In order to maintain comfort and keep operations running smoothly, many commercial buildings rely on mechanical and electrical equipment. This includes fire systems, security systems, lighting, and even your HVAC (heating, ventilation, and air conditioning) unit. Managing each of these systems individually can be a burden and make the overall management of a building needlessly complicated. However, building management systems (BMS) help to simplify the process.
Also known as building automation systems (BAS), these are a computer-based control system that is installed within your building. BAS controls allow you to control and monitor all of your equipment from a central console. There are many benefits that come with these controls and this blog will focus on those advantages.
Benefits of Building Management Systems
Modern building automation services are all about integration. By connecting the various mechanical and electrical equipment throughout your workplace to this system, you are essentially turning your building into an intelligent building. Having the ability to efficiently control and monitor all aspects of your building provides a slew of benefits that your business can take advantage of. Some of the benefits include:
Energy Saving Automation
The core purpose of a BAS is to control and monitor the various systems in your building. By using powerful diagnostic tools and energy usage information, a BAS can limit energy waste by measuring energy consumption. On average, a BAS can reduce equipment operating costs by up to 15%.
Available Resources
Since building controls can integrate many of the systems in your building and can control and monitor those systems, accessing the information you need is faster and easier. Because of this ease of life functionality, you can reduce the amount of training and number of maintenance personnel needed to perform these actions. This will free up your maintenance resources and use them more effectively.
Reduced Downtime
Downtime is something that’s unacceptable for most businesses. Hospitals, data centers, and more can’t afford for their building equipment to break down. One of the most notable BAS benefits is having the ability to detect issues before downtime can happen.
A BAS will perform an automatic check on the systems that are integrated with it. Those checks can identify problems that need attention and send you an alert. This gives you plenty of time to fix the issues before your equipment breaks down. It can also track the component life cycles which gives you the opportunity to plan out when to receive preventive maintenance.
Extended Service Life
No matter how well made or fine-tuned equipment is, there’s a time when it will need to be replaced. However, you can extend the life of your equipment through preventive maintenance. Controls can tell you when there’s a problem with any of your equipment, allowing you to schedule maintenance before full-on repairs are needed.
Managing each of these systems individually can be a burden and make the overall management of a building needlessly complicated. However, building management systems (BMS) help to simplify the process.
Building Safety
As a building owner, one of the most important tasks you’re charged with is keeping the building safe for its occupants. Building automation can improve the overall safety of your building. A few ways this is possible is:
- A BAS can automatically open shutters when a fire is detected. This action can facilitate building access for firefighters. It can also open up new evacuation routes for people who are still in the building.
- Surveillance systems that are connected to the building management system can be directed toward the location of the fire, which can allow firefighters to assess the area and create a strategy for fighting the fire.
- Security cameras can also be used to easily monitor areas from a centrally or through remote means.
- Escalators and elevators can be quickly switched to evacuation mode.
Building Automation and Control System Solutions
At A&G Services, we specialize in mechanical solutions. If you want to improve your management strategies by turning your building into an intelligent building with a BAS, we can help. We are Tridium Certified, meaning we have a considerable amount of knowledge and expertise in this area.
Give us a call today to learn more about how we can help your business.
