Most businesses carry the cost of their annual building automation system (BAS) service contract without knowing if they are fully maximizing its benefit and potential. Adding BuildingLogiX solutions extends the power of your existing BAS, creates a higher ROI on annual BAS services, and reduce building operational costs while increasing energy efficiency.
Building Automation Maintenance
Most owners purchase their BAS service contracts through the hardware’s original equipment manufacturer (OEM). Traditionally BAS Service contracts have been task based activities, that are scheduled in advance, and often labor intensive. Traditional BAS Service Agreements tend to fall under one of these categories:
Basic Preventive Maintenance
A basic preventive maintenance service aims to provide simple hardware or workstation based activities, including:
- Installation of software patches
- Inspection of hardware connections
- Stroke testing valves, actuators, and dampers
- Executing backups of the BAS programs and stored data
Historically this is the least expensive option offered. While it is always good to have a qualified technician on site, the task oriented nature of the service ignores the reality that the daily operation of the BAS system dictates how the HVAC system operates. In a traditional BAS PM, there is rarely time spent to identify systems or building areas that are not working efficiently.
Bucket of Hours
Another popular offering is to provide more technician hours at a lower cost per hour to the owner, in a “Bucket of Hours” program. The owner can then direct the activities of the technician while on site to known problems or areas of the campus that are not providing proper comfort. Often the bucket of hours are used for responding to small issues such as:
- Minor adjustments
- Alarm validation and reaction
- Comfort complaints
The “Bucket of Hours” expands the scope of service beyond traditional hardware based PM and allows clients to budget at a fixed cost. However in the typical scenario the owner is responsible for directing the contracted technician, and that puts added pressure on the owner to ensure a proper ROI on the money invested.
Full Maintenance
Full maintenance service agreements provide fixed budget cost for both hardware maintenance and for replacement of components and control boards that fail. These types of service programs keep the hardware and componentry working and up to date. However they are very expensive and yet only focus on the integrity of the BAS control system itself. Even with the expensive price tag, BAS Full Maintenance rarely focus on how the HVAC system is performaing, or how it can be optimized for efficiency to lower operating costs.
Is There a Better Alternative for Building Automation Maintenance?
After more than 20 years of Service & Maintenance expertise with BAS, traditional HVAC systems, and the disciplines of commissioning, BuildingLogiX developed a new platform called Connected Building Services (CBS). Combining the power of Continuous Commissioning, Energy Management Information System, and Fault Detection & Diagnostics (FDD), the BuildingLogiX Connected Building Services platform can Optimize Building Performance & Health and Generate Operational Savings.
How CBS Improves Building Automation Maintenance
CBS is a technology-enabled service that uses BuilginLogiX’s expertise and strategies to deliver in-depth analysis on building performance. The data gathered is sent and compiled by our BuildingLogiX Data eXchange (BDX) platform, which helps proactively identify opportunities for system improvement. On a daily basis, the outputs of Connected Building Services identify, scale, and prioritize, building faults, inefficiencies, and problems. Many of these problems are resolved by adjustments, tuning, and changes of the BAS system. Therefore adding Connected Building Services in concert with your existing BAS Service Agreement – Optimizes Building Performance, Minimizes Utility Costs, and Drives Operating Costs to the Lowest level, and this with no capital equipment costs!
Consider for a moment, the chiller plant is typically the largest utility consumer for a hospital or university campus. Analytical data produced by Connected Building Services typically produces a 10% to 15% reduction in chiller operating costs, with no capital equipment changes. The resulting utility savings from a more efficient chiller plant produce positive ROI from CBS & your BAS Service Agreement.
Our services impact three main areas of building performance:
Economics
CBS creates a positive economic impact by showing facility managers where buildings are inefficient. This allows you to make cost-effective improvements that reduce energy usage and lower costs.
Building Health
Connected Building Services captures the thousands of data points produced daily by your BAS system, and synthesizes the ocean of collected data into actionable intelligence. Providing data driven analytics to a skilled BAS technician means problems are addressed when they are small which limits repair costs. The most efficient way to maintain the health and performance of your building is to proactively drive building performance instead of react to negative comfort conditions or utility bills. .
Productivity
CBS helps facility managers improve productivity for both in-house technicians and contracted services. Having a qualified technician work on your BAS system is an industry best practice. Equipping that skilled technician with the insight of building areas under performing or beginning to show signs of deterioration, makes the technician time spent much more valuable. Connected Building Services extends the value proposition of your existing BAS System. CBS is at its heart an analytics engine that captures high velocity data produced by the BAS system and translates that into proactive intelligence for action. This proactive intelligence allows you to make tactical fixes that provide immediate improvements and maximize operational savings.
Our solutions have been deployed in over 500 million square feet of occupied buildings, and often produce savings greater than 20% in utility and operational cost reductions. . Contact BuildingLogiX today if you’re interested in embracing the new standard of proactive facility management solutions for your business.
Let BuildingLogiX Help You Maximize Your Service Contract
BuildingLogiX has been providing energy solutions for various industries for over 15 years. Our technology-enabled services help clients optimize building performance and reduce operating costs. Our solutions consistently deliver efficiency reductions of 10-30% in annual utility bills and 5-20% reductions in operational costs. We’re brand agnostic, and our solutions are scalable from one to 1,000 buildings. Contact BuildingLogiX today to hear how we can improve the performance & efficiency for your campus of buildings. .
