School District Upgrades Building Automation Using Existing System

A public school district in Utah needed to upgrade its current building automation system (BAS) to allow for new cooling systems that were being installed in 15 schools. InsideIQ^TM Building Automation Alliance member firm Utah-Yamas Controls was able to transition the district's existing Schneider Electric NETWORK 8000 system to a new Schneider Electric SmartStruxure solution.

Utah-Yamas Controls uses open system architecture in it's engineering and designs. They are based in Draper, Utah, with additional offices in Utah, Idaho and Nevada. The company represents the InsideIQ Building Automation Alliance, an international alliance of independent building automation contractors, in the Northwestern United States.

Using the automated tools supplied by the manufacturer, the BAS transition occurred with minimal installation and configuration time. The customer was able to protect the investment they had already made in their existing hardware devices and wiring by leaving them in place and their present database was automatically converted upon import into the SmartStruxure solution.

Scott Porter, president of Utah-Yamas Controls says, "The customer saved an estimated $1 million on the project because the district was able to keep its existing system in place and expand with the SmartStruxure solution. The district plans to replace all of the older controllers with the new solution controllers as time and budget allows. In the meantime, the school district benefits from the new features and functionality of the upgraded BAS, including a user-friendly interface that can be personalized, one click reporting, scalable graphics, access via the Internet and a mobile app."

Porter adds that Utah-Yamas Controls found a customer-centric solution to the challenge of updating this school system's BAS; one that saved money and still provided the highest level of functionality.

Frank Rotello, president of the InsideIQ Building Automation Alliance, says this is the type of solution InsideIQ member firms deploy every day.

"Agile, adaptable, innovative and technologically advanced, our member companies are independent experts representing common building automation, energy and security system platforms that focus on best practices, not specific vendor products," Rotello adds.