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

In this episode of the Smart Buildings Academy Podcast we discuss server virtualization. You will learn: The different types of servers How servers work How server virtualization works Why you would want to use a virtualized server

Security Certificates can protect your communications, ensure that rogue devices are not on your network, and verify the authenticity of the devices that do connect to your network. But do you know what certificates are, how they work, and how to deploy them? In this episode of the Smart Buildings Academy Podcast we are going to do a deep dive on security certificates.

Your backlog is full. You find yourself taking calls from GC's asking where your technicians are every, single, day! You're expected to execute 10,000 man hours of labor with only 5,000 manhours of techs. Welcome to the world of BAS project management, and the bad news is it's only getting more intense. Material shortages, labor challenges, and inflationary cost pressures make effective project ma...

Things tend to fall apart after they are built, buildings are no exception. Yet every day I'm seeing new construction projects completed with NO post occupancy maintenance strategy. Do customers need agreements for planned service? If so what should these agreements include? And most importantly how can you convince your customers to buy a planned service agreement. In this episode of the Smart Bu...

What is one of the biggest costs in a retrofit project.. wiring! I remember back when wireless first hit the market. It was clunky, unreliable, and quite frankly a headache! Not anymore! Wireless systems are robust, fast, and effective. But how do we use them? How do they work? And how do we fix them when something goes wrong? In this episode of the Smart Buildings Academy Podcast we will explore...

Did you know that having a meter in the wrong place is sometimes worse than not having a meter at all? In order to meet the increased demand for net-zero and energy efficiency we first must understand our energy use profile. In order to accomplish this we need to have meters! In this episode of the Smart Buildings Academy Podcast we discuss the different types of meters, where to place meters, how...

Did you know that the Inflation Reduction Act changes 179D to allow for a tax deduction of up to $5/sq foot for energy efficiency retrofits? But this is dependent on your energy baseline! In this episode of the Smart Buildings Academy Podcast we are going to look at how to perform a energy audit so that we can establish a baseline and identify potential retrofit solutions.

KNX is a protocol that is seeing increasing adoption across the United States. In this episode of the Smart Buildings Academy Podcast we will research KNX together. Throughout the episode we will explore what the protocol is, how the protocol works, and what the protocol does.

In today's Smart Buildings Academy Podcast Episode we discuss 9 energy management strategies that you can implement right now to reduce your energy consumption and demand.

In this episode of the Smart Buildings Academy Podcast we lay out 7 tips for performing effective site audits for your building automation customers. Building owners need to understand their current building systems to manage the increasingly aggressive energy standards and goals rolling out. This episode will help you tackle this topic with actionable tips that work right now.

As one of the largest providers of training in the building automation industry we see employers investing millions to train their employees each year. Yet our industry has a belief that employers do not want to train their people. This makes no logical sense on the surface. Trained employees stay longer, produce more profit, and deliver better customer satisfaction. Outside of those benefits, we...

In this episode of the Smart Buildings Academy Podcast we continue our deep dive on how to design IP controls layouts including ring, bus, and star topologies as well as how to deploy IP controls on both existing and new projects. We will be using the whiteboard and exploring the three IP architecture types and how to design them

How do you design and deploy IP BAS controls for your BAS projects? In this episode of the Smart Buildings Academy Podcast we are going to do a deep dive on how to design IP controls layouts including ring, bus, and star topologies as well as how to deploy IP controls on both existing and new projects. If you've been wondering how to use IP controls on your new and existing buildings this is the e...

Lately we've been seeing a lot of talk about "openness". This topic tends to pop up every couple years. In this episode of the Smart Buildings Academy Podcast we are going to discuss the four types of "openness", how to evaluate the openness of a building automation system, and specific specification language to clarify what open means to your project and organization.

In this episode of the Smart Buildings Academy Podcast we discuss how to transition from HVAC field work to Building Automation Work. Lately we've received a lot of questions on how to transition from HVAC to BAS. In this episode we are going to tackle the financial and the technical side of changing careers. Additionally we are going to discuss why you would want to switch from HVAC to BAS in the...

Chicago Public Schools is one of the largest School Districts in the United States. In this episode of the Smart Buildings Academy Podcast, Paul Valente with CPS takes us through how they have used technology and processes to deliver the optimal learning environment for their students.  In this episode we discuss integrating legacy assets, the importance of engaging IT in your capital projects, ho...

It's that time of the year! All of that wonderful summer construction work is complete, and those warranty calls are coming in. What was a profitable project is now slowly dying, death by 1,000 warranty calls. But what if it didn't have to be like this? What if there was a way to avoid these warranty calls in the first place? In this episode of the Smart Buildings Academy Podcast, we'll discuss 7...

Installation makes up large portion of the labor costs on a building automation project. So naturally if you can improve the efficiency of your installation work you'll see a good return on most BAS projects. But how? What are the areas you should focus on as a BAS installer or as the manager/leader of installers? In this episode of the Smart Buildings Academy Podcast we will be discuss the key ti...

Energy, comfort, sustainability. What do these three words have in common? These three, are just a few of the areas directly affected by building automation. Every day millions upon millions of square footage of buildings is being operated. But, are these buildings being operated efficiently? We've all seen the BAS computer from the 1970's sitting in the closet. That bright green text on the black...

Are you looking to grow your building automation business? If so you're in the right place. In this episode of the Smart Buildings Academy Podcast we will be discussing how to scale the revenue of your business. There's an old saying that the systems that got you where you are won't get you where you're going. I've seen this play out time and time again. We are going to explore the foundational st...

In this episode of the Smart Buildings Academy Podcast I discuss the upcoming Facilities and Campus Energy Summit with Monica Mckenzie. We tackle the importance of policy, regulations, and training to achieve energy management and sustainability goals. We also dive into the purpose of the summit and why I believe it is a valuable summit to attend.

Mechanical plans and specifications dictate a lot of what we do as building automation professionals but have you ever stopped to think about your approach to reading them? In my experience a project's plan's and spec's can be your greatest ally or your greatest enemy. In this episode of the Smart Buildings Academy Podcast we will be discussing how to read through plans and specs, what information...

BACnet is the most common protocol in the building automation space. Yet every day I read questions on Facebook, LinkedIn, and Reddit asking how the protocol works. You'd think after several decades our industry would understand this protocol. In this episode of the Smart Buildings Academy Podcast, we are going to do a deep dive into BACnet. We are going to explore the protocol, its objects, the d...

Every week I get asked how to get a job in building automation or how to advance in building automation. In this episode of the Smart Buildings Academy Podcast we are going to map out several career paths and build systems that will move you into your desired role in the shortest amount of time possible.

Finding the right employee is hard. Keeping the right employee is even harder. Building automation, especially on the technical side has a reputation for being a revolving door of talent. What do you do when your competitors try to steal your employees for 50 cents more an hour? How do you avoid the endless loop of hiring and replacing employees? In this episode of the Smart Buildings Academy Podc...