Better Building Systems

In this episode the Building Hotrodders discuss a critical part of a building management system.......the graphics. When the BMS graphics accurately represent the facility/system the BMS can be a very valuable tool for all types of personnel. Sadly, this is not always the case and in some instances the graphics can seem like an afterthought. This can cause some real troubles for the operations/eng...

In this episode the Building Hotrodders shift gears a bit and take a dive into discussion about self improvement. To start off the episode, we travel back in time to outline the medieval guild and the role apprentices, journeymen, and masters played. Although dated, this reference fits the discussion very well regarding the roles an individual may play during their career and the importance of men...

In this weeks episode the Building Hotrodders discuss what we feel is the heart of many facility operations......centrifugal pumps. Pumps play a critical role in processes and HVAC and we discuss the applications and importance for each. We cover pumping basics, pumping principles such as the affinity laws and the Bernoulli equation, and much much more. There are many factors to consider when sele...

A Building Management System (BMS) can sometimes be like a box of chocolates, you never know what your going to get. That is, unless you know what you want and make it a requirement. The problem is, with so much to choose from its hard to keep track of what is a "must have" in a BMS, what is not enough, and what is a waste of money. In todays episode the Building Hotrodders discuss the good......a...

Do you consider yourself a prepared individual? Preparation falls into the category of "a little goes a long way". This is true for all aspects of life, including within our industry. In this episode the Building Hotrodders discuss the importance of preparation, the effects of being un-prepared, and dive into some personal experiences on both ends of the spectrum. Tune in to hear what we consider...

In this weeks episode the Building Hotrodders discuss the value of Licensing and Certifications within our industry. The Hotrodders discuss what we feel is the most important, the P.E License, and cover some other critical certifications. We also discuss our personal experiences with the licenses/certifications and outline what we feel is the best path to receiving them. As you know........or may...

In this weeks episode the Building Hotrodders take a dive into data. This is yet another topic that is prevalent in many different fields, and there is a lot to cover in one episode! A great first question is what is data? Data is something the we all depend on, consciously or not. When you think of data what comes to mind? Your smartphone? Statistics? Excel Spreadsheets? the sky is truly the limi...

Welcome to the Better Building Systems podcast! In this weeks episode the Building Hotrodders discuss the Forensic Analysis process. How many times have you experienced an issue that continually gets "Band Aid" fixed....until the Band Aid's cant hold anymore. Eventually you will get to a point where the root cause of the problem can no longer be covered up , and this can cause some headaches actua...

In this weeks episode the Building Hotrodders keep the trend of discussing the future by taking a dive into the Future of Commissioning. We are excited to have Ryan Lean on with us as a guest for this episode! Ryan has spent the last 17 years with Jaros, Baum, and Bolles and is currently the President of the Building Commissioning Association. He is truly of the status of Building Hotrodder. In th...

When you think of the future what comes to mind? Self driving cars, artificial intelligence, more renewable energy, and the list goes on. What about our buildings? How will they be powered, maintained, controlled, and even built in the future? The building hotrodders discuss all aspects of the future of buildings in our latest episode. Even the hotrodders left the conversation with different thoug...

The Building Hotrodders pick back up where they left off in the discussion of simplicity in todays high tech facilities. We take the conversation in a different direction than the previous episode and dive into simplicity with BMS, programming, and system security. All of these aspects carry an inherent degree of complexity, but to function properly there must be an amount of simplicity. Sounds co...

In this episode the Building Hotrodders discuss the importance of simplicity in systems design. As they saying goes "just because you can, doesn't mean you should". We cover this in detail and provide some specific examples of where things were not kept simple.......or practical, along with the problems that occurred because of it. This discussion is relevant over a broad field of applications (me...

Do you have any redundancy in your home or life?? We often overlook the importance of redundancy in day to day life, but when it comes to industrial and commercial facilities redundancy can be critical. The building hotrodders break down what redundancy means, how and where it can be applied, and discuss practical and impractical applications of redundancy of mechanical equipment, hardware, and mu...

Welcome to the Better Building Systems podcast! There are many things to consider when engineering systems for a facility. Two major considerations are the constructability of the system and the maintainability of the system. Our team of building hotrodders break down all things that factor in the decision making of constructability and maintainability of building systems. We cover equipment layou...