Resources · Glossary
The vocabulary, defined plainly
The words this sector uses, written out without marketing, so a procurement team and an engineer can read the same page.
01Glossary
Fourteen terms worth agreeing on
- BACnet/IP
- An open building automation protocol. Controllers expose objects such as temperatures and run states, which the gateway can enumerate without vendor tooling.
- BMS
- Building management system. The controls layer that runs the plant. Vairitas reads it and does not replace it.
- CAFM
- Computer aided facilities management. The system that holds planned and reactive maintenance work.
- Digital twin
- A visual model of a building with live readings attached. Here it is a map, a 3D model or a walkable scan, not a physics simulation.
- Edge gateway
- The fanless appliance that joins the site network, discovers controllers and polls outbound over HTTPS.
- Metered
- A figure taken directly from a meter reading. Always distinguished from a modelled figure.
- Modelled
- A figure derived from operating state and nameplate ratings, with the method shown. Never blended into a metered number.
- oBIX
- The open building information exchange interface used to read Niagara AX and N4 stations.
- Point
- A single value exposed by a controller, such as a supply air temperature. Discovery finds points; annotation turns them into assets.
- PUE
- Power usage effectiveness. A data centre efficiency ratio. Partial PUE states which measurement points it was built from.
- RAMS
- Risk assessment and method statement. Required before most work is carried out on site.
- SFG20
- The standard maintenance task library used to schedule planned preventative maintenance.
- Trend IQ
- A widely installed controller family, readable directly or through a vCNC gateway.
- vCNC
- A Trend gateway device that bridges controller networks onto IP so they can be read.
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