The Smart Buildings Academy Podcast | Teaching You Building Automation, Systems Integration, and Information Technology

When you read the words energy efficiency what do you think of?

If you're like most people you may think of long drawn out energy projects, trying to work with utilities to get rebates, and then having to do complex math and formulas to justify it all.

But what if I told you that there were several easy changes that you could make that would instantly increase the energy efficiency of your buildings?

Would that be something that would be valuable to you?

If you then make sure you listen to Episode 94 of the Building Automation Monthly Podcast

Preventative maintenance is the core of good facility management.

Most facility professionals and service technicians can easily name off half a dozen HVAC maintenance tasks. But when you ask them to name off tasks related to BAS...

Well, I hope you like the sound of crickets because in most cases that's all you'll hear.

But contrary to popular belief there are dozens of preventative maintenance (PM) tasks for a BAS. In this episode we continue to explore the topic of preventative maintenance for Building Automation Systems (BAS). If you've been looking to take the performance of your BAS to the next level or if you simply want to add a couple more years to your BAS life then this episode is for you!

Preventative Maintenance. What comes to mind when you think of those two words?

Do you think about filter change outs and fan belt replacements?

There is so much more to maintaining a BAS then the traditional HVAC maintenance activities.

If you've been looking to take your BAS's performance to the next level then this episode is definitely for you. By the end of this episode, you'll have a series of maintenance activities that will result in massive time and energy savings for you.

There's been a phrase floating around for the past couple years now but I've been hearing it pop up a lot more frequently lately. That phrase is OT vs IT.

This phrase is actually very common in the industrial/SCADA space but if you're in the BAS world it may leave you scratching your head.

• What exactly is OT?
• What does it have to do with IT?
• And how does it affect you?

If you've been plagued by these questions then this episode is definitely for you. By the end of this episode, you'll know exactly what OT is, what it has to do with you, and how you can implement OT if you so choose. Let's dive in!

One of the biggest struggles that any person faces is what career path to go down. This is even more true in building automation. You see, building automation doesn't naturally lend itself to a "path". I've met technicians who are easily making "6 figures" and I've met senior integrators who are scraping by with "50k a year".

But beyond the money, there is the enjoyment factor as well. How many of you truly love your job? Have you ever stopped to think about what really motivates you?

In this episode I take you through the exact same three-step process I used to discover what I was truly passionate about. This process has helped me to see immense growth in my career and I've used it to help other's grow as well.

Depending on what studies you read, 40% to 60% of the Building Automation Systems installed are more than 20 years old. On the surface, this wouldn't be much of an issue but the real problem is that many of the BAS systems can no longer be replaced and the professionals who understand how to service them are leaving in droves.

How do you deal with this problem?

How can you defuse the ticking timebomb that is your aged BAS when you have no money and limited resources?

In this episode, I provide you my four-step process for solving this problem. You are going to learn:

• How to quickly snapshot your buildings, so that you can know which buildings are studs and which buildings are duds
• The one thing that is often missed when evaluating systems (be careful because missing this will cause major problems)
• Why you must prioritize your system and why you're probably doing it wrong
• A secret method that will

At the end of the day, you are judged by the outputs from your designs. In this episode, I walk you through the 7 design outputs you should focus on when producing BAS designs. Producing a quality design is the biggest factor in whether your BAS project will be a cost overrun failure or a case study worthy project.

In this episode you are going to learn:

• The 7 design outputs you must produce
• The simple trick that will reduce your design time and increase your installer accuracy
• Why legends are overrated and what you should be doing instead
• How to effectively manage your bill of materials to reduce slippage and increase profitability
• And much more!

I've been the victim of some really bad designs and if I'm honest with you, I've also created a few really bad designs... The thing is, no one really teaches this topic. Sure there are a ton of "webinars" out there that teach you "BAS" but mostly they are just feature fests, where some vendor goes through all the features that exist in their product. When I was first learning design back in 2007 my mentor had me draw out the design on graph paper from start to finish. At the time I thought this guy was an a$$, but in reality, he was teaching me several invaluable lessons. The first lesson was that the design should be independent and interdependent at the same time. Each document you create as part of a design should be able to stand on its own. And I learned this as I had to justify every document I created. However, every document must build upon one another and support one another to create a complete design. This is a skill that I quite simply don't see being taught anywhere. And that is what we are going to discuss in this episode. In this episode you are going to learn:

• The purpose of a BAS design
• The four-phase design lifecycle
• The importance of mini-design lifecycles
• The secret behind making sure you are always on-time with your design
• Strategies to reduce your submittal rejection rate
• And much more!

Have you ever stopped and thought about what is required to create a good BAS design... and then once that design is created, what deliverables should you expect to receive?

If this topic seems a little muddy to you, you're not alone. Despite all of the talk out there about IoT and analytics, when it comes to the topic of BAS Design (something that affects way more projects than any IoT solution ever will) the Internet is eerily silent...

The reason is, there are not that many folks who can teach you how to create a good design. I mean think about it. Besides for ASHRAES Guideline 13-2015, which you can purchase for $99. There's not much out there. But even that guideline doesn't address the core issue.

How does one design a BAS. Over the next several episodes I am going to be tackling this exact issue. In this episode, we are going to unpack the inputs and outputs that are created as part of the design process. You are going to learn:

• The 3 design inputs you must understand
• What the one piece of information you absolutely must locate in the specification is
• Why you're controller drawings actually confuse your installer
• How to eliminate project slippage (hint... it has something to do with your bill of materials)
• And much more!

You've got an IP controls network and you're in a world of hurt because it's not working. You search Google looking for ideas, tech support puts you on hold for hours trying to help the thousands of other folks just like you.

You're feeling hopeless.

But it's not hopeless. In this episode, I provide you 7 tips that you can apply immediately to help you troubleshoot your IP controls network. Success is just around the corner, have a listen...