Letters to the editor
Staff -- Consulting-Specifying Engineer, 4/1/2001
No Lon LoversKeeping Up With the Protocols" (February, 2001)—the text, graphics and building examples—is clearly fashioned to make LonWorks look good and BACnet look, at best, like a costly, poorly executed response to controls issues.
[The author's company] is an "Echelon authorized network integrator" and Echelon is the corporation that developed LonWorks.
I don't know that LonMark really is better or worse than BACnet. I do know that the American Society of Heating, Refrigerating and Air-Conditioning Engineers endorses BACnet, and corporate entities that have a huge financial stake endorse LonMark. This industry needs someone who has no stake in BACnet or LonWorks to sift through the issues and give a honest evaluation of the various options.
From my experience as a consulting engineer working in a public bidding environment, I have found that there are few honest brokers that offer factual advice on controls-system selection. I would encourage you to fill that void.
TODD KIENINGER, P.E.
The Design Collaborative
Cape May, N.J.
Just the FactsThe letters suggest] that my article is biased because my firm specializes in interoperable systems using LonWorks. On the contrary, I've worked in controls for over 25 years, I'm involved in industry associations and spend considerable effort on interoperability. Who else should write such an essay? A manufacturer? More importantly, I maintain that my article's statements [are accurate].
EARL D. GRAY
Control Contractors Inc.
Beyond standardsThe feature "Optimal Illumination" (February 2001) is a great article!
At the risk of sounding like a broken record, we must recognize that the United States is 10 years behind in lighting. Lighting controls and wattage restrictions are the main features of the American National Standards Institute/American Society of Heating, Refrigeration and Air-Conditioning Engineers/Illumination Society of North America (IESNA) Standard 90.1-1999, which is being incorporated in various forms into enforceable building codes in every state. However, as a member of the IESNA lighting committee, I have been advocating the use of lighting systems more energy-efficient than the conventional incandescent, halogen and fluorescent lamps specifically mentioned in the Standard. In that way, even if the two listed requirements are avoided, electricity will still be conserved.
Technology employing the physical phenomenon of total internal reflection can provide effortless energy savings.
Oddly, there is not widespread awareness of these completely different products in this country, nor does the lighting-certification exam contain questions about its use. If used at all, it is for decorative purposes, not functional applications—task, display, architectural contours and even ambient illumination.
These alternate materials are not intended to replace all traditional light sources, but they do offer additional lighting tools to do a better job in many circumstances which are inaccessible, hazardous, confined space or contain fugitive organic materials. They can improve personal comfort, safety, productivity, sales and attendance.
GERSIL N. KAY
Conservation Lighting International
Philadelphia, Pa.
Interesting MathThe article "Sustainable HVAC Strategies" (February, 2001) made some bold but unsupported claims. I would like to see how design changes in a $3 million HVAC system can result in $36 billion (12,000 times) savings over a building's lifetime. I am also interested in applying for one of the 65,000 office worker positions which has an average annual salary of $550,000. BENSON KWONG, P.E., CVS
Project Management Services Inc.
Rockville, Md.
Editor's note: The author, David Toshio Williams, P.E., of LHB Engineers and Architects, responds to the letter.
"The sentence should have read, 'A good engineer's lifetime designs can improve comfort for perhaps 65,000 office workers, whose 30-year present-valued salaries total about $36 billion.'"
