Solutions · Supervisory upgrades
A Niagara alternative that doesn't meter your building.
Aero gives integrators and owners modern supervisory control without capacity licenses or annual SMA renewals, and it can run alongside an existing Niagara station while you migrate at your own pace.
The problem
The cost of a building shouldn't grow every year you own it.
Capacity tiers make every expansion a licensing event, and annual maintenance agreements make staying current a recurring bill. When a platform moves to a new major release, sites can face new hardware and license migrations on top.
No capacity tiers
Add devices and points without a license upgrade.
No annual SMA
Firmware and software updates are included.
No license files
Nothing bound to hardware, nothing to transfer.
No Java tooling
Engineer every node in a browser.
Migration path
Migrate without a flag day.
Aero is designed to coexist with what's already installed, so the building never goes dark and the owner never pays for two systems longer than necessary.
- STEP 01
Survey
Inventory the existing station: supervisory controllers, field trunks, BACnet/IP devices, graphics and the sequences that matter. Your dealer maps what moves first.
- STEP 02
Run side by side
Install AeroNodes alongside the existing system. Aero's BACnet server publishes the points you choose as standard BACnet/IP objects, so the existing front end can keep reading them during the transition.
- STEP 03
Move trunk by trunk
Migrate MS/TP trunks and BACnet/IP devices to AeroNodes one area at a time, rebuilding logic as program sheets and macros and verifying as you go.
- STEP 04
Retire the old layer
When the last trunk moves, decommission the old supervisory hardware, along with its capacity licenses and maintenance renewals.
Hardware & licensing
AeroNode 485 and JACE 9000, side by side.
Published specifications for the standard configurations. The licensing rows are where the long-term cost lives.
| AeroNode 485 | Tridium JACE 9000 | |
|---|---|---|
| Processor | Quad-core 64-bit Arm, 2.4 GHz | 4× Arm Cortex-A53 (NXP i.MX 8M Plus), 1.6 GHz |
| Memory | 8 GB | 2 GB LPDDR4 |
| Storage | 32 GB eMMC, optional NVMe up to 1 TB | 8 GB eMMC + 8 GB microSD backup |
| Ethernet | 1 GbE + 2.5 GbE | 2× 10/100/1000 |
| RS-485 onboard | 4 isolated (AeroNode 485) | 2 isolated; more with expansion modules |
| Onboard binary I/O | 2 BI / 2 BO | None (remote I/O modules) |
| Capacity licensing | None | Device/point capacity cores (e.g. NC-9005 to NC-9200) |
| Software maintenance | Updates included, no SMA | SMA required at purchase, renewed to stay current |
JACE 9000 information is from Tridium's published JACE 9000 datasheet (document 2025-0009) and product literature as of September 2026; confirm current specifications and terms with the manufacturer. Niagara and JACE are trademarks of Tridium, Inc. Hamel Building Technologies is not affiliated with Tridium.
FAQ
Switching questions, answered honestly.
Can Aero import a Niagara station database?
No. Aero is its own platform, not a Niagara variant. AeroNode discovers BACnet devices and points directly, and logic is rebuilt as program sheets and reusable macros. Your dealer plans the migration so the building keeps running throughout.
Can Aero and Niagara run at the same time?
Yes. Both speak BACnet. AeroNode can read BACnet/IP devices on the same network, and its BACnet server can publish selected Aero points as BACnet/IP objects so an existing Niagara station can see them.
Do we need Workbench or Java to engineer Aero?
No. Every AeroNode is configured and programmed in AeroView, an HTML5 application served by the node itself. Any modern browser works.
What does ongoing ownership cost?
AeroNode and AeroServer carry no capacity licenses and no annual software maintenance agreement. Optional AeroConnect cloud remote access is a subscription service; your dealer's service agreement is between you and your dealer.
Plan a migration with a local dealer.
Authorized dealers design, install and support every Aero system. Find the dealer for your territory, or talk to us about becoming one.