Reference · built on requestOperator by FibricFacilities & comfort

Freeze Protection

Compares forecast lows and NWS cold alerts with coil and pipe temperatures and proposes protection steps before a hard freeze.

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About

Coils freeze when an outdoor air damper leaks on a unit that is off overnight, when a pump stops on a loop with no glycol, or when a pipe runs through a space nobody heats. Freeze Protection reads active National Weather Service alerts and the hourly forecast for each site, and the coil, mixed air, pipe, and space temperatures your controllers expose over BACnet/IP, with damper and pump status beside them.

Ahead of a Freeze Warning or a forecast low, it proposes the steps for the equipment at risk: keep a pump running, close a damper, hold a low-limit setpoint, and a notice to the team with the list. Each override is a proposal with a release date. You approve them. It never disables a safety.

This is a reference listing. It documents what Fibric would read from Freeze Protection and what it could propose, based on the vendor's published interfaces. Fibric builds it under a managed deployment when you request it; selecting it here installs nothing.

Inputs

  • Active NWS alerts at each site's point, such as Freeze Warning, Frost Advisory, Cold Weather Advisory, and Extreme Cold Warning, with onset, expires, and severity
  • The NWS hourly forecast for the site and the gridpoint minimum temperature and wind chill series
  • Coil discharge, mixed air, and preheat temperatures, freeze-stat status, and outdoor air damper position on each air handler over BACnet/IP
  • Pump status and loop temperatures on hydronic systems, and whether the loop is scheduled off overnight
  • Space and pipe temperatures in unheated areas such as mechanical rooms, docks, and vestibules, where sensors exist
  • Status_Flags and Reliability on each temperature point, so a failed sensor is not read as a frozen coil

Proposed actions

  • Target capability: propose keeping a circulation pump running through the cold period on a loop scheduled off, as a bounded override for your approval
  • Target capability: propose closing the outdoor air damper on units that will be off, and a low-limit setpoint on units that will run
  • Target capability: propose a notice to Microsoft Teams, Slack, or Twilio SMS with the alert, the sites, and the equipment at risk
  • Target capability: propose a walk-down list of unheated spaces whose sensors read lowest, for the night shift
  • Target capability: propose releasing every override once the alert expires and the forecast clears, each on its own receipt

Proposed actions are target capabilities. Every action runs propose-first and needs a validated deployment and the appropriate permissions.

What you can build

  • Keep the loop moving on a Freeze Warning night

    A Freeze Warning is issued for the site. Freeze Protection finds a heating loop scheduled off overnight with no glycol, proposes the pump held on until the alert expires, and posts the plan to Teams.

    With Weather & Severe Alerts, BACnet / IP, Microsoft Teams

  • Close the damper that leaks

    The hourly forecast drops past the point where a leaking outdoor air damper has frozen a coil before. The operator proposes the damper closed in Niagara for the night and a Slack notice to the engineer.

    With Tridium Niagara, Weather & Severe Alerts, Slack

  • Send the night shift to the right rooms

    Space sensors in Metasys show a dock vestibule falling fastest. The operator proposes a walk-down list and an SMS through Twilio to the person on site.

    With Johnson Metasys, Twilio

  • Release everything on the morning after

    When the alert expires and the forecast clears, the operator proposes releasing each Desigo CC override it proposed, so nothing stays held into spring.

    With Siemens Desigo CC, Weather & Severe Alerts

Requirements

  • The coordinates of each site, for the NWS point forecast and active alerts
  • A BACnet/IP connector with coil, mixed air, damper, pump, and space temperature points on its read allow-list
  • Write access on the pump, damper, and setpoint points you want protected, on the connector's allow-list
  • One messaging connector: Microsoft Teams, Slack, or Twilio
Authentication
Freeze Protection holds no credentials. It reads the NWS signal and your BACnet/IP points through their connectors, and proposes overrides and notices through the building platform and messaging connectors under their allow-lists.

Limits

  • The forecast is for the NWS grid cell and the nearest station. A rooftop or a north-facing dock can be colder than the point forecast.
  • Overrides are proposals with a release date. Nothing is written until approved, and every override is released on its own approval.
  • It never disables a freeze stat, a low-limit, or any safety, and it never overrides a point on fire or life-safety equipment.
  • The NWS signal covers US sites. Sites elsewhere need another weather signal.

Access and pricing

Reference listing. Fibric builds the operator under a managed deployment when you request it. Your quote covers the build, capabilities, usage, and support.

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Questions and answers

What do you approve before a cold night?
Each override and each notice. The proposal shows the alert or forecast, the equipment, the point that would be written, the value, and the release date. Approve, change the value or date, or dismiss. Releases are approved the same way when the cold passes.
What record is left after the cold passes?
A receipt per override: the alert or forecast that prompted it, the point, the value before and after, who approved it, when it was released, and the notices sent. If a coil freezes anyway, the receipts show what was held and what was not.
Can it disable a freeze stat or a safety?
No. It proposes holds on pumps, dampers, and setpoints, through the building platform connector, on allow-listed points, after approval. Safeties, low-limits, and fire and life-safety points are never on that list.
Ask about Freeze Protection

Ask about the capabilities and requirements in this listing.

For project-specific requirements, contact Fibric.

This operator is developed, published, and supported by Fibric. Third-party names and logos identify the systems an integration connects to; they are the property of their respective owners, who are not affiliated with Fibric and do not sponsor or endorse this listing. Trademark policy