As a property management professional, you are constantly looking to justify any and all investments you make for your facility. In many cases, this calculation is very simple.
Take for instance a Variable Frequency Drive (VFD). When you hook up a VFD to your facility’s HVAC equipment, you can put a meter on that piece of equipment to see how much energy it is consuming compared to how much it was consuming before.
As property management professionals start looking at not only the first cost but also the total cost of owning and operating their assets, the question lies, “how does one assess the total cost of selecting a particular product or service partner?” Depending on the piece of equipment or particular service, calculating the total cost of ownership (TCO) may be simple, but with technology as complex as building automation systems (BAS), there is an abundance of factors to consider. Below, we have put together a comprehensive checklist of potential expenses associated with the operation of a BAS over 5 to 10 years. For more information on this topic, you can also download our Ebook or view our webinar on Understanding the Life Cycle Cost of a Building Automation System.
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00:07 Scott: Hi everybody, my name is Scott Holstein with Computrols. I am joined today by Phil Zito on our building technology podcast. Phil is one of the better known names in the building automation industry known for his Building Automation Monthly website. He has tons and tons of awesome information on building automation. It’s basically a resource for videos, podcasts, blogs, you name it, but Phil is the fastest growing provider of online training for building automation. And we’re very excited to have him here today Phil welcome to the podcast.
Continue reading Building Technology Podcast – Guest: Phil ZitoThe Energy Cost Index (ECI) is the measurement of cost per square foot per year of conditioned space in a facility ($/ft²/year). The average ECI of electricity for an office building in the U.S. is about $1.73/ft²/yr according to the U.S. Energy Information Administration. What are you doing to reduce your ECI?
Continue reading 5 Energy Conservation Measures with Quick ReturnsThe world of HVAC changes every day. There are constantly new developments in equipment and how to reach pique efficiency when cooling and heating large-scale facilities. Check out the trade show and conference calendar below to find an upcoming event near you to stay up with the latest trends in 2019.
Continue reading 2019 HVAC Trade Show Calendar
CBAS Power User: Greg Gautreaux
Lead Engineer, Stirling Properties
Tell us a little about yourself…
I have been involved in the commercial real estate management industry for forty years in various properties located in Greater New Orleans including the West Bank and Metairie. I am now the Lead Engineer at the Pan American Life Center where I have worked since December 2006.
Continue reading CBAS Power User: Greg GautreauxRather early in my career, I began working with destination dispatch elevator systems and have since had the opportunity to be engaged with a handful of these projects. Although I am far from an elevator expert, a fair number of my days as a technician were spent working on access control systems which were frequently correlated with destination dispatch.
Continue reading The Ups and Downs of Destination Dispatch
Given the rapidly shifting technology and trends in the facility management industry, facility managers can’t afford to miss out on educating themselves and their teams every chance they get. Below, you’ll find a list of facility management trade shows and conferences throughout the United States. If you know of an event that is not included on this list, please let us know at info@computrols.com.
Continue reading 2019 Facility Manager Trade Show Calendar
David Foster
Controls, Arkansas State University
Tell us a little about yourself…
I’m the youngest of 4 children, born in Walnut Ridge, Arkansas to a farming family. We had 300 acres of rice and soybeans. I took computer science in high school and have been working with computers ever since.
I’ve been at ASU for 17 years where I started in the electrical department and was moved to the controls department when they learned I had a computer background. At the time I started, we had 4 control systems: Trane Tracer, Honeywell, KMC, and Computrols. We have since moved away from the other controls systems and have replaced 90+% of the older controls with Computrols with more being replaced every day. I’ve now been using Computrols Building Automation System for about 15 years. Continue reading CBAS Power User: David Foster
Alan Cherry
Plant Engineer, Saddleback College
Tell us a little about yourself…
I have been in the HVAC trade for 34 years now, with my past 22 years at Saddleback College. My first introduction to building automation was a Barber-Colman Network 8000 system featuring a server the size of a small desk and 8” floppy disks for backups. It seems DDC technology has improved a little since then. Continue reading CBAS Power User: Alan Cherry