FAQ

FAQ



1. What is an ELV system ?

ELV’s are nothing but systems that work on low voltages (50V AC or 120V DC). They do not define a particular system, but refer to a wide range of seemingly unconnected systems that work within these voltage levels.The International Electrotechnical Commission and its member organizations define an ELV circuit as one in which the electrical potential of any conductor against earth (ground) is not more than either 50 volts RMS (70 volts peak) for alternating current, or ripple-free 120 volts for direct current.


2. What are some examples of an ELV system ?
  •  LAN/Data Transmission
  •  Telephone
  •  Closed Circuit Television
  •  Fire Alarm
  •  Public Address systems
  •  Audio Visual systems
  •  Access Control
  •  Building Monitoring and Management systems
  •  Advanced Security Systems

3. Where are ELV Systems used ?

Everywhere! Almost. Today, any reasonably sized commercial building (offices, shopping complexes), hotels, residential projects (multi-storied buildings and gated communities) and entertainment centers (multiplexes, amusement parks) use at least 3 or more of the above mentioned systems.

4. How are ELV systems currently deployed ?

Though the trend is changing very very fast, the norm is for a project developer to employ independent contractors/vendors for each of the above system. Each such vendor/contractor independently designs their systems and deploys them. There is no synergy between the design and deployment of these systems though they all fall under the category of ELV systems and hence are prone to significant commonality in design and deployment that’s not tapped today.

5. How does integrating ELV systems benefit project developers/building owners ?

For a project developer, an integrated ELV system reduces deployment costs significantly. These costs savings are achieved by using several equipments/cabling that serves a common purpose. For instance – a regular Ethernet network cable can also be used for BMS, telephones, CCTV, Public address etc.
For a building owner/operator – an integrated system (especially when combined with BMS) drastically reduces operational costs by reducing the manpower requirement for day-to-day operations, increasing system uptime, reducing points of failures, increasing the safety features and providing tremendous scope for flexibility in re-configuration.

6. What is a BMS ?

A BMS is a set of computing and control infrastructure that controls, monitors and optimizes the building’s equipments, security and operational parameters and automatically reacts to "situations" without the need of manual intervention.

7. What are some of the equipments that a BMS system can control ?
  •  Lighting
  •  Energy sources
  •  Security (through intelligent access control)
  •  Fire AlarmSecurity (through video analytics)
  •  HVAC systems ( control heating/cooling through a combination of measures) and more...

8. What is the main advantage of a BMS system that has been designed professionally ?

Reduction in energy costs for the operation of the building.

9. What is the connection between an ELV system and a BMS system ?

As mentioned above, a building uses several ELV systems. A BMS system is put together using a combination of a several ELV systems. So for all practical purposes, an ELV system and a BMS system go hand-in-hand.

10. What is the need for a ELV-BMS consultant ?

Independent contractors/vendors have a vested interest to sell their products/solutions/services. As mentioned above, a BMS system needs to be designed to meet the needs of THAT particular building (taking into consideration several tons of parameters). Hence a master plan is required – one that will determine purely from a COMMERCIAL basis the nature and specifications of the BMS system. When such a methodology is used for design, it results in an optimally designed system that meets the requirements of the project developer/building owner. Hence a ELV-BMS consultant is required to put together a master-plan that has a solid commercial backing to it, then split the plan into multiple components and accordingly ensure that the right components/systems/vendors are chosen for execution. The master-plan will clearly present the cost-benefit analysis of using/not using various options within each of the different ELV systems that may be considered.

This is a unique website which will require a more modern browser to work!

Please upgrade today!