system

What systems are

In Brick, a System groups equipment that works together for a common purpose. A chilled water system includes the chiller, chilled water pumps, and the cooling coils they serve. A hot water system includes the boiler, hot water pumps, and heating coils. Systems answer questions that feeds chains can’t easily express: “show me everything in the chilled water loop,” including pumps that don’t directly feed the chiller but are part of the same distribution system.

Query signature

system(
  siteId: String!,
  name: String,
  nameMatch: NameMatch,
  is: String,
  hasProperty: String,
  propertyValue: String
): [System!]!

Also available as a nested field on Building and Equipment (without siteId, since those are already scoped).

All root queries require siteId. See multi-tenant scoping. Examples below omit siteId for brevity.

Arguments

Argument	Type	Description
`siteId`	`String!`	Required. Scopes the query to a specific site
`name`	`String`	Filter by system name. Case-insensitive substring by default
`nameMatch`	`NameMatch`	`CONTAINS` (default) or `EXACT`
`is`	`String`	Brick class (e.g., `Chilled_Water_System`)
`hasProperty`	`String`	Only systems with this property defined
`propertyValue`	`String`	Exact match on property value (requires `hasProperty`)

Return fields

Field	Type	Description
`uri`	`String!`	Full entity URI
`id`	`ID!`	System identifier
`name`	`String!`	System name
`type`	`String!`	Brick class (e.g., `Chilled_Water_System`)
`ifcId`	`String`	IFC model element ID. Links to the BIM model
`equipment`	`[Equipment!]!`	Equipment in this system. Accepts `name`, `nameMatch`, `is`, `recursive` filters
`points`	`[Point!]!`	Points associated with the system. Accepts `name`, `nameMatch`, `is`, `recursive` filters
`properties`	`[EntityProperty!]!`	Static metadata as structured objects (`name`, `value`, `unit`)

Common system types

Brick class	What it groups
`HVAC_System`	All HVAC equipment in a building
`Chilled_Water_System`	Chillers, CHW pumps, cooling coils, cooling towers
`Hot_Water_System`	Boilers, HW pumps, heating coils
`Condenser_Water_System`	Cooling towers, CW pumps, chiller condensers
`Air_System`	AHUs, VAVs, and the ductwork connecting them
`Lighting_System`	Luminaires, lighting controllers, occupancy sensors
`Electrical_System`	Meters, switchgear, transformers, UPS

Examples

Find systems by name

{
  system(name: "Hot Water") {
    name
    type
    equipment { name type }
  }
}

{
  "data": {
    "system": [
      {
        "name": "Hot Water System",
        "type": "Hot_Water_System",
        "equipment": [
          { "name": "TE01-XX-HIU-001", "type": "Heat_Exchanger" },
          { "name": "TE01-XX-HWP-001", "type": "Hot_Water_Pump" },
          { "name": "TE01-XX-HWP-002", "type": "Hot_Water_Pump" }
        ]
      }
    ]
  }
}

List all systems in a building

{
  building(id: "B001") {
    systems {
      name
      type
    }
  }
}

System with its supply temperature sensors

{
  system(name: "Hot Water") {
    name
    type
    points(is: "Supply_Air_Temperature_Sensor") {
      name
      type
      unit
    }
  }
}

Query a specific system type

{
  system(is: "Chilled_Water_System") {
    name
    equipment {
      name
      type
      points(is: "Temperature_Sensor") {
        name
        type
        unit
      }
    }
  }
}

This returns every piece of equipment in the chilled water loop with its temperature sensors: chillers, pumps, cooling towers, all in one query.

Filter equipment within a system

Use name, nameMatch, and is on the nested equipment field:

{
  system(name: "Hot Water") {
    name
    equipment(is: "Pump") {
      name
      type
    }
  }
}

Returns only pumps within the hot water system.

Recursive: all points across system equipment

{
  system(name: "Hot Water") {
    name
    points(recursive: true, is: "Temperature_Sensor") {
      name
      type
      unit
    }
  }
}

recursive: true on system points collects points from all equipment in the system, not just points directly on the system entity.

Filter systems by property

{
  system(hasProperty: "designCapacity") {
    name
    type
    properties { name value unit }
  }
}

Which systems does this equipment belong to?

{
  equipment(id: "TE01-XX-AHU-001") {
    name
    systems {
      name
      type
    }
  }
}

Equipment.systems returns all systems the equipment belongs to without filter arguments. It does not support name, nameMatch, or is parameters.

Systems vs `feeds` chains

Use case	Use systems	Use feeds/traversal
”Everything in the chilled water loop”	`system(is: "Chilled_Water_System")`	Harder, since pumps may not be in the feeds chain
”What feeds this zone?”	Use `upstream`	More precise. Follows the specific path
”All equipment in the HVAC plant”	`system(is: "HVAC_System")`	Would need multiple traversals from different roots
”Impact of chiller failure”	Use `downstream`	Better. Shows the specific propagation path

Systems group by purpose. Feeds chains follow medium flow. Use both.

Overview

Entities

Relationships

What systems are

Query signature

Arguments

Return fields

Common system types

Examples

Find systems by name

List all systems in a building

System with its supply temperature sensors

Query a specific system type

Filter equipment within a system

Recursive: all points across system equipment

Filter systems by property

Which systems does this equipment belong to?

Systems vs `feeds` chains

​What systems are

​Query signature

​Arguments

​Return fields

​Common system types

​Examples

​Find systems by name

​List all systems in a building

​System with its supply temperature sensors

​Query a specific system type

​Filter equipment within a system

​Recursive: all points across system equipment

​Filter systems by property

​Which systems does this equipment belong to?

​Systems vs feeds chains

What systems are

Query signature

Arguments

Return fields

Common system types

Examples

Find systems by name

List all systems in a building

System with its supply temperature sensors

Query a specific system type

Filter equipment within a system

Recursive: all points across system equipment

Filter systems by property

Which systems does this equipment belong to?

Systems vs `feeds` chains