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

A weekly podcast where we discuss topics related to building automation. We provide useful tips and action-packed examples to help you better understand the industry.
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The Smart Buildings Academy Podcast | Teaching You Building Automation, Systems Integration, and Information Technology
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All Episodes
Archives
Now displaying: 2020
Dec 28, 2020

Learn how to layout BAS inputs and outputs for your controls hardware designs in this episode of the Smart Buildings Academy Podcast. 

We discuss: 

  • How to determine what devices to select
  • Where to start when engineering systems
  • How to avoid overengineering systems
  • How to address scope gaps and irregularities
Dec 14, 2020

In this week's episode of the Smart Buildings Academy Podcast, you will learn the 5-step building controls hardware engineering process. 

We will discuss:

  • How to perform proper takeoffs
  • How to evaluate device selection'
  • How to size systems
  • How to handle add alternates
  • How to design physical architectures
  • And much more
Dec 7, 2020

Is your building automation system secure?

Does your BAS need to be secure?

And what does secure even mean?

In this episode of the Smart Buildings Academy podcast, we discuss the fundamentals of cyber-security. We look at what cyber-security is, how to evaluate the need for cyber-security controls, and what cyber-security approaches you can use to better secure your building automation system

Nov 30, 2020

Have you ever run into a project delay that wasn't your fault? 

Did you find yourself running into wall after wall when you tried to get the project team to help you out?

If so this episode is for you!

In this episode we discuss how to manage project expectations in the contracted environment.

Nov 23, 2020

What if I told you that you can develop a BAS Technician in 6 months? Would you believe me? 

The OJT myth is a belief that the only way we can develop technicians is to put them in the field for several years until they "figure out" how to "do it". 

In this episode we look at alternative employee development models and we explore how and when to best use OJT.

Nov 16, 2020

In this episode of the Smart Buildings Academy Podcast we look at seven key concepts that every building automation professional should know about information technology.

Nov 9, 2020

We are entering a retrofit market. Are you prepared to maintain your building automation sales pipelines in this new retrofit market?

I remember when capital work largely dried up in 2009 and the only thing that kept me employed was my retrofit projects. 

In this episode, we discuss how to sell retrofit work. 

Nov 2, 2020

In this episode of the Smart Buildings Academy Podcast, we are going to discuss how to troubleshoot common issues that we experience out in the field. Over the past couple weeks I've been keeping an eye out for questions on Facebook, HVAC forums, and LinkedIn. 

In this episode I am going to discuss common issues related to:

  • Inputs and outputs
  • Communication bus
  • Protocols
  • Information Technology
  • HVAC Systems
Oct 26, 2020

In this episode of the Smart Buildings Academy Podcast, we discuss how to get a job in building automation. 

We discuss the essential skills for getting a job in the building automation space, the different types of roles and what each role requires, and how to transition into those roles.

 

Oct 19, 2020

In this episode, we take a deep dive into how to use the consultative sales process to identify solutions to problems impacting your customer's business. 

We cover:

  • How to profile your customer
  • How to identify business and process problems
  • How to gain buy-in for problem resolution
  • How to avoid common deal killers
  • How to create and propose solutions
Oct 12, 2020

Tyson Soutter is an experienced smart buildings professional who has an extensive background in smart buildings technologies. Similar to myself, Tyson started as a technician and worked into more technical roles over the years. 

This enabled us to have a great conversation that went into the weeds on several topics. However, if you are not a technical person this podcast interview still has some great business and sales discussions as Tyson and I discussed the future state of the market, strategies for maintaining relevancy and growth, and ideas around actually implementing technology solutions in today's environment.

Oct 5, 2020

Are you a building owner trying to figure out what actions you should be taking during new construction or major retrofit projects? If so this week's episode is for you.

In this episode, we are going to discuss how to oversee a building automation project from the perspective of the owner.

As I see it there are four phase gates for an owner to focus on

  1. Tender Phase
  2. Specification Phase
  3. Submittal Phase
  4. Closeout Phase
Sep 28, 2020

Managing building automation projects is tough. There are so many nested tasks and expectations that you need to oversee!

In this week's episode, we discuss how to effectively manage Building Automation projects.

In this episode you will learn:

  • How to manage multiple projects at once
  • The key action you must take to ensure a successful project
  • How to balance time, quality, and cost on projects
  • How to ensure your projects are cash-flow positive as early as possible

Grab the show notes at podcast.smartbuildingsacademy.com/220

Sep 21, 2020

In this episode, we discuss the controls hierarchy of needs and how to best serve your customers based on their needs.

Sep 14, 2020

In this episode, I answer your IAQ questions. We discuss what IAQ is, how to control IAQ, what you need to know about IAQ and COVID-19, and much more.

Aug 31, 2020

Building out your BAS team for growth is one of the key factors for success 

Having people in the right roles at the right time will give you the ability to flex with your customer's needs and to address new potential work opportunities. 

In this episode, we are going to discuss how to structure your BAS Team.

We are going to look at $1M, $10M and $50M in revenue

We are also going to look at structuring for Construction (we will cover service in the next episode), when to separate teams, and how to position for scale and growth.

Aug 24, 2020

In this episode, we discuss our step-by-step process on how to create a building automation standard for your organization.

Aug 17, 2020

Do you have a formal onboarding process for your employees? Have you analyzed why and when your employees get stuck in their talent journey?

In this episode, we discuss how to develop your building automation employees so that they are profitable and proficient from day one.

Aug 10, 2020

In this episode, we are going to be completing part two of creating your own pandemic mode. So last week's episode Episode 213, we started to dive into what pandemic mode was, how it works, and how to go about creating it. We ended up getting through most of the sequencing all the way to where we were starting to talk through pressurization and we were starting to talk through some sequences around pressurization.

Aug 3, 2020

In this episode, we discuss what a Pandemic Mode is, how Pandemic modes work, how to inventory your building systems and changes you can make to your sequence of operations.

Jul 27, 2020

In this episode, we walk through the fundamentals of IT. We look at the journey of a message from a BAS device through a network to another BAS device. In this lesson, you will learn about networking terminology, network traffic flow, and network devices.

Jul 20, 2020

In this episode, we walk through IP Controls Implementation. We look at what IP Controls are, how they work, the most common IP Controls architecture patterns, and how to implement IP controls.

Jul 13, 2020

How do you make your BAS data work for you? There is a lot of talk about data analytics and data tagging but that all assumes your BAS is properly using your data. 

In this episode, we discuss how data works, how to integrate disparate systems, tagging, data normalization, and data adaption.

 

 

Jul 6, 2020

In this episode, we discuss IP building automation controls. You will learn the common IP controls architectures and how to design and implement IP Controls. 

Jun 29, 2020

In this episode, we discuss dampers and economizers. You will learn what dampers and economizers are, why they are used, and how to control them with your building automation system.

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