A Manager’s Secret Weapon: Building Automation Systems

8/8/2022

More than anything these days, maintenance and engineering management is the search for answers. Managers are confronted at every turn by challenges, new and old, that require answers – fast. 

Where can managers look for answers? Some turn to their CMMS, which captures data from technicians’ work orders and generates reports that reveal trends on technician productivity, equipment repair histories and spare parts inventories. Others consult with the technicians themselves, tapping into the institutional knowledge experienced workers have amassed through years of inspecting, repairing and maintaining facility systems and equipment. 

While both resources give managers solid data that can help them meet the challenges they face, too many managers overlook one critical resource – building automation systems (BAS).  

One speaker’s comment at the recent American Society of Healthcare Engineering conference in Boston offered a reminder that for all the potential benefits that BAS offer to organizations and managers, they often remain underused “secret” resources for managers seeking to improve the energy efficiency, reliability and safety of facilities. 

“Nobody in hospitals knows how to use building automation systems, even though they have so much valuable data on building conditions and operations,” the speaker said, adding that in her experiences in compliance consulting with facilities, managers too often rely on the BAS vendor when asked to pull together information on the system and the facility. 

Given the daunting and evolving challenges managers face, it is not just a good idea to exhaust every possible resource. It’s mandatory. 

As the COVID-19 pandemic revealed, the need for insights on building operations and performance goes far beyond the need to control costs and improve productivity. Buildings play a central role in the health and wellbeing of building occupants and visitors, and managers armed with critical data from their BAS put themselves in a stronger position to meet the challenges to come.