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

Data Lakes, Digital Twins, BI... Every day it seems as if the world of data is becoming more complex. In this week's episode, we will discuss exactly what today's BAS professional needs to understand about data in order to survive.  We will look at how data is stored, visualized, analyzed, and much more in this week's insightful episode.

Today's building automation world runs on data. But what is data?  That's a question that the industry as a whole has failed to answer. In this episode, we dive into what data is, how data is created, why data matters, and how can be used for smart integrated buildings.

There is a saying that troubleshooting a building automation system is more of an art than a science. But, what if there was a methodology that was proven to reduce the time it takes to troubleshoot a building automation system. In this week's episode, we are going to look at how to utilize our troubleshooting methodology in several real-world scenarios.

Have you ever wondered how a building automation system's web user interface works? How does data travel from your web browser to the BAS and back? How can you begin to troubleshoot these web user interfaces and make changes to them to meet customer needs? We answer all these questions in this week's episode.

You have what it takes to get a job in building automation. All you need is a clear plan.  In this week's episode, I lay out a step-by-step plan to get your first job in building automation even if you have zero experience with building automation.

What does it take to grow a building automation team and how can you grow a team during a talent shortage? In this week's episode, we discuss how to organize and optimize your building automation business. We also look at how to asses, train, and measure your team to produce a highly profitable business.

How do pumps and pipes work? Why do we need them? And most importantly how do we control them with our building automation systems? In this week's episode, we wrap up our 5-part series on controlling HVAC systems. We will look at: How piping and pumping systems work together to provide conditioned water to core HVAC systems Why you need to understand the interactions between flow and pressure and...

Hot water systems are the lifeblood of your occupant's comfort. But how do you control them? In this week's episode, we discuss how to control hot water systems.  We dive into the concepts of phase change, heat transfer and how to optimally utilize your heat sources. We discuss how to properly stage and control hot water systems We also look at how to utilize steam heating effectively

Learning how to control hydronic systems with your building automation system can be a challenge. In this episode, we continue our multi-part series on how to control HVAC systems using your building automation system. In this episode you will learn: How to chilled water systems work Common variables that affect the control of chilled water systems How cooling towers work and the effect of humidit...

Have you ever wondered how to control an RTU or AHU using your BAS? What comes first? What do you need to know?  In this episode, we walk through how to control airside systems and discuss the nuances associated with controlling RTU's, 100% OAU, and MA SP AHU's.

How do you control HVAC systems with your building automation system? In part one of our multipart episode, we will discuss how to control the process variables in a space. After all, everything begins with having proper temperature, humidity, pressure, and airflow within the space.

In this episode, we discuss how the Modbus protocol works and how you can use the protocol as a building automation professional.

As BAS professionals we utilize relays, switches, and circuits every day. But often we are not taught how they work and why we use them. In this episode, we discuss why we use relays, switches, and circuits, when to use them, and how to use them.

This week we look at the results of our student assessment. We've had over 4200 students and about 40% of them have been through our student assessment.  We look at the macrotrends from those results and how they apply to techs looking to grow in their career and managers looking to increase the profitability of their business.

How would you like to learn a step-by-step process for installing BACnet MS/TP and IP controls? Well, my friends, you're in luck. This episode will teach you exactly how to install BACnet MS/TP and IP controls.

LON, one of the most confusing building automation protocols in existence.  In this episode, we are going to discuss what LON is, how it works, and how you can work with this protocol on your day-to-day jobs.  

How can you tie multiple building automation systems from multiple BAS manufacturers together?  What do you need to know?  In this week's episode, we discuss how distributed building automation systems work and what you need to consider when you are designing a centralized building automation system that is made up of multiple different BAS manufacturer's systems.

What is a BAS? How does a BAS work? What are the parts and pieces of a BAS? This week's episode tackles the topic of servers. We get pretty deep in this episode talking about virtualization, elasticity, load balancing and more. The reality is a lot of folks don't know much about servers beyond knowing they have to install one for there BAS. This episode will discuss what servers are, how they came...

What is a BAS? How does a BAS work? What are the parts and pieces of a BAS? In this week's episode, we discuss supervisory devices. Why are supervisory devices used and what do you need to understand about them? Learn all the answers to your supervisory device questions in this weeks episode.

What is a BAS? How does a BAS work? What are the parts and pieces of a BAS? In this week's episode, we discuss physical controllers and communication trunks. What are they and what do you need to know about them.

What is a BAS? How does a BAS work? What are the parts and pieces of a BAS? In this week's episode, we explore the first tier of the four-tier BAS architecture. We discuss physical and logical points and how they all work.

Have you ever wondered how to structure your BAS team for maximum growth? What roles should you hire? How do you know when to hire more people? What are the biggest barriers to growth? In this episode of the Building Automation Monthly Podcast, we answer these questions and more.

In this episode, we go through our proven 6 step strategy to advance your building automation career.  If you are looking to get to the next level in your BAS career then this episode is for you. 

How do you break into building automation? What steps should you take? What knowledge do you need to have? Can you get a job without HVAC knowledge how? Do you need to know IT why or why not? All of these questions will be answered in this week's podcast episode.

In this episode, Phil Zito discusses the 5-phase systems integration process. This proven process is how to professionally integrate complex integrated systems.  If you are at all interested in integrating systems then you need to listen to and embrace this proven 5-step process.