Small Manufacturer CEO of the Year, and Lim Hoon Chiat’s (and SK Foo’s) award-winning technical support.

ControlTrends Awards Highlight: Neptronic Wins Vendor of The Year: Small Manufacturer. Founded in 1976, Neptronic is a private corporation that designs, manufactures and distributes products for the HVAC industry. Their product line includes intelligent controllers, electronic actuators, actuated valves, humidifiers and electric heaters.Neptronic products are designed and manufactured by over 250 dedicated employees in their 7,500 m2 (80,000 ft2) state-of-the-art facility located in Montreal, Canada.

Live Training Rewind: Revisit the Belimo Team as they teach the ControlTrends Community about the Belimo Zip Economizer. This is a rewind of the Live Stream Belimo Training held Febuary 12, 2015 at the Stromquist & Company training center. Belimo’s product specialist explains what makes this product so unique and how it can make saving energy easier. The ZIP Economizer is the most technologically advanced Airside Economizer solution in the market and is designed to provide the most energy savings through advanced economizer logic strategies.

Honeywell Momentum 2015 Partner Conference Sep 20-22, 2015, J.W. Marriott Resort and Spa Palm Desert, CA. Momentum 2015 is coming! Save the date for Honeywell’s premier partner conference and join hundreds of building controls professionals to connect with industry leaders, understand evolving market trends and discover Honeywell’s vision in the Intelligent Building marketplace. J.W. Marriott Resort and Spa Palm Desert, CA.

2015 Niagara Forum — open 4 innovation — April 19-21 2015, in London. While everyone’s talking about the Internet of Things, Vykon is pioneering solutions for the Open Internet of Things. With nearly a half-million instances deployed worldwide, the Niagara Framework® represents the power of open — and the future of innovation. Discover the possibilities at the 2015 Niagara Forum in London, April 19-21. Learn what truly open systems can achieve for our partners and their customers, and get a firsthand look at our next generation platform, including Niagara 4 and our next generation hardware, JACE 8000.