Most smart building systems are excellent at telling you what’s wrong.Far fewer are designed to change what happens next.

In this episode of Quick Cuts, Ben Muwoki sits down with Derek John Mullassery (COO, CopperTree Analytics) to explore the shift from fault detection and diagnostics (FDD) to automated action inside commercial buildings.

Fault detection is no longer novel. Dashboards and alarms are everywhere. The real constraint in modern building automation is execution.

Derek explains how automated system optimisation and remote commissioning are moving the industry beyond detection and into action, while keeping operators in control.This conversation explores:

• Why “insight” does not equal impact
• The gap between analytics and operational change
• What it takes for software to safely write back to a BAS
• Why automation only scales when trust scales
• The importance of guardrails: traceable, reversible, explainable decisions
• How automated commissioning can test 100% of systems remotely
• Why culture, not technology, is often the bottleneck

About Derek John Mullassery

Derek is the Chief Operating Officer at CopperTree Analytics, a pioneer in building analytics and FDD. He works at the intersection of building automation, energy efficiency, and software-driven operational performance. His focus is on helping commercial buildings move beyond dashboards and alerts toward measurable outcomes, while maintaining operator trust and control. Throughout his career, Derek has worked closely with building owners, operators, and portfolio teams to scale analytics across complex real estate environments, bridging the gap between technology capability and real-world adoption.

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