Time to move into commercial building automation? Image (c) FreeFoto.com
The building automation market is set to take off, thanks in large part to corporate, government and institutional interest in energy efficiency that can save millions of dollars in operational costs. In addition, the costs of sensors has come down as their quality has gone up. These factors and more point to a burgeoning market for commercial building automation. But question remains: Can your company handle these jobs—and play with the big boys?
If you’re a residential electronics installer or even do commercial A/V in conference and board rooms, can you transfer your company’s skill sets to work in big buildings?
I’ve asked a number of experts in commercial building space, and their opinions are mixed.
Jeff Singer, marketing communications director at automation control company Crestron, for one, has called for those in the A/V industry to move into building automation. “We should not consider ourselves the A/V industry. If we think that way, we’re going to limit ourselves to the projector on the ceiling or the screen, and we’re going to get crushed. If we consider ourselves system integrators, we have a huge opportunity.”
But Can You Do It?
Mike Keller, the Americas sales director of Honeywell Environmental & Combustion Controls, believes high-end home systems integrators have several transferable skills, especially in taking a myriad of systems and migrating them onto one common interface. And, he says, many light commercial as well as some large commercial buildings have similar mechanical systems that can be operated similarly to high-end homes.
The big differences, he says, is in the big chiller and boiler plants. “You have to have a better understanding of things like variable air volume systems,” he says. “And you need to have the capability of doing more custom programming and algorithms.” Then you’ll need a controller with inputs and outputs, and add that to a web server. “Then it gets complex with what are you going to do with that data, and what alarms are you going to have,” and when they are going to come on.
“The right A/V companies could do a building automation system,” says Joe Tossig of AutomatedLogic, an HVAC software company owned by Carrier. “You need to know computer networks, mechanical systems, smoke interlocks, code requirements, combustion air dampers, refrigerant modules on chillers … When you get into large building automation systems, it is an art and a science.”
Others aren’t so confident. “An integrator from the residential environment is typically not equipped to work in commercial space,” says Nick DeClemente of Concierge Direct, a company that has worked in the multiple dwelling unit (MDU) residential space. “Our products don’t mix with a lot of commercial needs. You have to be a lot more efficient in the process. The requirements of the products are different. Some products are discounted at less than cost. You’re giving specs and providing a price. It’s hard for a residential integrator to understand those needs and to meet those needs.”
The Differences Between Resi and Commercial
“The route to market is very different,” says Gary Meshberg of commercial lighting system provider Encelium. “The commercial market is much more established. You might be dealing with public money or a bank or a church. The [number] of principals on the job is different.”
Instead of a homeowner and a wife, and maybe an architect or interior designer, in the commercial world you may be dealing primarily with a project manager—and quite possibly an architect, developer, designer, IT guy, building manager, electrician, general contractor, you name it. There are many more decision makers.
“There’s a whole set of people skills and business skills that one needs to have,” says Trent Gates A/V Channel Leader for lighting company Lutron, which is interested in getting commercial A/V companies to go beyond installing telepresence systems in conference rooms by selling lighting systems that make the participants engaged in videoconferencing look better.
“We’re seeing more and more where [commercial] A/V dealers have to go in there and do their design, typically working with architects and engineers, and then those are loaded onto bid documents. Then those go out to contractors and general contractors—and at that point it’s a lot more than product they’re selling. They’re selling their service and their reputation,” Gates says.
The specification process in commercial can have more layers, and require a lot more justification. There are real budgets to be dealt with here, and margin expectations, so don’t expect the typical residential budget overruns.
Also, Gates says, “If an A/V dealer is there at the beginning, it might be two years before they actually order the equipment.”
Worth a Look?
Yes, transferring your residential, A/V or light commercial skills to big commercial automation can seem daunting, but that doesn’t mean it can’t be done.
“We could do it. We’re very capable, but we would need training in it,” says Travis Ellis, systems integration manager of CompView in San Diego, which works exclusively in the commercial sector, but limits itself to doing A/V systems and control—not entire building automation.
Ellis says that on a commercial project, CompView considers itself another construction trade, responsible for all of the technical requirements of A/V system that goes into it.
Construction schedules can be much different than residential. “The owner is going to occupy it by a certain date, and all these trades need to get in there and get the stuff done,” he says. “And it has to work.” That’s not radically different from residential systems, but in this case, somebody’s job depends on it, and that adds to the pressure.
As a former architect I’m co-signing the statements made by Gary Meshberg with these exceptions: replace his “might be” with “will be” and you can replace his “may be” with “will be.” AV providers have no idea how niave and ignorant they are in this context.
Furthermore, the Honeywells and the Johnson Controls are The Sopranos that control the facities markets. They are already entrenched and are not about to make it easy if at all possible for –anybody– to interface to “their” pumps and fans their sensors and managed services are already attached to.
Finally, the laws themselves are corrupt which is why I cannot work as an architect anymore. Every state now imposes crippling licensing requirements which have become virtually impossible to meet by mandating licensing acquisition and provision to the incumbents that already control the markets. The dictionary calls it facism for a reason.
I’ll leave this at that for now but to conclude from my own experience that AV vendors who can cut all the mustard will only be able to lawfully work on buildings 50,000 cf or smaller and those who think they are going into the OEM business will have to deal with T.
So you’re dreaming. Wake up.