HVAC, BAS in office buildings

Seventy-one percent of engineers who responded to the 2017 HVAC & Building Automation Systems Study make product selections for office buildings.

By Amanda Pelliccione August 14, 2018

According to the Consulting-Specifying Engineer 2017 HVAC & Building Automation Systems Study, 71% of engineers specify, design, or select products for office buildings-and 75% of these engineers are responsible for determining the requirements/writing specifications for these projects. Below are five HVAC and BAS findings as they relate to office building projects:

  1. Design value: Engineering firms are specifying $2.6 million annually, on average, in HVAC and BAS products for new and existing hospitals and health care facilities, with 25% specifying more than $5 million. The top revenue-generating systems include fans, air movement products, air handlers, and rooftop units.
  2. HVAC challenges: More than half of respondents agree that energy efficiency and an inadequate budget for a good design are affecting the future of HVAC systems in office buildings.
  3. BAS challenges: The top challenge when designing BAS for office buildings is interoperability and complementing systems, followed by insufficient budget and cybersecurity/security concerns.
  4. Products specified: Fans/air movement (73%), HVAC controls (73%), and air handlers (71%) are the top three HVAC equipment types or control systems being specified into office building projects.
  5. Specifications: For office buildings, performance or prescriptive HVAC and controls specifications are written 75% of the time, followed by open: proprietary (57%) and open: alternate or substitute (56%).

View additional research from Consulting-Specifying Engineer: www.csemag.com/research


Author Bio: Amanda is the Research Director and Project Manager of Awards Programs for CFE Media and its publications.