History
It was only natural that the first HVAC controllers would be pneumatic, as the engineers probably understood fluid control. Thus mechanical engineers could use their experience with the properties of steam and air to control the flow of heated or cooled air. There are still pneumatic HVAC systems in operation in some buildings, such as schools and offices, which can be a century old.
After the control of air flow and temperature was standardized, the use of electromechanical relays in ladder logic to switch dampers became standardized. Eventually, the relays became electronic switches, as transistors eventually could handle greater current loads. By 1985, pneumatic control could no longer compete with this new technology.
By the year 2000, computerized controllers were common. Today, some of these controllers can even be accessed by web browsers, which need no longer be in the same building as the HVAC equipment. This allows some economies of scale, as single operations center can easily monitor thousands of buildings.
Read more about this topic: HVAC Control System
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