How to access the BACnet standard for free

How to preview the BACnet standard for free through the ASHRAE website and restore peace to the family dinner table.

In our house, Thanksgiving means card games.

It's nearly Thanksgiving here in the US. For many folks, the holiday is a time to gather together and spend time with family. For some, all that gathering can bring tension. We've all been there, locked in a heated debate with that cousin about just how many foreign device registrations a BBMD is required to support. Frustratingly, you left your laptop and your PDF of the BACnet standard back at the office. Whatever will you do?

ASHRAE has a webpage where you can preview their standards for free. At some point last spring, the BACnet standard got added to the list. Here's how to access it.

Open up this list of all the freely-available ASHRAE standards.
Scroll down or Ctrl+F for "BACnet", you're looking for Standard 135-2020.
Follow that link and you will be able to browse the standard for free in your browser.

You can't download it and you have to go through this three-step process every time (you can't just bookmark the link on the last page). That said, it just might be enough to get you through a tight spot. Who knows, maybe you could find some common ground this holiday, or maybe you could just buy the standard.

-NB