1. A computer implemented method configured to enable user control over scheduling of physical target devices via a graphical user interface, the method including: providing a graphical user interface that is configured to: (i) enable a user to select one or more building resources from an available set of predefined building resources, wherein each set of predefined building resources is representative of a set of discrete physical hardware devices at distributed locations in a building, wherein each target device is capable of adopting at least an activated operational state and a deactivated operational state; (ii) for the selected one or more building resources, enabling the user to define an operational schedule, wherein defining the operational schedule includes accepting user input representative of times during a specified period for which each of the selected one or more building resources is to be activated, wherein the user interface is configured to enable a user to define, for a given building resource: an operational schedule for a first day; and a recurrence parameter, wherein the recurrence parameter is representative of a category of day types, wherein defining of the recurrence parameter causes automated defining of operational schedules for a plurality of further days of the defined day type; in response to information inputted by the user via the graphical user interface defining an operational schedule, executing an automated process including the following steps: (i) for each of the selected one or more building resources, identifying the hardware devices of which the building resource is representative; (ii) for each identified hardware device, accessing a repository of scheduling protocols thereby to determine, for each hardware device: (a) data representative of a communications protocol defining a data format and communications channel associated with the hardware device, wherein the data representative of the communications protocol and communications channel is configured to enable a scheduling module to transmit scheduling instructions to the hardware device; and (b) data representative of a schedule storage protocol, wherein the schedule storage protocol defines a manner in which scheduling information is able to be stored locally by the target device; (iii) for each identified hardware device, operating the scheduling module providing one or more signals in accordance with the communications protocol for that hardware device based on the data representative of a schedule storage protocol, such that the hardware device is programmed to adopt its activated operational state whenever a user-defined operational schedule for the building resource of which that hardware device a part defines that the more building resources is to be activated; wherein providing the one or more signals includes periodically reprogramming internal scheduling memory storage for a given hardware device in the case that the schedule storage protocol defining a manner in which scheduling information is able to be stored locally by the target device defines an ability to store scheduling information for a maximum time period that is less than a total time period spanned by the defined operational schedule.