Many of the systems that go into any commercial building are anticipated to have a long lifetime.  We expect the steel or concrete to last for the life of the building. Yet there are parts of the building that have fairly short lives like the carpet, paint and much of the IT gear.  Where the walls may last generations the IT gear (PC’s, Printers, Networking equipment) may have only 2 – 5 years before it is functionally obsolete.

So where do building controls fit in this mix?  Since they are part of the mechanical system, it seems reasonable to expect them to last for 12-20 years. In reality, the vast majority of the control system is more similar to IT gear than mechanical equipment and is going to have a much shorter life span.  How short?  The answer is “it depends”.     READ MORE

.