Integrations
What is Niagara (Tridium)?
Niagara is a software framework, built by Tridium, a Honeywell company, that unifies BACnet, Modbus, LonWorks and other building-automation protocols into one supervisory interface. Most buildings meet it as a Niagara station, a JACE controller or a Honeywell WEBs system.
Niagara is a software framework, built by Tridium, a Honeywell company, that normalises data from BACnet, Modbus, LonWorks and other building-automation protocols into one supervisory interface. It doesn't replace the field controllers underneath it; it sits above them and gives one console a common view of otherwise incompatible systems.
What Niagara does. A station runs a set of drivers, one per protocol, each translating a field device's native data into Niagara's own object model. A BACnet chiller, a Modbus meter and a LonWorks VAV box end up represented the same way inside the station, so one interface can trend, alarm and schedule across all three without custom integration work for each.
Tridium and Honeywell. Tridium, based in Richmond, Virginia, built the Niagara Framework. Honeywell International acquired the company in 2005, and Tridium continues to operate as a Honeywell company, licensing Niagara to a wide roster of BAS manufacturers rather than keeping it exclusive to Honeywell's own product line, which is why Niagara turns up under many brands, not just Honeywell's.
JACE and WEBs. A JACE (Java Application Control Engine) is the small embedded controller that runs a Niagara station in the field, Tridium's own hardware line and the one most third-party integrators install. Honeywell WEBs is Honeywell's own branded product line, built on the same Niagara Framework: a WEBs supervisor is a Niagara station carrying Honeywell's badge.
Getting data out. Every Niagara station ships an oBIX driver as standard, both client and server, so enabling the server exposes the station's points, histories and alarms over plain HTTP without touching the wire sheet. The other common path is BACnet passthrough: most Niagara stations already run a BACnet driver internally, so a client can read the same points directly over BACnet. See our Honeywell Niagara integration guide for how that looks in practice.
| Term | What it is | Made by or where you meet it |
|---|---|---|
| Niagara | The software framework that unifies BAS protocols into one interface | Built by Tridium, licensed to many BAS vendors |
| Tridium | The company that builds Niagara | A Honeywell company since 2005 |
| JACE | The embedded controller that runs a Niagara station | Tridium's own hardware line |
| Honeywell WEBs | Honeywell's branded product line built on Niagara | Honeywell International |
| oBIX | The web-services protocol most Niagara stations expose | OASIS standard; see oBIX |
How FrostLogic reads a Niagara station. The FrostLogic Edge Agent connects to a station's oBIX service or reads it over BACnet passthrough, whichever the site already exposes. It runs alongside the supervisor, reads points and histories read-only, and never changes station configuration or the wire sheet. Explore isn't a CMMS and doesn't take over control of the building; it adds a decision layer on top of what the station already knows.
Before you ask
Niagara, the common questions.
Niagara is a software framework, built by Tridium, that unifies BACnet, Modbus, LonWorks and other building-automation protocols into one supervisory interface. Most buildings meet it running on a JACE controller or a Honeywell WEBs system.
Tridium is the company that built the Niagara Framework. Honeywell International acquired Tridium in 2005, and it continues to operate as a Honeywell company, licensing Niagara to a wide range of BAS manufacturers.
A JACE (Java Application Control Engine) is the embedded controller that runs a Niagara station in the field. It's Tridium's own hardware line, and the one most third-party integrators install.
Not exactly. A BMS is the wider system that controls a building's HVAC, lighting and access control; Niagara is the framework a BMS vendor can build that system on top of. A Niagara-based BMS still needs field controllers, sensors and a vendor's own supervisory software layered on the framework.
The FrostLogic Edge Agent reads the station over its oBIX service or via BACnet passthrough, whichever the site already exposes. It runs alongside the supervisor and never touches the wire sheet.
No. The connection is read-only by default. Explore adds a decision layer on top of what the station already knows; your team makes any change inside Niagara itself.
Related terms
Keep reading
See it in product
FrostLogic Explore
This is the engine that ships sensor intelligence as a product. Anomaly detection across six methods, forecasting with explicit confidence bounds, continuous compliance, and what-if simulation — all grounded in your own telemetry, all explainable, all auditable.
See FrostLogic Explore in actionHoneywell, WEBs and Niagara are trademarks of Honeywell International Inc. and Tridium, Inc. FrostLogic is an independent vendor and is not affiliated with or endorsed by either.