By 1995, the Federal Center was in need of a significant upgrade of its building systems to reflect changes in building use and function and to keep pace with changes in office environmental standards. The U.S. General Services Administration (GSA), which is the government agency responsible for maintaining and renovating these buildings, determined that a complete renovation of the systems' infrastructure was necessary and would include fire protection, life safety, electrical power, telecommunications, and hvac.
Included in this renovation was a complete overhaul of the buildings' control systems. Over the years various types of controls had been put in place - ranging from the original pneumatic to electric controls to some early direct digital control (ddc) systems. After careful evaluation of the latest technologies available, the GSA decided to convert the entire Federal Center complex to an open control system architecture.