Chicago Faucets has introduced CF Connect PLUS, a platform that integrates commercial plumbing data directly into building automation systems through native BACnet/IP connectivity. The system represents a shift in how facility teams monitor water infrastructure across distributed buildings, moving plumbing information from isolated fixtures into a unified environment where engineers already manage HVAC, lighting, security, and other systems.
The platform captures water temperature at individual faucet angle stops and sends that information into the building automation system as native BACnet objects. This point-of-use visibility gives facility teams a more granular understanding of plumbing system performance without requiring separate dashboards or manual data collection from centralized plumbing equipment.
Chicago Faucets joined BACnet International to support this work. Andy McMillan, President and Managing Director of BACnet International, described CF Connect PLUS as “the first certified BACnet connected solution built specifically for commercial water monitoring and hygiene management.” He added that the integration expands BACnet’s reach into building infrastructure, allowing “facility operators to seamlessly integrate critical water data with the rest of a building’s information and analytics.”
How The System Connects Faucets to Building Automation
CF Connect PLUS uses BACnet/IP, a standardized protocol already common in building automation, to expose connected faucets and sensors as objects within a facility’s existing building automation system. Multiple Gateways, the devices that manage the connections, can be deployed across a building and linked through standard local area network architecture, making the approach suitable for large or geographically dispersed facilities.
Each Gateway can connect up to 30 wired faucets or up to 10 Bluetooth-connected faucets, with multiple Gateways supported across a facility. This distributed architecture was designed for hospitals, universities, airports, stadiums, schools, offices and other commercial facilities where plumbing fixtures span large areas.
Temperature Measurement At The Point of Use
The platform’s core feature is its ability to measure water temperature directly at individual fixtures rather than relying only on readings from main plumbing lines. Retrofit temperature sensors installed at faucet angle stops measure water temperature and send the information to the CF Connect PLUS Gateway, which communicates that data to the building automation system through BACnet/IP.
Greg Hunt, Commercial Product Manager at Chicago Faucets, explained the advantage: “What we are adding is visibility of the faucet, including water temperature at the point of use. Access to temperature data at the point of use helps facility teams better understand plumbing system performance across a building.”
Beyond temperature, CF Connect PLUS tracks system status, provides alerts, and records automated hygiene flushing events. Each flushing event is automatically recorded, creating a digital record of system activity that becomes part of the broader building automation environment rather than existing as separate plumbing data.
Integration Into Unified Building Monitoring
The platform’s architecture allows plumbing data to flow into the same environment where facility teams already monitor other building systems. Rather than requiring separate dashboards or manual data collection, faucet and sensor information is incorporated directly into an existing building automation system through standard LAN connectivity.
For engineers and facility teams, the significance of the platform is its ability to move plumbing information from isolated devices into a facility’s broader building automation monitoring and analytics environment. This unified visibility enables facility operators to access information originating at individual faucets while using that data within the building automation context.
Richard Nortier, Vice President of Products and Marketing at Chicago Faucets, stated that the platform was “designed to simplify water management” by creating better connections between plumbing infrastructure and building automation systems. By combining point-of-use temperature sensing, connected faucet data, BACnet/IP communication, and Gateway-based system architecture, Chicago Faucets is extending building automation visibility into the distributed plumbing infrastructure of commercial buildings.
To learn more, visit Contractor Magazine’s report on CF Connect PLUS.
