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.

How long have you been using CBAS?

The Pan American Life Center is one of the earliest facilities to deploy CBAS and we acquired the management and operation of the property due to an ownership change in 2007. The scope of the CBAS system and control of so many components within a high rise office building was both daunting to imagine and astonishing that this massive feat was possible.

What are your favorite feature(s) in CBAS and why?

One of my favorite features is the use of software points in conjunction with logic to change the way components function at scheduled times or as conditions change.

What have you been able to accomplish since you have started using CBAS?

With so many operating parameters in full view on one page, it enables the HVAC technician to quickly identify the root cause of an issue and reduces the legwork when responding to temperature calls.

What kind of impact has CBAS had on your building from an energy consumption and/or operational standpoint?

The start and stop of all building equipment chillers, pumps, air handlers, lighting, plus many other components which would require someone to press a button or flip a switch is on a schedule or logic statement controlled by CBAS. This allows the operator to monitor the start of major equipment such as the chiller and frees them to perform other tasks.

Pan American Life Center has been awarded Energy Star for the past 11 years.

Are your employees more engaged with the system?

They are encouraged to explore the system and learn how the sequence of operations was developed and deployed. Even to this day, the system continues to grow as more variable air boxes are installed and constant air volume air handlers are retrofitted with variable air volume zones to accommodate them. The staff here continues to see more helpful information provided through the CBAS screen that allows better control of the office environment.

What do you see in the future of building automation?

CBAS has in a way been in the forefront of the artificial intelligence movement with the function of their PID (proportional–integral–derivative) used in the software that controls many of the early controllers as well as latest versions installed here.