The Brewer-Garrett Company has been a Design/Build and Service mechanical contractor for commercial and industrial customers for over 50 years. We have been installing Direct Digital Controls since the mid-80’s, starting with Novar and Trane, and now migrating to Tridium.
We recognize that the power of a Building Automation Systems lies not just in the points of control, but in the data it generates. Case and point is our Assured Service Program we have with Cuyahoga Community College. We are responsible for mechanical system maintenance across over 3,000 pieces of HVAC equipment spanning 5 million square feet of conditioned space.
One of the College’s more recent projects was to install occupancy sensors for VAV box control on a room-by-room basis in an effort to reduce their energy costs. With over 700 spaces to control, the physical labor to annually verify the operation of the occupancy sensors was a substantial cost. In lieu of charging our customer for this service year after year, we made a one-time investment in SkySpark.
Buying a box of software was only the beginning. We are very good at controls and mechanical systems, but not so on programming languages and database management. Therefore, we went to BAS Services & Graphics for support. Alper Üzmezler was a huge part of making this project successful for both us and our client.
Alper and his team had developed a product for simplifying the data entry and programming of Sky Spark called Project Builder Plus. Using PB+, we were able to setup a template that would add all 5 points of control for a VAV box by simply entering the room number. Each of these points were then mapped to the Niagara histories through a simple point and click mapping function in the program. A college intern, studying special education with no IT training or programming knowledge, entered all of our data quickly and easily.
With the click of a button in PB+, the database was uploaded to SkySpark and all of our efforts were graphically available for us instantly. I have no idea how to enter information directly into SkySpark, but using the menu driven utilities in PB+, I don’t have to know.
Bringing over 700 rooms into SkySpark was a large job and we had our share of glitches along the way. One of the Sparks we had asked Alper to write wasn’t working quite right, but he was quick to fix it. Whenever we had questions about how to work PB+ or SkySpark, he was very quick to accommodate. Since my daytime job is to run the business of Brewer-Garrett, this became an evening and weekend project. Regardless of the day of week or time of day, Alper was always there via email, telephone, or remote terminal emulation to help us complete the project.
We are excited about the power of SkySpark and look forward to implementing it with other customers and applications. Alper has become a part of our team and we look forward to continuing our work together.
Greg McDonald | Service General Manager
