The requirements for an industry standard communication protocol for energy management and control systems (EMCS) are discussed in terms of the International Organization for Standardization’s (ISO) Open Systems Interconnection (OSI) Basic Reference Model with emphasis on application layer.

The information exchange requirements of commonly used control strategies are analyzed to develop a list of the minimum application level services required for an industry standard. This list was augmented to include additional desirable services, based on several years of experience building and operating an EMCS at the National Bureau of Standards.

Two public EMCS protocols, believed to be representative of the current state of commercially available EMCS, are described and analyzed to determine their ability to meet the application service requirements developed and their compatibility with the OSI Reference Model. Both protocols were found to meet the minimum requirements, but neither provides all of the services considered desirable. Neither protocol was found to be compatible with the OSI model.

Units: Dual