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

Systems integration can be crazy. One moment you've got all your systems talking and next thing you know the whole building is shut down. There's a sort of voodoo magic to the systems integration process. Or at least that is what you've been lead to believe. I know from experience that the systems integration process can be executed again and again with predictable results if you have a good proce...

Systems integration can be crazy. One moment you've got all your systems talking and next thing you know the whole building is shut down. There's a sort of voodoo magic to the systems integration process. Or at least that is what you've been lead to believe. I know from experience that the systems integration process can be executed again and again with predictable results if you have a good proce...

Hey BAM Nation! I am so freakin excited about today's episode. Why you ask? Because in today's episode I move into the second module of the learn series! The feedback I have gotten is amazing and I look forward to continuing to help you advance your career in the building automation space! In today's episode I will be kicking off the BAS hardware module of the learn series and we will be discussin...

Hey BAM Nation! Another day, another podcast episode! In this episode I continue my teaching on systems integration. The process I teach you today massively important and will save you hundreds of thousands of dollars if you implement it In today's episode I will be teaching you how to perform a gap analysis as part of your systems integration process! In today's episode we will cover: What is a g...

Hey BAM Nation! In today's episode I will be wrapping up the first module of the learn series, control modes! In this episode I will be discussing the fourth and final control mode, binary control. On/off, open/shut, binary control is everywhere and in this episode we will discuss this critically important control mode! In today's episode we will cover: Technical Tip of the Week What Binary Contro...

Hey BAM Nation! In this episode I am going to be continuing my systems integration 101 series and will be taking you through my 3rd article in the series titled, "How to Identify your AS-IS systems". In today's episode we will cover: What are AS-IS systems Why identifying your AS-IS systems is critically important What the BDAT domains are and why you should care The top questions you should ask f...

In this episode, I will be talking about the 3rd control mode in the learn series, Floating Control, in this episode you will learn what floating control is and why it is important to you. In today's episode we will cover: Technical Tip of the Week Wrap up on how to Setup Sequencers What Floating Control is and How it Works Career Tip of the Week

In this episode, I will be taking you through the topic of use cases. Use cases are critical to executing a great systems integration project. The problem is most use cases are from useful and quite honestly a lot of them suck. That's why I recorded this episode for you. In today's episode we will cover: What is a use case? How can you identify the systems and people involved?  My 3 step framework...

In this episode, I will be continuing the learn series and unpacking our next control mode, sequencers. Sequencers allow you to "stage" devices on and off. In today's episode we will cover: My technical tip of the week How both physical and logical sequencers work My career tip of the week

In this episode I discuss my new series systems integration 101 and I talk through what you can expect as part of the series. Over the next 8 weeks I will cover 8 lessons that discuss systems integration. Also in this episode I will cover lesson #1 Systems Interfacing vs Systems Integration. In this lesson I will discuss the differences and what each approach is.

In this episode, I continue the discussion around PID loops and will be covering everyone's favorite task, tuning PID loops! Sooner or later in your BAS career you are going to have to learn how to tune PID loops. In today's episode we will cover: My weekly Technical Tip How to tune your PID Loops (Deep Dive) My weekly Career Tip

In this episode, I dive into one of my most requested topics and that is the topic of Proportional Integral Derivative (PID) Loops. In today's episode we will cover: My weekly Technical Tip What PID Loops are How PID Loops work How you can tune PID Loops My weekly Career Tip

In this episode, I open up and take you through my story of how I got to where I am in my career. I get personal and share what really motivates me to produce the content I produce and how you can develop a challenging career in the BAS world. In today's episode we will cover: My career path My thoughts on what someone new to the BAS space needs to know Why I run building automation monthly And Mu...

BAM Episode 016, in this episode I talk with Nick Dawson ! Nick Dawson is a pipe-fitter turned controls technician. In this episode Nick discusses how he became a controls technician, how you can become a controls technician and how you can help others get into the exciting world of building automation. In today's episode we will cover: How people with non-BAS backgrounds can move into the BAS wor...

BAM Episode 015, in this episode I talk with Joe Aamidor  a smart buildings consultant and personal friend. Joe has a wealth of knowledge around smart buildings, product management, and as an added bonus he lives near silicon valley which exposes him to a number of Smart Building and IoT startups! In today's episode we will cover: What Smart Building Technologies (SBT) are having the greatest impa...

BAM Episode 013, in this episode I talk with Derek Johnson from BuildingIQ. Derek brings his A game and gives us some of the best insight I have heard around Analytics in a long time! In today's episode we will cover: Why aren't we seeing wide spread adoption of analytics How are analytics used differently in the BAS world Why having a data strategy is required into today's world What the biggest...

BAM Episode 012, in this episode I dive into my current post in the Evaluating Building Automation Systems Series . We are going to dive deep into the topic of trends, what they are, how they work and how you can evaluate them. In today's episode we will cover: What Trends are How Trends work and how you can use them Why trends are critical to your building automation system 3 ways you can evaluat...

BAM Episode 011, in this episode I talk with Joel Hutton from General Data Tech (GDT). Joel gives us a candid look at IoT and its place in the smart building space. In today's episode we will cover: An Overview of the Internet of Things (IoT) How IoT differs from Sensor Networks The main business drivers for IoT What you can do to get ready for IoT Resources for IoT learning

BAM Episode 011, in this episode I talk with Joel Hutton from General Data Tech (GDT). Joel gives us a candid look at IoT and its place in the smart building space. In today's episode we will cover: An Overview of the Internet of Things (IoT) How IoT differs from Sensor Networks The main business drivers for IoT What you can do to get ready for IoT Resources for IoT learning

BAM Episode 010, in this episode I dive into my current post in the Evaluating Building Automation Systems Series. You will learn my thoughts on how to quantitatively evaluate alarming! In today's episode we will cover: How to manage alarm prioritization Why alarm sequencing is critical to your building How alarm transmission can make or break your alarm responsiveness

In BAM Episode 009, I answer a question from a BAM subscriber around how to implement green rating programs. In today's episode we will cover: What a green rating program is The difference between Energy Star, Green Globes and LEED How to implement Energy Star, Green Globes and LEED How to use energy star to set a energy baseline How to use your energy baseline and target to create efficiency proj...

BAM Episode 008: What is a network BAM Episode 008, in this episode I dive deeper into my recent article What is a Network. In this article, I will walk you through how a local area network communicates In today's episode we will cover: What a network is How a network communicates What the Media Access Control (MAC) address is How the Address Resolution Protocol (ARP) works

BAM Episode 007, in this episode we are talking with Doug Hampton on the topic of Commissioning. Doug and I dive deep into what commissioning is, how a commissioning project is setup and how you can best prepare for commissioning on your projects In today's episode we will cover: What commissioning is How commissioning is setup on new construction projects How to best prepare for commissioning on...

BAM Episode 006, in this episode I expand upon the concepts discussed in my series titled How to Evaluate a BAS. In this 11 part series I discuss how to evaluate a BAS and specific contract language you can use to ensure you get the BAS you want. In today's episode you will learn: How to evaluate graphics How to determine if your BAS's graphics are mobile friendly What a graphics package and libra...

BAM Episode 005, in this episode we interview Marc Vergo  from  Cru, formerly known as Campus Crusade for Christ  . In this episode Marc and I discuss how you can work with your IT group to develop standards and evaluate solutions. In today's episode we will cover: How your IT group can help you evaluate products How to create product standards How to measure and control risk The importance of use...