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

In this episode, I teach you how to integrate BACnet/IP systems. If you have struggled with integrating BACnet/IP systems in the past then this episode is for you.  In this episode, we will cover the exact steps to perform complex BACnet/IP integrations.

Do you struggle with scoping and estimating retrofit work? What if I told you that scoping and estimating retrofit work is almost the same as scoping and estimating plan and specification work? Does that sound to good to be true?  In this episode we use our step-by-step plan to scope and estimate two real-world retrofit projects.

The average cost of hiring a new building automation employee is $20,000 to $30,000. That doesn't include the cost of downtime and productivity loss.  Despite this how often do you hear anyone talk about employee loyalty? In this week's episode, we dive into the topic of employee loyalty.  Why do employee's stay?  How can we increase employee loyalty? We reached out to our email list and social me...

Have you ever found yourself on a job site trying to get two separate systems to communicate? Maybe you purchased a BAS gateway but you can't seem to get things to "work". I've been there, and it sucks! That's why in this episode we are going to discuss what BAS Gateways are and how to use them to get your BAS to communicate with other systems.

In this episode, I discuss my 7 step process for building a BAS project from scratch.  I use the word build instead of manage because these 7 steps are repeatable building blocks that you can follow on every, single, BAS project. If you are trying to learn how to manage a building automation project then this episode is for you.

One of the best ways to grow your building automation business is to focus on what is already working. This is especially true when it comes to sales.  In this episode, we discuss how to use my 7-step account management system to repeatedly grow your building automation sales numbers. 

Is your BAS business making the amount of profit you want?  Do your projects fail to hit the level of executed margin you hope for?  If so you need to optimize your BAS business! But how? In this episode, I take you through my proven 5 step program for optimizing your BAS business.

What are API's? How do API's work? And what do building automation professionals need to know about API's? In this episode, we discuss what API's are, how to use API's, and how to avoid the common issues with API's.

In this episode, we will discuss the five gotchas that sabotage your ability to seamlessly integrate smart equipment into your BAS.

How do you sell the value of a building automation system when it seems like all BAS are the same? In this episode, we discuss how to differentiate yourself from your competition. You will leave with a clear strategy on how to position yourself to best deliver value to your customers.

Analytics have come a long way since they were initially introduced to the building automation market. In this episode, we discuss what analytics are and how you can use them to provide a service to your building automation customers.

Building Automation Monthly just celebrated its first year in business. In this episode, I look back at the lessons I've learned in building the world's first ever online Building Automation training company. I discuss what went well, what could go better, and tips that you can use to help grow your career and or business!

How do you design IP networks?  What questions should you ask?  In this episode, we look at the three-step process for designing IP networks. Along the way, we will point out common mistakes and we will discuss why it is so important for BAS professionals to learn about IP networks.

Have you ever wondered how building automation systems work?  What does each piece of the building automation system do and why does each piece matter?  In this episode of the Building Automation Monthly Podcast we will discuss how building automation controls work and what each piece of the building automation system does.

How do you continue to grow your building automation business after the building is built?  In this episode, we discuss three sales strategies to help you provide value to your customers and grow your building automation business at the same time. 

How do you organize your building automation business for success? The reality is many building automation businesses fail not because they can't find work but because they are not organized to successfully execute that work. In this episode, we discuss the 5 steps to effectively organize your building automation business for growth and profitability.

Subnets, IP addressing, default gateways. All of these things can seem overwhelming at first glance. And the bad news is all of this "IT" stuff isn't slowing down. But you can wrap your mind around IT and it starts with this episode.  In this episode, we are going to focus on the 6 Ah Ha's moments I experienced when learning subnets and how you can use them to learn subnets as well.

Have you ever wired up your controls but nothing worked? Power can keep the most creative design from actually working. In this episode, we tackle the 4 gotchas of power that could keep your projects from being completed. 

How do you perform a takeoff? How do you ensure that you have the most competitive proposal when bid day comes? In this episode, we tackle the topic of takeoffs. You will learn 5 steps for quickly creating competitive proposals.

How do you interview a building automation candidate? Do you simply stick them in a room and hope you make the right choice?  What if there was a way that you could verify that the person you are hiring actually has the skills they say they have on paper?  In this episode, we lay out the 5 keys to successfully interviewing a BAS Candidate.

Have you ever tried to teach yourself something? It can seem overwhelming.  Where do you begin? How do you find resources for your training? How do you know when you've "done it"? In this episode of the Building Automation Monthly Podcast, we are going through our 7 step process for creating your own building automation learning plan from scratch. Developing Your Learning Plan Why learning how to...

Have you ever been told you just need to do your time? Rome wasn't built overnight after all, right? Well, that kind of thinking is dumb. In this episode, we explore how the current way of learning building automation is to slow and what you can do instead.  How to Learn BAS Fast Why you are capable of much more in your career than you know (1:38) The two ways of solving the skillset gap (4:37) Ho...

Can you use a building automation system to optimize the performance of your facility?  And if so, what does optimization even mean?  In this episode of the Building Automation Monthly Podcast, we discuss what optimization is and the role your building automation system may, or may not, play in it. Optimizing your BAS What is optimization? (3:38) The four benefits of optimization according to faci...

We reached out to over a dozen facility owners of small and large facilities. The reason for doing this was to understand how they use their BAS and more importantly why they don't use it. After doing this we found two interesting results. And in this episode of the Building Automation Monthly podcast we will talk through those results and how to integrate a building automation system into a facil...

Utilizing a building automation system to increase the efficiency and effectiveness of a facility team can seem like a daunting challenge. Where do you begin and what steps do you take? In this episode, we "go back to the basics". We are going to look at how to command and control our building automation systems. By the time you finish this episode, you will have a series of steps you can take to...