Dream with me that it’s dinner time so you go to a restaurant you’ve heard rave reviews about. You’re in a comfortable chair, the music and chatter from other guests creates a pleasant ambiance, the lighting is soft and comfortable, and the kitchen is bustling with, get this, famous chefs making their signature dishes. In front of you sits every good food you can imagine. Julia Child’s Beef Bourguignon, Jiro Ono’s world-class sushi, Paul Hollywood’s breads, and Adriano Zumbo’s macarons are just the beginning. It’s thrilling to see incredible food before your eyes, but the hype comes to life as you assemble the ultimate meal from such high quality options. 

When you've picked out your dishes, Emeril will stop by your table, throw some spice at your plate and yell "BAM!" 

If you’ll forgive the jolt back to reality, this dream is a bit like our situation with building systems today. These systems have become quite effective at performing their specific functions, much like the dishes we’ve imagined have set a high bar in what we can expect “good” to mean for food. It is the assembling of meal, the integrating of building systems, that changes everything for us. The result is far greater than the sum of its parts.

 

I hope you’re not only hungry but rethinking food (and building systems) entirely. The current design process keeps the various systems separated, but with a pivot in our thinking and a nudge in our workflows, we can create new opportunities from what's already in our buildings. 

The pivot in our thinking – Data that’s useful for one system is likely useful for others. That’s it. Most data our buildings are already generating is useful for sharing and analyzing over time. We just need to use it well. One simple piece of data, for example knowing the building is occupied, is useful for lighting, HVAC, security, and even human processes. As it is now, each of those systems must determine for themselves whether the building is occupied or not, or the building is scheduled beyond normally occupied times to accomplish the building systems’ goals. Integrated systems can share information seamlessly between any system so all can benefit. Another example might be when an area of the building gets abnormally hot. If it’s 1 degree too hot, the HVAC system will handle it. If it’s 10 degrees, then Facilities should be notified. If it’s 300 degrees, we call the Fire department!

The nudge in our workflows – The primary function of each system is unchanged, but the communication must be open and free. Heating still heats and access control still lets folks in, but now they share the information they receive and actions they take in a consistent, organized way. In other words, each system needs to overcome its shyness and speak the language. 

This is when integrated automation steps in to 1) create the common space for systems to communicate, and 2) document what each system says/does. Create the space and record the discussion. This is like inviting everyone to a meeting and designating one person to take excellent notes for everyone else.

Magic happens when those meetings are analyzed for further insights and actions. To stick with the idea of integrated automation as an excellent note taker in a meeting; analytics are like the most perceptive, observant person you know making a list of loose ends and action items for everyone. Everyone is free to be the expert in their area and the rest is handled by our note-taking task assigner. This is Emeril, or integrated automation in this case, yelling "BAM!" and kicking the system up a notch. 

Perhaps you notice instead that nobody who uses the hold opens need them for accessibility. By asking occupants to refrain from unnecessary use of the hold opens, you reduce that cost significantly. The simple act of monitoring what systems are doing,  giving them a voice, is a powerful insight into how a building lives and breathes.

So now you’re hungry. You want that Beef Bourguignon and you want your building to speak, take notes, and even perform some actions for you. Aside from a quality cut of beef and a decent Burgundy, you’ll need surprisingly little hardware. It is generally easy to integrate systems so long as they are “open.”

A critical step for the integrated automation designer is ensuring all systems are open and prepared to communicate. Systems are increasingly standardizing on BACNet, a standardized protocol long used for HVAC systems, so in these situations no additional hardware is necessary to get the device onto the network. Modbus is a protocol commonly used by electrical systems and only requires a controller for translation into BACNet.

Depending on the goals for a particular project, a handful of controllers will bridge the gap between systems and the network. If monitoring gives the building a voice to speak, a controller gives it hands to act. These controllers will help systems get over their shyness and speak the common BACNet language. Data is stored either in the cloud or a physical server on-premises. For many systems this is all the additional hardware necessary to bring individual systems, our expertly crafted dishes, into a project-tailored dinner everyone can feast on.

Let’s finish this meal with another dream: what will you do with your newly integrated building? Sustainability is an easy and high return starting point. It may cost more money not to integrate, even if energy reporting regulations don’t yet apply to your region . How can you save money and downtime with the systems your client has already selected? You could standardize all digital signage and user experience points across every site to drive brand strength. Get crazy and bring a bit of the outdoor classroom in by piping audio from the sensory garden into the classroom. To ask broadly, what meal will you share with clients from this spectacular menu? Bon appétit!

 

AL and MT Annual Report Updates

 

Signed into law on May 7, 2024, this bill omits the state’s annual report requirement. This change applies to all entity types required to submit this report to the Alabama Secretary of State. Beginning October 1, 2024, all businesses will no longer be required to file an annual report. Read more here on the Alabama Secretary of State website.

 

The Montana Secretary of State has announced that the annual report filing fees will be waived in 2025. While fees have been waived, annual report due dates will remain the same. Learn more in the announcement from the Montana Secretary of State. Looking to streamline annual report filings? Check out our managed annual report service.

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