Selecting the right building automation partner

Building owners and operators are facing even larger obstacles in keeping their systems running smoothly, which makes picking the right partner more important than ever.

By Jeremy Crowley March 8, 2021

In light of the current situation in the world today, building owners and operators are facing even larger obstacles in keeping their mechanical HVAC and building automation systems running efficiently, reliably and safely.

While energy efficiencies and savings remain a top priority, closer attention to ventilation rates, indoor air quality (IAQ) and humidity levels within the building infrastructure are proving to be equally important due to the current threat of viruses.

Moving forward, these areas will be even more scrutinized in order to protect staff and visitors. The challenge to address these areas properly is to select a contractor that takes a holistic approach to not only meet your financial and operating objectives, but can also provide solutions to keep people safe by promoting a healthy building.

To begin, select a contractor based on their organization’s core values. First and foremost, ask: Is their common interest in promoting a healthy building? Are they relationship-minded, collaborative, and innovative? Do they have the resources and service offerings to be your one phone call, allowing you and your building to operate successfully?

Day to day, it is important that service providers strive to make clients’ lives easier by providing an opportunity to get granular with preventative maintenance services on a budget and operational level.

Consider these questions:

  • What are your owning and operating costs?
  • What key performance indicators (KPIs) drive your facility budget?
  • Have you benchmarked your HVAC equipment?
  • Are you meeting your equipment lifecycle goals?
  • Are you paying too much in utilities?
  • Are you promoting a healthy building?

Having answers to these questions will put you on the path to future success. By not overlooking maintenance as a service due to costs, there can be a lot of value in utilizing a data-driven approach to maintenance.

When choosing a building solutions provider, it’s important to select a partner that is uniquely positioned to assist answering the questions surrounding these issues as well as solving them.


This article originally appeared on Southland’s blog, In the Big RoomSouthland is a CFE Media content partner. 

Original content can be found at www.inthebigroom.com.


Author Bio: Jeremy Crowley is a senior account consultant at Envise.