Welcome to a powerful engineering toolkit designed to help you deliver EcoStruxure Building Operation projects faster, profitably and consistently. This document is an introduction to this toolkit and is intended to help new system integrators understand how it improves project efficiency. This platform offers unique benefits for both building owners and those of you who implement it.
Value for Everyone: Your Customers and Your Business
- For Customers (Building Owners):
- Efficiency and Sustainability: It creates more sustainable and healthy environments by maximizing the energy efficiency of buildings.
- Comfort and Value: It increases the overall value of the building while optimizing comfort and productivity for occupants.
- Preparing for the Future: It prepares buildings for future technologies through digitalization and integration.
- For System Integrators:
- Shorten Your Engineering Processes: Accelerate project delivery by automating repetitive tasks and reducing time spent in the field.
- Increase Your Profitability: Increase productivity and project margins by developing projects faster, repeatable and consistent.
- Focus on Innovation: Save time with standard applications and focus on innovative solutions that will add value to your customers.
These key benefits are made possible by the specific engineering principles that underpin the platform and the specialized tools that bring these principles to life.
2. Engineering Philosophy: Three Key Concepts for Productivity
To understand the power behind the engineering toolkit, it is important to know three key concepts. These concepts allow you to complete your projects smarter, faster and more consistently.
2.1. Standardization: Quality and Consistency Every Time
Standardization, means using proven, tested and consistent practices, rather than starting every project from scratch. This ensures that all your engineers are working to the same high quality standard.
- Analogy: You can do this with a well-tested, well-tested method that guarantees the same delicious result every time. recipe to keep track of your progress. This approach saves time and significantly reduces errors.
- Related Tool: The tool most closely associated with this concept is AET (Automated Engineering Tool)‘is.
2.2. Virtualization: Project Development in the Comfort of Your Office
Virtualization, is the ability to design, program and test an entire project without waiting for the physical hardware to arrive on site. In this way, you can start engineering work much earlier.
- Analogy: This is followed by the creation of an airplane that allows pilots to safely practice all scenarios before boarding a real airplane. flight simulator to use it. Not only does this allow you to catch defects in an office environment, at no cost, but it also directly increases project profitability by reducing commissioning time in the field.
- Related Tool: The tool most closely associated with this concept is PCT (Project Configuration Tool)‘is.
2.3. Reusability: Design Once, Use Many Times
Reusability, is the practice of creating frequently used engineering components such as graphics, programs or entire HVAC applications once and deploying them over and over again in different projects.
- Analogy: You can do this by creating a customizable document that, once created, can be used over and over again in different documents. company logo stamp we can liken it. Instead of redrawing the logo each time, you just use the stamp. This saves valuable engineering effort.
- Related Feature: The feature most closely associated with this concept is Custom Types‘is.
Let's explore the tools that make this philosophy a reality and take your projects to the next level.
3. Your Engineering Toolkit: Power in your Toolbox
EcoStruxure Building Operation offers a range of powerful tools designed to increase efficiency at every stage of the project lifecycle.
3.1. Project Configuration Tool (PCT): Your Virtual Project Space
PCT, is a virtual engineering environment that allows you to start your projects without physical hardware. This tool is based on the Virtualization is a direct application of our philosophy. Without waiting for the hardware to arrive, you can start working productively in your office and significantly reduce your time in the field.
| Feature | Objective | Related Concept |
|---|---|---|
| Virtual Servers | Create project infrastructure (Enterprise and Automation Server) without physical hardware | Virtualization |
| Early Start | Possibility to start engineering work before the hardware arrives | Virtualization |
3.2. Automated Engineering Tool (AET): Your Standardization Center
AET‘s main purpose is to allow you to create standard applications and deploy them consistently across your projects. This tool is similar to the one we talked about in chapter 2. Standardization philosophy in the field. It increases project quality and speed by uniting all your engineers around proven and common practices.
| Feature | Objective | Related Concept |
|---|---|---|
| Application Library | Access to proven global standards in a cloud-based application library or create your own standards | Standardization |
| Global Regulation | Save time by making bulk changes across the project | Productivity |
3.3. Custom Types: Your Reusable Engineering Blocks
Custom Types, which is included in Workstation and which we discussed in chapter 2. Reusability is a powerful feature that brings the philosophy to life. This is one of the fundamental evolutions of the platform and allows you to package frequently used graphics, programs or entire applications into a single “Custom Type”, allowing you to reuse them whenever you need them. Managing and updating these components is also extremely easy thanks to version control.
| Feature | Objective | Related Concept |
|---|---|---|
| Object Packaging | Save frequently used engineering components as a single entity | Reusability |
| Version Control | Manage and track changes in custom types | Consistency |
3.4. Expert Tool: Your Live System Diagnostic Tool
Unlike other vehicles Expert Tool, not for engineering or project creation, but for live systemsconnectivity. Designed specifically for your technicians or software engineers in the field, it is an ideal diagnostic tool to visualize how objects in a system are connected, generate reports and troubleshoot problems.
| Feature | Objective | Role |
|---|---|---|
| System Visualization | Visual understanding of how objects in a system are interconnected | Diagnostics and Analysis |
| Reporting | Create documentation or connection reports | Documentation |
| Database Comparison | See how a database changes over time | Troubleshooting |
Each of these powerful tools is valuable in its own right, but their real power comes when they come together in an efficient project workflow.
4. Putting it All Together: A Typical Project Workflow
These tools work together to create a seamless workflow from the beginning to the end of a project. Here is a typical project lifecycle:
- Step 1: Virtualize the Project (PCT) The project starts with the creation of virtual Enterprise Server and Automation Servers using PCT, without physical hardware. This allows the engineering team to start work immediately.
- Step 2: Build with Standards (EEC) Using AET, predefined standard and proven applications such as air handling units (AHU), VAVs, rooftop units (RTU), chillers and boilers are quickly and consistently implemented on virtual servers.
- Step 3: Customize and Integrate (Workstation) The final engineering touches of the project, third-party system integrations and customization such as user interface (graphics) creation are done on the Workstation.
- Step 4: Deploy and Commission in the Field The virtual solution, prepared and tested in the office, is deployed to the physical hardware arriving on site. Tools such as the eCommissioning mobile app significantly speed up field operations such as setting up controllers and installing programs.
This idealized workflow shows how EcoStruxure tools increase project efficiency from start to finish and enable more profitable projects.
5. Summary and Next Steps
EcoStruxure Building Operation engineering toolkit, standardization, virtualization and reusabilityand offers you a significant competitive advantage by adopting key principles such as PCT, AET and Custom Types within Workstation. Features such as PCT, AET and Custom Types within Workstation enable you to deliver projects faster, more consistently and more profitably. This allows your engineers to focus less on repetitive tasks and more on innovative solutions that delight your customers.
By adopting these tools, you not only make your business more efficient, but also increase your capacity to deliver more innovative and valuable solutions to your customers. If you're ready to unlock your potential, The Exchange is your first stop.
Resources and Next Steps
To access these tools, review white papers and join the expert community, you can use our central platform The Exchange‘to visit
- Web Address:
exchange.schneider-electric.com - What can you find?
- The latest versions of all engineering tools (PCT, AET, Expert Tool).
- Detailed knowledge bases, training materials and application notes.
- Community forums where you can collaborate and share knowledge with other EcoStruxure experts.
