This post contains a link to every issue from 1999 through the launch of the reinvented site in September 2022 https://www.automatedbuildings.com/
Here is the last posted monthly issue. September 2022 Connecting Community and here is the first issue of the Automator Jul/Aug 1999
| 2022 | ||
| Jan 2022 | “Defining You in 2022” | “ESG” ESG-related policies (Environmental Social and Governance)growing across all segments of the CRE industry. |
| Feb 2022 | “Vegas Winds & Wins” | Our AHRExpo.com Show Issue |
| Mar 2022 | “Women Creating Amazing Opportunities“ | A world that’s diverse, equitable, and inclusive. A world where difference is valued and celebrated. |
| Apr 2022 | “Radical Reinvention Reconfiguration & Forced Evolution” | Our industry and others are immersed in immense change. The Communication of that Change is of the greatest importance and is fundamental to our forced evolution. |
| May 2022 | “Enabling Value by Improving Infrastructure“ | We all have collective technologies that help make buildings healthier, safer, securer, more efficient, and improve ESG |
| Jun 2022 | “Why AI?“ | We have gone past the ‘why do we need AI’ to ‘why we should participate in building AI |
| Jul 2022 | “ESG R Us“ | Beyond Twins & Triplets, working with wireless wave, our new connected family supports, shares, works, plays well with others. |
| Aug 2022 | “Preparing for AHRExpo 2023” | Help us curate the messages our industry wants to take to Atlanta. |
| Sep 2022 | “Connecting Communities” | LAST ISSUE: Our industry’s rapid growth fragmented by social media needs to appear to the world as the story of the Combined Contexted Connection Industry. |
| 2021 | ||
| Jan 2021 | “Out of In…novation” | Our Future Reality – Real or Augmented & Artificially Intelligent? or a Covid-ized Hybrid? |
| Feb 2021 | Your New Vocation Building Automation | Whether you read “Building” as a verb or noun, investigate being part of our Building Automation Industry to satisfy your Curiosity, Passion, Innovation, Motivation, Location, and Edge-You-Cation. |
| Mar 2021 | Our Amazing Women Choose to Challenge | Be the Change from challenge comes change the IWD 2021 campaign theme. |
| Apr 2021 | “Adaptation” | What has 50 years in the industry taught me? The more I learn the less I know, but “Adaptation” is our survival superpower. |
| May 2021 | “Building Digital Family & Wireless Wave“ | Beyond Twins & Triplets, working with wireless wave, our new connected family supports shares, works, plays well with others. |
| Jun 2021 | “Pushing Digital Dinosaurs” | The theme is about the end of several eras and the beginning of new ones full of change |
| Jul 2021 | “Navigating Next New” | Discover what is the next new is and how we can best discover, understand, make it part of our next solution? |
| Aug 2021 | “Delivering Smarter Buildings” | Delivering smarter building is a challenge as the next new is now spanning over existing technologies creating bridges, sometimes off ramps to no where plus large gaps actually caverns that we can all get lost in |
| Sep 2021 | “Smarter Sustainability Decarbonization & Electrification“ | Our Smarter Sustainability journey refocuses our Industry Purpose and Why, while presenting an amazing opportunity for us to express to the world how we can make a difference and lead the transformation. |
| Oct 2021 | “National Cybersecurity Awareness Month” | Now in its 18th year, Cybersecurity Awareness Month – observed every October, continues to be a collaborative effort between government and industry to ensure both businesses and consumers are aware of the cybersecurity pitfalls and have the resources and knowledge to stay safer and more secure online. |
| Nov 2021 | “Creating Clarity” | Our success depends on bringing Clarity to the Complex |
| Dec 2021 | “Vetting Vegas “ | AHRExpo Vegas first F2F major event of 2022 |
| 2020 | ||
| Jan 2020 | Building Engagement Platforms + “Decarbonization” | Embracing the importance of the shift in smart city thinking and action in spite of National and International floundering started us on a journey of deep discussion of what “Decarbonization” and our Climate Emergency means to our industry? |
| Feb 2020 | “Born Again Connected“ | To catch sail in today’s winds you need to “Get Out of Your Head” and imagine what being “Born Again Connected” might mean? |
| Mar 2020 | “Our Industries’ Amazing Women“ | March is Women’s History Month and March 8th is International Women’s Day. Take this time to recognize the women in our industry. Thank them for their hard work, and ask how you can help support them and get more women in the industry. |
| Apr 2020 | Wake up to Wireless Ways | lead our Conversations/Talking to tell of “Today’s Tools” which are so much more than hardware and hammers. We need to stop hammering out our old way solutions and nail a new understanding of our today’s toolset and how we can best use them |
| May 2020 | “Global Reboot – Adopting Adaption” | Being resilient and making people count while Adopting Adaption needs to be part of our “Global Reboot ” returning from the COVID 19 Pandemic. |
| Jun 2020 | “Researching & Reinventing Not Normal“ | Our June issue includes many great articles/columns , interviews and reviews about how COVID-19 is changing everything in our world creating our Not Normal. |
| Jul 2020 | “Enlightenment of our Renaissance.“ | Reinvention, Rebirth, Renaissance the word Renaissance delineates the significant, positive break with the old and issues a welcome to the new era. What follows a Renaissance? Enlightenment, a process we are working through now to make not normal the new normal. |
| Aug 2020 | “Building Communities of Trust“ | The task of building communities of trust has been an ongoing journey for our industry. Some one just identified our present web site as the pioneering online magazine that containing our industries heritage. |
| Sep 2020 | Combining Collaborating Communities Competencies + Edge-You-Cation | “Changing Control Freaks to Scrum Masters” |
| Oct 2020 | “Is Your Building Cybersecure?” | Data, privacy, the cloud and security in this age of hyper-connectivity |
| Nov 2020 | Navigating Never Never with Mr Linkair | http://automatedbuildings.com/ was started in 1999 before blogging was a thing, we called it an online magazine or emagazine. |
| Dec 2020 | “Requesting Innovation” | Requesting Innovation Create your “Request for Proposal for Innovation” Innovation is a timeless ingredient, a necessary part of our successful transformation, needed now more than ever. |
| 2019 | ||
| Jan 2019 | “Open 2019 Editorial“ | “Open 2019” is mostly about opening our minds to the Edge of Change that is upon us. |
| Feb 2019 | “The Dawn of Disruption“ | The Dawn of Disruption Just back from a kaleidoscope of future peeks into the Dawn of Disruption and its’ Emotions @AHREXPO 2019 Atlanta. |
| Mar 2019 | “Automated Intelligence with Autonomous Interactions“ | The term “AI” “Artificial Intelligence” seems to be troweled on top of everything these days. But I feel we all are a long way from its true definition. |
| Apr 2019 | Holistic Cybersecurity | You Know what you know, You know what you do not know, but You do not know what You do not know. Profound words that describe our journey of digital transformation very well. |
| May 2019 | Connecting Creative Communities | The people and their communities have staying power; the technology does not. |
| Jun 2019 | You Do Not Know What You Do Not Know | You Know what you know, You know what you do not know, but You do not know what You do not know? Profound words that describe our journey of digital transformation very well. |
| Jul 2019 | Recalibrate for 2020 Vision | We need to recalibrate while preparing for the next decade 2020, when we said the world would change, it will but we need to make it happen now |
| Aug 2019 | Our Education Emergency | The amount we need to learn and the speed at which we need to learn it is unprecedented. Our unparalleled requirement for rapid, deep learning and understanding is driven by simultaneous conversion of everything to an IoT world which is now further fueled by our de-carbonizing emergency supported by several major smart cities having declared a climate emergency plus our immediate need to Recalibrate for 2020 Vision. |
| Sep 2019 | Building Backbones and Wireless Skin | Our internet communication connections with everything are under metamorphic change. They are morphing before our eyes to glass and thin air, “Fiber” and “Wireless” from the traditional miles of copper wire. |
| Oct 2019 | Building User Connection in the Smart City | We need to explore how to make the building user experience (UX) seamless and amazing in our buildings and smart cities. |
| Nov 2019 | Sharing Data, Work-Space, Interaction, & Integration | Sharing data is expected and we all are asking questions like: How do we monetize our Building Data to attract and interact? How do we create greater value from our data? (our new money) |
| Dec 2019 | Building Wireless Inside Out | Wireless connectivity – We can not see it, feel it, hear it, smell it, touch it, but when it is not available, we are not available and our productivity is immobilized, we will move toward a source of better connectivity. |
| 2018 | ||
| Jan 2018 | The Face of Digital Transformation 2018 | We are all involved in today’s digital transformation and have an amazing opportunity to create a new softer mindfulness face for the greater good. This month’s issue talks about how we can improve our image as we digitally transform and inspires us all to envision what the world will see when we pull the string on our transformation mask to expose our new inner selves to the world. |
| Feb 2018 | “Building Brains“ | AI is the Brain, IoT the Body speaking with the Face and Voice of Digital Transformation.In our February issue “Building Brains” Building is used both as a verb and a noun, which makes you read each reference twice to get both meanings. This issue explores giving the face and the voice of digital tran sformation a brain. |
| Mar 2018 | “Transparency Transformation” | We have Open Software, Open Hardware; we just need to Open our Minds to Mindfully Build Better Bots.On our journey to people-powered buildings described in my never-ending stories, I have talked about “Building Whisperers” and “Building Better Building Bots” and in our September issue we conclude that the most important component of the open movement is opening our minds while growing younger. |
| Apr 2018 | “Meta-Morphing Mashup” | Ok here I go with yet Another Annoylng Alliteration, sorry I can not stop, but what is it all about? You will need to read my review Meta-Morphing Mashup for Self Creation to complete understand but here is the skinny. The Mashup is this ASHRAE’s BACnet Committee, Project Haystack and Brick Schema Collaborating to Provide Unified Data Semantic Modeling Solution |
| May 2018 | “Humanistic Digital Inclusion” | We need to use all our new found digital technologies to help us “Look, Listen, Feel and Think before Reacting” creating Anticipatory Humanistic Buildings. What is Digital Inclusion? “Digital inclusion is the ability of individuals and groups to access and use information and communication technologies.” We need to build digitally inclusive communities for each of our buildings |
| Jun 2018 | “Building an Awesome UX“ | UX is User Experience and refers to a person’s emotions and attitudes about using a service. Whether you view the word Building as a noun or a verb, we as an industry need to create Awesome User Experiences. |
| Jul 2018 | “Building Emotion“ | “Emotion” is the noun used to describe the creation and depiction of a mindful interactive relationship that conveys the conversation between the inhabitants and their physical building. It is a virtual identity, a feeling, a learning. an interactive piece, a virtual brick, and mortar that hosts the buildings’ emotion. “Building” is the verb or noun that modifies it. |
| Aug 2018 | “Building Whisperers” | What are Building Whisperers? Those who adopt a sympathetic view of the motives, needs, and desires of the Building’s relationship with its humanistic purpose based on rapidly evolving views and understandings. What is the process of creating or Building Whisperers? We need to clearly educated and inform our industry practitioners of the art of humanizing our building relationships. We all need to engage in the discussion of change while learning how to whisper building emotion. |
| Sep 2018 | “Building Better Bots Mindful and Open“ | We have Open Software, Open Hardware; we just need to Open our Minds to Mindfully Build Better Bots.On our journey to people-powered buildings described in my never-ending stories, I have talked about “Building Whisperers” and “Building Better Building Bots” and in our September issue we conclude that the most important component of the open movement is opening our minds while growing younger. |
| Oct 2018 | “Edge-You-Cation” | I am always playing with words when I can not find the words to express myself I create my own. Here is another one Edge-ification, the process of moving intelligence and control to the Edge. |
| Nov 2018 | “Edge-ifcation“ | Our November issue speaks to and is a mash up of these next two chapters of our digital transformation “Edge-ifcation” Meets Maker Movement and “Edge-ifcation” Moving the murky muddled middle to the Edge. |
| Dec 2018 | The “Edge of Change” | The edge of building emotion, changing collaborative connection communities, and their Edge-ifcation in the Era of Connection. Please join in the discussion by giving this month’s articles, interviews, and reviews a quick read to help understand the Edge of Change. |
| 2017 | ||
| Jan 2017 | “Our Assets are People, not Technology.” | I have been sensing some, Oh no! the IoT sky / cloud is falling on us. It hit me on the head, so I know it must be so, – says Chicken Little. It is so heavy we all shall be crushed or displaced or outsourced. (Big smile.) So I felt the necessity of pushing the focus back on the people of our industry, our only true assets, and putting them on the watch for Foxey Loxey in our new year of incredible opportunities 2017. Happy New Year! |
| Feb 2017 | Productivity & Satisfaction Deployment | Satisfaction and Productivity of corporate assets, “their people,” is an ongoing dynamic survey of human cognition’s that is creating new performance metrics from the data from our buildings. We are all struggling to develop mushy measurement methods of cognitions of well-being, satisfaction, stress, innovation and contribution to corporate purpose. Of course, comfort both temperature and lighting need to be provided as basic services with expected energy efficiency. |
| Mar 2017 | “Engaging Satisfaction & Wellness.” | I am in awe of the power bestowed upon us and our potential as an industry to have a significant impact on the wellness and overall satisfaction of the occupants of our automated, connected, smart, living, buildings. Increasing satisfaction and wellness by engagement means creating a dialog path that flows both ways and is a giant first step for our industry’s entry into the productivity puzzle and its lucrative paybacks. |
| Apr 2017 | In Search of the “Make Me Happy Button” Claiming our Piece of the Productivity Puzzle | Our industry’s wagons are circling the productivity puzzle and its lucrative paybacks as we all explore how our new “IoT” presences will provide more than Energy and Operating savings for our clients and allow us to morph to Occupant Happiness. |
| May 2017 | “The Uberization of Comfort, Satisfaction, and Wellbeing“ | The fastest growing businesses in the world, such as Uber and Airbnb, using tools like disintermediation and price transparency, create a marketing model that brings buyers and sellers together in an efficient, regulated and innovative manner. |
| Jun 2017 | “Sensing the Change” | “Sensing the Change” is a double entendre, a particular way of wording that is devised to be understood in two ways, having a double meaning.”Sensing the change while changing our sensing. Are we fully sensing the change IoT is bringing to our industry? Keep reading to get a sense of industry reaction and interaction. |
| Jul 2017 | “Building Health” | Is “Building” a noun or a verb? Yes!, both. “Building Health.” is a topic that is going to dominate our future and the activating process of “Building Health” in our buildings is something we all need to do, talk about, and share/communicate with our building occupants, so it becomes the biggest part of the Happiness, Satisfaction, and Productivity puzzle. |
| Aug 2017 | “Autonomous Actions on the Intelligent Edge“ | Powerful low-cost edge controllers using open source software are changing the industry landscape. Intelligent Edge Computing changes machine learning’s location bringing more power with an autonomous personality even closer to the edge while providing the foundation for a decentralized architecture creating machine distributed collaboration. |
| Sep 2017 | “Getting There from Here” | How does the building automation industry make the transformation that it needs to undergo? This “Getting there from here” discussion deals with the shift in thinking and action that we all have to make in order to deal with the rapid change that is upon us. Our August Autonomous Actions on the Intelligent Edge discussions in addition to our theme for AHRExpo Chicago education sessions, The Future of Building Automation – ” Data at the Open Intelligent Edge” have identified an immediate problem in our industry of how the transformation we all must make will occur. |
| Oct 2017 | “People Powered Transformation“ | All of us are engaging in a transformation for the greater good. People-Powered Transformation will occur when and as fast as we allow it, but only when all the people it touches embrace that coming change. We need to engage with our future. We need to unlearn and rethink our vast experiences. We need to revisit our preconceived notions of what can and cannot be changed. |
| Nov 2017 | “Agile Adaptive Autodidactic Autonomous Accepted Actions“ | We need to embrace these six words and make them part of the IoT journey we all are on. Let me explain and better define this collection of Six “A” words that are part of our transformation. |
| Dec 2017 | “Are You – I o T Ready? #RUIoTReady“ | The catchphrase, R U – IoT Ready? has raised some interesting questions and responses such as, What is IoT? Why should I care? and What does “Ready” really mean? What is IoT? The Internet of Things refers to the ever-growing network of physical objects that feature an IP address for Internet connectivity, and the communication that occurs between these objects and other Internet-enabled devices and systems. I will add to this definition “for Human-Centric Solutions.” |
| 2016 | ||
| Jan 2016 | The Way Forward from Paris is Via Automated M&V | Investment dollars to transform commercial building energy wasters into high performers are there, but won’t be tapped until bankers are confident in the measurement and verification of savings. – Therese Sullivan, Principal, BuildingContext Ltd |
| Feb 2016 | Making it Mashable | Our Role in the Transformation of Building Automation It is not the amazing IoT technological changes that are the focus of our discussions; it is how we as an industry of self-learning assets embrace and connect these change |
| Mar 2016 | Project-Haystack Open for Mashing | Introducing Project-Haystack’s new e-zine “Connections” Haystack is an open source initiative to streamline working with data from the Internet of Things and is evolving as one of the preferred mash up tools for our industry. |
| Apr 2016 | IoT Disruption Transforms and Opens | Our April issue theme is “IoT Disruption Transforms and Opens Industry”Transforming and Opening the Industry is a journey, not a destination, and will require consistent and constant attention.Our contributing editor Therese has described our April issue as something about open source being a friction-reducer mixed into the IoT/Smart Building super collider,……very descriptive for sure. |
| May 2016 | “Our Open IoT Centric Future“ | May “Our Open IoT Centric Future” The times they are a changing with the transfer of ownership of our two largest Canadian independent control companies Delta Controls & DISTECH plus European LOYTEC Electronics GmbH and Australian Daintree Networks. That is a lot of global change happening in the last few months. |
| Jun 2016 | Measured Variables; Health, Wellbeing, & Productivity | New Measured Variables; Health, Wellbeing, & ProductivityCreating value in the $300 part of the “3-30-300” rule Our industry has always been about controlling measured variables, but in the past these have been the likes of temperature, pressure, flow, and other physical things. |
| Jul 2016 | Performance Software Evolves with Self Learning | July – Performance Software Evolving with Self Machine Learning. What is Performance Software? If you do not know you need to find out, because the market for Performance Software in Smart Buildings generated $12.72Bn in 2015, and will grow at a CAGR of 8.1% to $18.78Bn by 2020. It is made up of the below categories; |
| Aug 2016 | Low Cost Powerful Hybrid Edge Controllers | Low Cost Powerful Hybrid Edge Controllers move control and data to the edge while still making both available to the cloud enabling self learning at the device and/or cloud or a hybrid of both. My five decades in the building automation industry have made it crystal clear that we are always moving towards or away from centralization and I love this month’s theme that sees us moving in both direction at the same time |
| Sep 2016 | “The Self Learning Edge Revolution” | The Edge Revolution coupled with machine learning will do what the DDC Revolution with programmed logic did to pneumatic control. Completely replacing an industry while providing a quantum leap in capabilities, connection, control and apparent simplification of everything. |
| Oct 2016 | When Evolution Turns to Revolution | Last month theme “The Self Learning Edge Revolution” has been well received and has started some very interesting discussions, online on social media, and off line in the coffee shops and back rooms of the industry. What are they talking about? Are we really poised for revolution? |
| Nov 2016 | Low Cost Powerful Hybrid Edge Controllers | Our revolutionary themes for the last few months have led us to the importance of the open software movement as part of our journey. Truly Open Edge Software provides access to all data which fuels self-learning and enables unbridled creation for the new breed of makers that will marry our industry and IoT. |
| Dec 2016 | The IoT Future of Building Automation | Future automation will be a full embrace of IoT. Systems will be smarter, self-learning, edgy, innovative, and sophisticated. They will automatically configure and integrate new equipment so they can optimize themselves, self-manage and self-heal while reinventing purposeful, productive, desirable buildings and accommodation |
| 2015 | ||
| Jan 2015 | Autodidacticism | Autodidacticism (also autodidactism) or self-education is the act of teaching oneself about a subject or subjects in which one has had little to no formal education. This word accurately describes the how, why and what we have all self-learned in 2014, and what our focus for 2015 needs to be. |
| Feb 2015 | Growing our Only Asset our People | I just returned from a very successful AHRExpo in Chicago. Read my review of this record-breaking show of over 62,000 attendees, and 10 acres of exhibits, from over 130 countries. This all flies in the face of the digital world and the Internet of Things replacing good old face-to-face interaction and networking. So what was my takeaway from this massive show? People are our only asset, technology may come and go but at the core of the industry is the same people that have been there for years. |
| Mar 2015 | Creating Self-Learning Cultures | Creating Self-Learning Cultures How do we create them? How do we use them to increase the value of our only assets our people? Our February editorial Growing our only Asset our People How do we motivate them to be Curious?, Passionate? generated lots of interest and comments from the industry much of which was captured on social media. . |
| Apr 2015 | Attracting Self-Learning Assets | A continuing self-learning growth is the goal we all wish to achieve in our people assets and our company cultures because it is organic and natural but most of all sustainable. Unreasonable Optimism? This video epitomizes the intent of a self-learning culture at the Chicago Collaboratory as Andy McMillan, the president of BACnet International, gives some priceless advice to a young bright mind trying to make sense of our industry. |
| May 2015 | Becoming an Autodidactic Asset | Becoming an Autodidactic Asset. What am I talking about? Let me use Google to help explain and better define my obscure title. Becoming is the process of coming to be something; Autodidactic is a self-taught person; Asset is a useful or valuable thing, person, or quality. So our May theme is the process of coming to be a self-taught person who is a valuable thing. |
| Jun 2015 | Back from the Stack | Over the years we have been the part of many new start up communities and we simply love the feeling of unbridled optimism and willingness to donate to the cause that exists at events like this. The Haystack event showed us that this is the place where the community of automation and IoT professionals comes together to learn and share the latest techniques for connecting systems and using data to advance the efficiency of buildings, equipment systems and processes. |
| Jul 2015 | Finding Reality in a Virtual World | When we started AutomatedBuildings.com 17 years ago we created an online vehicle design to connect the reality of the large building automation industry to a virtual world the internet / web. Today the ease of publishing online allows anyone and everyone to post everywhere. We all are struggling with the blizzard of information and the actual reality within the variety of virtual formats. We all seek guidance and appreciate the sharing from our trusted people and sources to find clarity and even reality within all this virtuality. |
| Aug 2015 | Transformational Change our Mission Possible | Transformational change is the process of altering the basic elements of an organization’s culture, including the norms, values, and assumptions under which the organization functions. Getting some great comments directly, off the record and in articles / comments in our August issue about the “Transformational Change” that is happening to allow the Map of the possible. |
| Sep 2015 | Change Evolves from the Possible | I am extremely pleased with the industry support I am receiving helping me define “the possible of connected buildings” because this clear definition of the possible is helping us define the transformational changes we all need to make. Change is a slow process. There is an ancient Chinese proverb that goes: “When the wind of change blows, some people build walls, others build windmills.” |
| Oct 2015 | Satisfaction + Well Being = Productivity | I am extremely pleased with the industry support I am receiving helping me define “the possible of connected buildings” because this clear definition of the possible is helping us define the transformational changes we all need to make. Change is a slow process. There is an ancient Chinese proverb that goes: “When the wind of change blows, some people build walls, others build windmills.” |
| Nov 2015 | Our Connection Collection | Not sure that any of us could have projected the amount of things our buildings would be connected to and interact with. Today our understanding of the possibility of connection is much of the value we provide. As an industry, we need to start collecting, quantifying and qualifying all of the possible connections to our buildings. Our November issue provides a start but I would like all our readers to join in helping us build “Our Connection Collection” |
| Dec 2015 | Transformational Change for Automation | Very pleased to be doing our 17th year of Free Education Sessions at AHR Expo 2016 in Orlando. Pleased to be joined by several industry experts to help us all better understand the change upon us. Also extremely pleased that our industry is able through the voice and video of Control Trend’s Awards “CTA” to recognize AHR Expo’s amazing support. Be sure to read the other Ken’s CTA interview. Here is a snippet. |
| 2014 | ||
| Jan 2014 | Concurrent Collaboration | Happy New Year! Hang on tight because it is going to be a wild ride in a year of radical change for our industry. Be sure to read all the articles, predictions and takes on the changes for 2014 plus my views in the rear view mirror of 2013. Our January issue is themed “Concurrent Collaboration” and speaks to the power of concurrency inside the cloud and how it can propel us to new solutions at dizzy speeds in our journey to achieve the ultimate in collaborated converged products and services. |
| Feb 2014 | Mobile Collaboration | Mobile Collaboration that leverages the power of the cloud, coupled with Bring Your Own Device “BYOD” is our newest do-all power tool. Often in the presence of our legacy laptops we still reach for this handy mobile tool that seems to carry out our wishes quicker with a much more personalized interface. The millions of hours of development of mobile devices with the feedback of millions of users balancing device and cloud power is starting to show that its real collaborated power is greater than either device or cloud. |
| Mar 2014 | Ownership of the Collaboratory | Ownership of the Collaboratory In our education sessions in New York one clear component of every successful energy integration project was a team of champions who asserted ownership of the project’s collaborator. Another observation was that the projects were truly morphing into a dynamic collection of people, things, and internet interactions; a collaboratory not just a project. |
| Apr 2014 | Keeping the Cloud Open | If we are not clear on Keeping the Cloud Open there is a dark side, a concern of an evolving trend towards Proprietary Cloud. I grew up in the industry during the DDC revolution and saw the floundering of the early proprietary DDC systems that evolved quickly with amazing capabilities, but rapidly became obsolete and impossible to maintain. Several early DDC system companies failed and those that succeeded were liberated with the development of open protocols with total project integration and interaction with several vendors. |
| May 2014 | 15 Years in the Collaboratory | 15 years in the collaboratoryMay’s theme is our 15th-year anniversary issue. It has been a labour of love providing you with a new way to explore AutomatedBuildings.com. While we wallowed in the memories of the last 15 years it reminded Jane and I that this is not our story but the story of industry giants helping us create an online collaboratory of their powerful thoughts. |
| Jun 2014 | Our Industry’s Collaboratory at IBcon | Our June issue speaks to our Industry’s Collaboratory attending IBcon Vegas June 17-19. This is the event that will take us all to the next level of collaboration. I originally was focused on providing a preview to this event for our June issue but as we started to assemble the previews, articles, interviews, news releases, we met our AutomatedBuildings.com collaboratory on their way to their next great collaboration opportunity. All were full of new leading-edge ideas to share with this event based on their long experience in the industry. |
| Jul 2014 | “Our Assets R U” | I find it interesting that in the blur of technology at this year’s IBcon in Vegas; the largest gathering of authorities with international case studies on the topic of open architected, interoperable and integrated IP centric smart, connected, high performance and intelligent buildings, my biggest takeaway is that it is the people of our industry many of who are part of our AutomatedBuildings.com collaboratory are our cashable assets, not technology. |
| Aug 2014 | Working Together. Separately. | Although our August theme seems like an oxymoron the cloud enables us to “Work Together” while flexing our greatest resource our people, a group of individuals that separately create pieces that fit the cloud puzzle. I recently found clarity in the cloud and have started talking funny but now have a clearer vision of our future, a collaborative mosaic of our industry “Working Together, Separately”. |
| Sep 2014 | Education for Your Vocation | It seems natural that September should be our educational issue as most of our young folks are getting back to school. I like this old retro picture of the dinosaur student as it reminds us that there is a little dinosaur in us all and we need to keep at the task of self-education |
| Oct 2014 | Automated Diagnostics Analytics | We were looking for a theme for our October issue and we polled the industry about articles featuring occupant productivity and how our industry has an amazing interaction with productivity within a building. Although all agreed that this was very true and a very powerful relationship, the general feeling was we need to keep working on how to shape occupant productivity into a real measured variable for our industry before we can include it in our ROI payback calculation. |
| Nov 2014 | The “I of Me” of IoT | Your present IoT understanding, which I choose to whimsically call “The I of Me” greatly controls your comprehension and expectations of what those three letters might mean to you and those around you. The art, science, and social interaction of our time “The Internet of Things” (IoT), reflects life and is affecting all of our lives daily so get over it. You cannot go back, sorry…..smile. |
| Dec 2014 | Creating Your Collaboration | Our December theme “Creating your Collaboration” started with my puzzling with the process of how industry knowledge gets past on. AHRExpo is the annual event where we present our free education sessions to the industry. This is our 16th year of presenting these sessions and hosting the third annual Connection Community Collaboratory meeting. Online Collaboration is how today’s education occurs. |
| 2013 | ||
| Jan 2013 | Happy New “Era” | No it is not a spelling mistake, we wish you a Happy New Year, and we also wish you a “Happy New Era” We are rapidly entering a new Era in building automation that questions all we have done before. An era denotes clearly defined periods of time that which significant change occurs. |
| Feb 2013 | Humanizing Your Cloud | Your cloud provides a lofty anywhere, any device, view of you and your corporate’s connected services. We need to humanize its interaction reflecting our expertise and connections to reality. We all need to talk about how we plan to meet and interact in the cloud. Our combined expertise in getting data ready is the value we bring the cold heartless data cloud. |
| Mar 2013 | Platforms, Frameworks and Databases | Our March theme – Platforms, Frameworks, and Databases focuses on the fact that our industries’ connection communities have all converged at a similar place and point to the cloud. We all work with real time data or very fluid data and need to stabilize this slippery substance. The conclusion is we must store this data somewhere with a time freeze so we can analyze and visualize from anywhere by any device. |
| Apr 2013 | Events Evolve Everyone | Our April theme – Events Evolve Everyone was born from the chatter of many articles and interviews in this month’s issue speaking to the importance of upcoming industry events. One of the most important functions that these events provide is they provide deadlines to present new concepts, products and services. |
| May 2013 | Dynamic Data Fuels Deep Analytics | Our May Issue theme – “Dynamic Data Fuels Deep Analytics” speaks to the importance the next level of deep analytics of almost everything will have and how we as an industry will provide a new level of deeper analytics connecting inquiring minds to almost everything with low cost real time data. |
| Jun 2013 | Data Models Alter Industry Dynamics | Just returned from a first ever very successful Haystack Connect event in Chattanooga. What I learned is it is not just the naming of data but a consistent data model that allows us to free our data to a world of dynamic dimensions for our own purposes. No longer must data be predefined before use if an accurate self-discoverable model is present. This new way of viewing data allows us a new world in which data can be used in several different ways as a dynamic subset of many scenarios |
| Jul 2013 | Building Data Delivery | The new deliverable in our industry is data. Not that we are freed from providing our core deliverable of the best environmental control for the lowest possible energy use in a sustainable manner. It is just that we need to provide anywhere data to prove that we are achieving our original deliverable. Whether you use Building as a noun or a verb it is now all about Building Data Delivery. |
| Aug 2013 | Who R We? | Who R We? or Annoying Acronyms R Us is our August theme. It may be not so much Who R We? as what do we call ourselves? A lot of discussion by industry folks on various Linkedin groups about these names and acronyms. |
| Sep 2013 | Automatically Smart | Lots of focus on the term “Smart Buildings” and what that might mean. Albert Einstein gives us good advice; “We cannot solve our problems with the same thinking we used when we created them” He goes on “Creativity is intelligence having fun” & “imagination is more import than knowledge” my personal favourite “If you can’t explain it simply, you don’t understand it well enough.” We need to think differently. |
| Oct 2013 | Build Bridges not Fences | Lots of focus on the term “Smart Buildings” and what that might mean. Albert Einstein gives us good advice; “We cannot solve our problems with the same thinking we used when we created them”He goes on “Creativity is intelligence having fun” & “imagination is more import than knowledge” And my personal favourite “If you can’t explain it simply, you don’t understand it well enough.” We need to think differently. |
| Nov 2013 | Delivering Disruption | Delivering Disruption seems like an unlikely topic to speak to but it is exactly the business we all are in today as we provide new solutions that leap over and significantly change our existing marketplace. |
| Dec 2013 | Collaborating Convergence | “Collaborating Convergence” or “The Gear Heads meet the C-suite”…..smile. I think we all have accepted that the convergence model is inevitable, but I am not sure we understood how much we all would have to collaborate to insure successful convergence. |
| 2012 | ||
| Jan 2012 | The Value of Virtual Visibility | Our Building Automation industry needs to create new value out of “virtual-ness”. By using our rapidly evolving networking tools we need to project our real time data using graphical animations of our invisible cornerstones of comfort, energy, and environmental impact. We need to “Make the Invisible Visible” so all may collaborate freely and in real time with any platform, anytime, anywhere. How hard can that be? |
| Feb 2012 | Open Connection Communities | The privilege of being the publisher/editor of AutomatedBuildings.com is that it requires that I read and assemble many articles, interviews, news releases, and new products for the large building automation industry every month. This task allows me insight to make comments on trends and shifts in direction in the industry based on the rapidly evolving information published on our magazine/online resource monthly. |
| Mar 2012 | The Wireless Way | Our March Theme”The Wireless Way” was encapsulated in our last month’s “Open Connection Communities” theme, but this is a now movement in our industry that needs its own space and focus to educate us all. The present impact and future impact of wireless on our industry is huge |
| Apr 2012 | Interacting With Energy | Our April theme Interacting with Energy is a play on words at several levels. Our daily interaction manipulating energy must be done with a lot of personal energy, but now involves interaction with our energy source the smart grid. In addition the tools of our industry such as wireless sensors are now starting to use energy harvesting to interact with energy on a micro scale and if this is not enough interaction |
| May 2012 | Convergence and Collaboration from Cloud Data | Convergence and Collaboration from Cloud Data is our theme for our May issue. It has never been clearer that the true convergence and anywhere collaboration that we all seek will be found in a cloud. The marriage of social media as data and its embedded human opinion will seamlessly mesh with real time data, shoulder to shoulder in large databases in a concept now being billed as Big Data or Data as a Service “DaaS”. |
| Jun 2012 | Opening Open | This month’s theme leapt off my tongue in cheek review of the summit, insight below, but Opening Open is an evolving reality as you can see by this month’s great content. The Niagara Summit themed “Innovation (R)evolution” in Las Vegas was a mini Woodstock for the creative connection community, the newly found cloud collaborators, unconventional control contractors, super integrators, connection want-to-be’s, control propeller heads (those that talk about change and detail at a level that makes your head spin) |
| Jul 2012 | Cloud Control | Cloud Control and the evolving Cloud Control Languages “CCL” Much of my life was spent discovering the power of control languages in the newly invented direct digital control systems. With these powerful languages I was able to do what had never been done before, create relationships never imagined, and achieve amazing solutions for both operations and energy reduction – it was the best of times. |
| Aug 2012 | Future Building | Our Future Building theme for August builds on both the noun and verb meaning of building. It is hard for us to imagine what a future building might look like and how its automation will be configured, it is easier for us as an industry to get on with the task of future building into all our services and products. |
| Sep 2012 | Defining Smart Buildings | As you can see by this month’s articles and interviews the rapid evolution and expectation of what is a smart building continues to unfold. This 2008 definition holds a good general definition of the element of and sets the base for what you might expect to find as part of a smart building. “The use of networked technology, embedded within architecture to monitor and control elements of the architecture for the exchange of information between users, systems and buildings.” |
| Oct 2012 | Connecting Connection Communities | Our October theme is the topic on my mind because I have been in dialog with several in the industry about our event at this year’s AHR Expo “Why we need to be part of several Connection Communities?” One of our Education Sessions, Dallas AHR Expo 2013. Over the last several years organizations and groups have been extremely successful in connecting our industry. The name “Connection Communities” has been attached to the purpose and function these organizations provide. |
| Nov 2012 | Lighting Community | November’s theme plays on both the noun lighting and verb lighting to provide two different meanings. Which way did you read it? The community of folks who provide lighting control? or the action word for our job to provide lighting control to several communities? Hurricane Sandy has been a very graphical demonstration of how we need to control quickly all our electrical building loads to prevent further damage when disaster strikes. |
| Dec 2012 | Connection’s Communities | Connection’s Communities is the theme of our December AHR Expo preview issue with the gathering of our industries’ connection communities in Dallas. How does your product or service connect to everything in our online world and which Connection Communities are part of it? |
| 2011 | ||
| Jan 2011 | Anywhere Integration | The Creation of Anywhere Integration and the general anywhereness ( yes that is now a word in Wikipedia ) of our industry will be our challenge for 2011. I am very pleased with our January issue’s diversity of articles and interviews that depict our anywhereness. As you can see from our past issues 2010 has been all about building automation connecting to everything while using the internet cloud as the medium. This has evolved to Anywhere Integration of our information and services and will set the theme for 2011. |
| Feb 2011 | Building Automation and Web Services? | Is Building Automation rapidly evolving its Web Services? Our past issues have talked about our anywhereness and Interrogating Information 4 Integration. If you couple this with this month’s articles and the interview it all points to the rapid transition by our industry to use web services that are interwoven with our traditional real-time data. |
| Mar 2011 | “Making the Invisible Visible” | Our March theme “Making the Invisible Visible” is about how we as an industry depict our invisible cornerstones of comfort, energy, and environmental impact. How can we best show what cannot be seen: Temperature?, Comfort?, Electricity?, Performance?, and the necessary information to maintain all? |
| Apr 2011 | Organize, Analyze, Visualize, then Monetize | April Organize, Standardize, Analyze, Visualize, then Monetize $ We live in interesting times. Who knew that our industry’s organizational clarity would come from a cloud? And that this cloud would be better organized by a project called haystack. And the organizational output of the haystack would make the invisible visible which would lead to a new way to view and monetize the Building Automation Industry, OK I am done playing with words. Read this month’s articles and interviews to see what set me off. |
| May 2011 | California Cloud Connections | Our monthly theme reflects the general gist of our dynamic monthly content. May started with Anto asking me to help with a track for his BuilConn portion of ConnectivityWeek in Santa Clara, California. The subject matter was near to me Buildings Data in the Cloud The evolving sessions of this track have reconnected me to John Petze and Anno Scholten and allowed them to share some of their thoughts about how the industry is positioning itself in the data cloud. |
| Jun 2011 | In and Out of the Cloud | Should data be in or out of the cloud? The answer is yes. The cloud is a virtual conduit that can aggregate application and analysis. We have moved from multiple independent web applications serving each building to independent single web applications serving multiple buildings. I have just returned from a successful Connectivity Week and a complete track of three separate sessions about our Buildings Data in the Cloud |
| Jul 2011 | Creating Interactions | Wiki defines Interaction design very well — “embedding information technology into the ambient social complexities of the physical world.”Interaction design (IxD) defines the structure and content of communication between two or more interactive “beings” to understand each other. By nature, all humans possess interactivity and most of human communication, verbal or not, is interactive. |
| Aug 2011 | Embracing Change? | I am using embracing in its second sense to “Accept or support (a belief, theory, or change) willingly and enthusiastically”. As they say the only “constant is change” and this has never been truer than now in our industry. Our industry has become very visible anywhere and a very large part of today’s web services and smart grid. Are we Embracing the necessary changes enthusiastically and fast enough to keep control of our industry? |
| Sept 2011 | Are We “Open” for Business? | Our September theme; ” Are we “Open” for Business?” refers to how important being open has become to our industry and how it has helped us grow and become part of something much larger. What are open systems? The Free Dictionary provides this definition; 1. A system in which the components and protocols conform to standards independent of a particular supplier. |
| Oct 2011 | Come In We’re Open | AutomatedBuildings.com is definitely open and we invite you to come on in and share your thoughts on what open means to you and how we might best achieve an open industry. We have provided links to several months of discussions in Our Ongoing Open Control Programming Language Discussions. We would be pleased to start other open discussions. |
| Nov 2011 | Automation Turns Green | The theme of “automation” was woven through this year’s educational sessions and programming, foreshadowing what’s in store for Greenbuild 2012. LEED Automation emerged as a critical theme for the future of the LEED green building process, and since 2010, USGBC has been working with multiple LEED Automation partners-companies that are streamlining and changing the way LEED projects are documented and certified. |
| Dec 2011 | Connecting Communities | Our December theme Connecting Communities speaks about the many new communities that building automation now is part of. Last month our focus was on how building automation is turning green and we have more articles with great examples on how visualization thru graphics can allow Buildings to “Come to Life” and Teach Occupants about Sustainability. We have an article that examines the human perception of dashboards and the requirement of a standard to communicate a consistent message |
| 2010 | ||
| Jan 2010 | A New Decade + AHR Preview | The past decade has been an extraordinary adventure in discovering new social models on the Web – ways to work, create and organize outside of the traditional institutions of companies, governments and academia. But the next decade will be all about applying these models to the real world. |
| Feb 2010 | Building Automation Deployment As Several Services BAD-ASS | We just returned from a very successful AHR Expo in Orlando and the buzz was all about how powerful cloud-based web services are radically changing our industry. Several vendors demonstrated augmented realities with close coupled web services that provided iphone type mind-expanding services at lower than before costs. Another common theme was that because of the evolving reach and complexities of our industry, these solutions need to be several services not one “all-encompassing”. |
| Mar 2010 | The Next Big Things – Web & Wireless | One of the advantages of a life spanning over 4 decades in an industry is to be able to recognize trends that will radically redefine an industry. Please read my article The Next Big Things for insight on these comments. Although my peers cringe at my loose definition of web deployment which I have chosen to include any services provided by the web automatically or even utilizing manual intervention, web deployment of all our services is redefining our industry. |
| Apr 2010 | Building Connections@ConnectivityWeek | Our April theme plays on “Building” as a verb and a noun. Either way www.ConnectivityWeek.com is a great place for building your connections and networks to folks who are radically changing our world. A place to create new networks and strengthening your existing while rubbing shoulders with the folks that are redefining; Smart Grid, Wireless, Web Services, Energy Management, Open Standards, etc. |
| May 2010 | Connectivity Transforms Our Industry | I always like waiting till the last few days to select a monthly theme for our issue, because we operate without an editorial calendar publishing articles and interviews as they are submitted, most of which are only days old. Unfortunately, some are only hours old. Within this rapid dynamic, there always surfaces a common theme of what everyone is talking about. My summation this month is how this new fabric of integration and convergence called connectivity is radically transforming our industry and our business models within. |
| Jun 2010 | Building to Grid “B2G” Connectivity is Inevitable | Even if your local electrical grid is not yet smart it soon will be forced to change its ways and engage in the incredible opportunity that is smart grid. The easiest first step is to manipulate the large existing connected loads in Automated Buildings by offering incentives in the form of dynamic pricing to achieve a proven successful B2G relationship. |
| Jul 2010 | The Connectivity of Everything | Connectivity of everything is a growing reality and with each new connection comes new opportunities and new perspectives. Just as low cost powerful connectivity is changing and actually simplifying our personal lives with internet extensions “apps” to our hand held devices, building automation is caught up in the same connectivity growth. Our content this month provides a good overview of the spectrum of industry connectivity. Let me pull a few examples; |
| Aug 2010 | Improving Industry Information Integration | We have recycled the logo on the cover from an Article – January 2002. The pull quote from this article states; There has been much attention paid to the relative merits of various protocols in the Building Automation industry. The key to successful integration lies not in the protocol, but in the information model that it represents. |
| Sep 2010 | Open Information Connections | Our September theme “Open Information Connections” starts with Nirosha’s pull quote from his article “Open” ‘Open’ is the most fundamental keyword that has driven the BAS industry over the last decade and will continue to drive it in the future. But does not end there, as the word “open” which was originally used to refer to open protocols has become the way that all information must be shared and connected. |
| Oct 2010 | From Field to Cloud | Continuously Connected Open Information is the theme of our 12th consecutive year of providing free education sessions at AHR Expo, see our sneak preview. It seems that this topic is on everyone’s mind as we see that we are the industry most likely to provide the connection of real time data to the cloud. Lots of great articles speaking to this as everyone is trying to address how to best get information to cloud-based services. |
| Nov 2010 | Connecting Building Automation to Everything | Our cover picture graphically shows that our connection to information technology is daily extending its reach. I have included a link to a web site about this, a six-story 3,200-sq.-ft digital sign billboard plus other connections in the stuff across my desk. This is stuff that I never know quite what to do with but feel compelled to share with you before I delete, because it is fun and heralds the media and social trends that are changing our industry |
| Dec 2010 | Interrogating Information 4 Intelligent Integration | The last few months have seen me lost in the clouds and their connections so I am pleased to have several industry experts help me show you how to make sense and control all of this new found data. Very pleased to have John Petze share his thoughts in an interview “Finding What Matters” in a sea of data |
| 2009 | ||
| Jan 2009 | Continuing the Countdown to Chicago | Reinvention is necessary not because we want to, but because we have to. The present financial times are rapidly redefining what is sustainable and what is not and Building Automation in its present form is not achieving anywhere close to its potential. Typical heating, ventilation and air conditioning systems are 50% efficient compared to fully integrated systems. |
| Feb 2009 | A Reflection on our Reinvention | I am pleased to reflect our reinvention. The scope of our industry is rapidly changing and fueling our reinvention as our buildings become a major interactive load on the national smart electrical grid. The definition of what is included as part of Building Automation grows daily. We are an industry which is growing taller in public profile, wider in our reach of technologies touched, and deeper in data connectivity |
| Mar 2009 | Nurturing Our Networks | Whether social or physical our evolving networks require our closest attention and need to be carefully nurtured to grow strong while incorporating every sustainable future possibility. Our March issue speaks well to this subject. |
| Apr 2009 | B the U in YoungEnergy.org | Our April issue builds on March’s theme of nurturing our personal networks by calling the young to our industry with all of us becoming the “you” in the newly formed industry collaboration called www.youngenergy.org The daily mindless mass migration of people to places is over. Only connected people and collaborative services and products will survive by connecting to the web of the future. |
| May 2009 | The Reinvention Convention | Although I did not invent Building Automation, I was there when it happened. I saw hardwired logic machines give way to mini computers with dumb panels. In 1975 I was involved with a evolutionary, possibly the first distributed computerized Direct Digital Control system for a large University Campus. So I am extremely pleased to go to the silicon valley as a reinvented digital dinosaur and be part of the Reinvention Convention for Building Automation and beyond. For a sneak preview of my track Reinventing Building Automation |
| June 2009 | The Power of the People | The theme of our June issue “The Power of the People” refers to the ability of people to create change as well as the fact that electrical power, which only a few years ago seemed to be the property of the utilities, is now perceived to be the power of the people. |
| July 2009 | The Clouds of Convergence & Connectivity | I’ve looked at clouds from both sides now, From up and down, and still somehow, It’s cloud illusions I recall, I really don’t know clouds at all. From Joni Mitchell a Canadian musician, songwriter’s song “Both Sides Now”.There are clouds on the horizon and I am excited. The summation of My Takeaways from ConnectivityWeek in Santa Clara was that Clouds are OK. |
| Aug 2009 | Building Cloud Connections | When we started AutomatedBuildings.com we joked that our purpose was to “join the dots” of our Building Automation industry…the dot coms, the dot org etc . Eleven years later all these connected dots to our web site have led to the new focus of building cloud connections. |
| Sept 2009 | With our feet on the ground and our heads in the cloud | Our last few issues have been pointed toward the cloud and all of its power and how this will revolutionize our industry. It is very important that while we understand our new found powers that we keep our feet on the ground and connect this cloud to real applications and real people. Once you get it and start bantering with your fellow “cloudys” Take the time to explain how the connections to the concepts of SaaS, ACC, Smart Grid etc are affordable and real |
| Oct 2009 | “Information, Integration, and Transformation” | All the articles, interviews and columns in this month’s issue reverberate our theme “Information, Integration, and Transformation” which was taken from Rick Huijbregts, Vice President, Vertical Industries Cisco Canada article The Real Value of Building Information, Integration and Transformation, that speaks of how Collaboration and communication has been re-defined, and video and mobility are some of the key instigators. |
| Nov 2009 | Measure, Map & Manage | Our theme for November summarizes how our industry is now Measuring and sensing almost everything and then Mapping to graphical representations to developing strategies for Managing from anywhere anytime. To make this happen we need to lower the cost of sensors and their installation and increase their reach, improve our presentation models while looking to the cloud for better low cost management. |
| Dec 2009 | AHR Preview | 2010 AHR Expo – Orlando “Building Automation and the Cloud” Here is a sneak preview of our education sessions for AHR Expo 2010 |
| 2008 | ||
| Jan 2008 | Substance for Sustainability | To achieve sustainability in our industry we must start with adding substance to the sustainable dialog that is going on. I am extremely pleased that this month’s articles, interviews, reviews and AHR Expo New York previews do just that. |
| Feb 2008 | Weaving Powerful Web Services | Weaving Powerful Web Services. We just returned from New York City where we attended and participated in both the B2G Summit and AHRExpo 2008. Although both were very different events there was a common cry for a significant change that would provide a path to sustainability. |
| Mar 2008 | Going Green | Going Green is this month’s theme by default as almost every article uses the word green or somehow references to the sustainable movement. I am pleased with our industry’s response to the need for change and seizing the opportunities that lie within. |
| Apr 2008 | The New Face of Building Automation | Our industry has developed a new face, not just the one projected on this building by digital signage software but a new face that includes new functionality and form. Buildings are now expected to be an interactive part of their virtual community and of course the electrical grid. This new face is creating untold opportunities that we all must investigate, understand and support |
| May 2008 | Convergence in Action | Our May issue is dedicated to Convergence in Action the theme for the BuilConn event at the Santa Clara Convention Center May 19 to 22. This event is poised to better identify and demonstrate the next major steps in convergence in our industry. Jane and I are attending and participating with our full support for this milestone event. What makes a milestone event? An event that brings together the newest concepts in our industry in a manner that has not been done before. |
| June 2008 | Be the Change! | Jane and I just returned from an extremely successful ConnectivityWeek in Santa Clara, California, called “Empowering the Energy Revolution”. The previews in our May issue “Convergence in Action” came alive at this event and the overwhelming takeaway message was ”We must be the change we seek!” |
| July 2008 | Entering our 10th year online! | If you flashback 10 years with us – We have selected this article to be in our first launch issue because we think it sends us all a wake up call as to how significant the internet is going to be in the future |
| Aug 2008 | Convergence Communities | Our August theme “Convergence Communities” is the start of the change we seek. We are extremely pleased to bring the thoughts and opinions of the change agents that are working hard to create our new convergence |
| Sept 2008 | Demand Response NEEDS YOU | Demand Response Needs You, me, and the rest of the BAS industry to make our rolling stock and lighting loads the dynamic part of DR. |
| Oct 2008 | Our New Energy Paradigm | October’s issue speaks to the radical changes occurring in our industry at many levels. Our cover picture shows global thinking with an aggressive Building to Grid project where the Building and Electrical grid lines blur. For more on this project click here; Positive Energy Building in Masdar, Abu Dhabi. |
| Nov 2008 | Making sense of it all at Grid-Interop | November theme is …making sense of it all at Grid-Interop. This is the second Grid-Interop conference www.grid-interop.com/2008 focusing on Interoperability technology for the electric grid, and will be the first time that the conference is held in partnership with the National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST). |
| Dec 2008 | Countdown Chicago | December issue is our “Countdown Chicago” issue with a preview of new products, services, education sessions plus even more of what you will see at http://www.ahrexpo.com/ January 26-28 in Chicago. Be sure to take a look at our preview of our large building automation industries’ involvement at the World’s largest HVAC&R Marketplace. |
| 2007 | ||
| Jan 2007 | Specifying Integrated Technology Systems in a Fragmented World | How do integrated technology systems get installed in new buildings? They are installed when they are designed into the buildings. The design of building technology systems is communicated to the installing contractor and others through specifications and drawings, which together are referred to as the “construction documents”. Here’s an overview of construction documents and the reasons they are critical to manufacturers, contractors and designers of integrated building systems. |
| Feb 2007 | GridWeek, Washington DC, April 23-26. | AutomatedBuildings.com an online magazine and resource for the large building automation industry is pleased and proud to be a media sponsor |
| Mar 2007 | Our Sponsors. | Tell our sponsors you saw their ads on the AutomatedBuildings.com web site and thank them for supporting your free access to evolving Automated Building Industry information. Click on their ads and view their valuable products and services. Please review all |
| Apr 2007 | AN INDUSTRY IN CHANGE | I am extremely pleased with our April issue as all of our contributing editors have opened their minds and provided us their thoughts on the radical changes needed in our industry. They have done what AutomatedBuildings.com does best “Think Out Loud”. It is this process and using the power of the internet, that has enabled us to inform, educate, change minds and connect industry leaders to take our industry to the next level. |
| May 2007 | THE WINDS OF CHANGE | We have just returned from GridWeek in Washington DC where we witnessed the winds of change blowing in several directions and at several levels. This event allowed the politicians, electrical regulators, generation, distribution folks and the technology providers a common venue to talk about the smart grid of the future and changes that would be required. I was extremely pleased to hear that conservation and connectivity are the fifth fuel for the grid of the future. |
| Jun 2007 | CONNECTIVITY CHANGES EVERYTHING | Our last two issues of AutomatedBuildings.com have focused on change in our industry; this change is being driven by the powerful ever evolving connectivity. This new found substance “connectivity” is no longer a concept; it is a reality that is changing how we work and what our industry will look like in the near future. |
| Jul 2007 | CHANNELLING CHANGE | July issue tackles the task of how can we best channel our efforts to become part of this change. It has become very clear that no one identity will provide the complete changes we are describing and we must all organize or channel our products and services and choose our partners so we become the change we seek. |
| Aug 2007 | Making Money with BAS Mash-ups | “How do I make money from change?” Good question. Understanding how to mash-up the opportunities and leap frog ahead is our new number one priority. The term mash-up refers to a new breed of web-based applications where we take the traditional and non traditional connections of our Building Automation Systems and combine them to fit the owner’s enterprise, while making a profit. |
| Sep 2007 | Demand Dollars fuel our New Economy | Our Building Automation Industry can now demand dollars for giving back kW of electrical peak demand to the grid. This new reality is changing everything, while creating a new and very demanding Demand Response Industry. This new industry comes with new dollars for our industry which were previously spent on providing electrical generation and distribution. |
| Oct 2007 | 3 C’s Melt Traditional Building Lines | the three “C’s” Conservation, Connectivity, and Convergence. Deep integration was talked about in every session and how the new converged model of our industry includes close, near and far integration. With all this growth in web based capabilities the hard traditional lines of our building industry are melting into softer identities that closer reflect the virtual nature of our web based ways. |
| Nov 2007 | Achieving Net Zero Buildings | GridWise and Demand Response thinking comes to summation in these two new breed “Net Zero Projects”. These projects show us how to integrate the building as a power plant to provide both its own power while passing on any excess power to the grid. |
| Dec 2007 | Sponsor Feature | Reliable Controls® Corporation specializes in designing and manufacturing Internet-connected building controls that are simple, flexible, and competitively priced. The company’s products are used to monitor and control the mechanical/HVAC and electrical/lighting equipment found in every kind of building. |
| 2006 | ||
| Jan/Feb 2006 | Five BACnet Addenda Recommended for Public Review | Five addenda to ASHRAE’s BACnet standard were recommended for public review at the Society’s 2006 Winter Meeting held Jan. 21-25, Chicago. ANSI/ASHRAE Standard 135-2004, BACnet® — A Data Communication Protocol for Building Automation and Control Networks, allows building equipment and systems manufactured by different companies to work together. The proposed addenda, c, d, e, f and g, are expected to be released for public comment in March. |
| Mar 2006 | Building Automation Renaissance | How to survive & prosper from Building-IT Convergence Anto Budiardjo, President & CEO, Clasma Events Inc. and Ken Sinclair, AutomatedBuildings.com |
| Apr 2006 | Nothing to Say! | How Can a Building be Intelligent if it has Nothing to Say? – Bill Gnerre, CEO and Cofounder and Kevin Fuller, Executive Vice President, Interval Data Systems, Inc. |
| May 2006 | Stop Trying | Stop Trying to Solve Business Problems with a Control System Bill Gnerre, CEO and Cofounder and Kevin Fuller, Executive Vice President, Interval Data Systems, Inc. |
| June 2006 | The oBIX M2M Web | The Open Building Information Exchange (oBIX) is a specification advanced by the OASIS international standards consortium to provide a standardized foundation for this M2M Web. Brian Frank, Tridium |
| July 2006 | Can ASHRAE Reinvent Itself? | “We’re ready, and we’re waiting! Which is it?” Thomas Hartman, P E, The Hartman Company |
| Aug 2006 | Our Sponsors | Please take time to visit our sponsors. They are the industry and what keeps our magazine ad free. |
| Sep 2006 | The HVAC Industry CAN Reinvent Itself! | There is a growing understanding that there will come a point in human history at which society has to learn to continue its progress while it reduces its consumption of resources. That time may be very near. Thomas Hartman, P E, The Hartman Company |
| Oct 2006 | ASHRAE Receives EPA Grant to Provide Advanced IAQ Guidance | ASHRAE has received a $510,000 grant from the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) to provide guidance for designing and building healthier buildings with effective operation and maintenance programs that reduce exposure to toxics and asthma/allergy triggers. |
| Nov 2006 | Moving Toward A Sustainable Building Industry | A sustainable building industry will not only require new technologies, but also a vastly improved process for designing, constructing, and operating buildings. Thomas Hartman, P E, The Hartman Company |
| Dec 2006 | AHR Expo 2007 | Some previews of Dallas Expo January 29-31 |
| 2005 | ||
| Jan/Feb 2005 | 2005, The Year of XML? | Maybe it’s better stated that XML could become the enabler and driver for 2005 being the year of Open Systems in buildings.Anto Budiardjo President & CEO, Clasma, Inc. |
| Mar/Apr 2005 | Building Web Services at a Crossroads | It is said, “Well begun is half done.” Well, we are certainly well begun. Please help us come and begin the rest.Toby Considine. Technology Officer, Facility Services, University of North Carolina – Chapel Hill & oBIX Chairman |
| May/Jun 2005 | Corporate Enterprises Are Forever Changed With Real-Time Building Information | Real-time information is creating a revolution that is changing the direction and purpose of the corporate enterprise. This wealth of continuously generated and instantly updated data is breathing new life into corporate enterprises while spouting new business models. The results are changing forever the traditional core company values. |
| Jul/Aug 2005 | Buying Integration Solutions from a Control’s Warehouse | Even though I have my head deep into industry integration solutions, I have to admit that I did not see this one coming, or at least not so fast. I think if I had thought about it I would have predicted that “Buying Integration Solutions from a Control’s Warehouse” would occur 4 or 5 years after the integration industry matured. But integration solutions are becoming sought after commodities and the market for them is here now. |
| Sep/Oct 2005 | Backing BACnet | It did not take long for all the top controls manufacturers in the business to sign up for this event. Within two weeks of posting sponsorship opportunities, we filled each one. This has allowed us to build a first-class conference while keeping the registration fees at bargain prices. The two full days of educational programs alone justify the trip to Nashville in October. |
| Nov/Dec 2005 | Seminar at AHR | The time is right for Intelligent Buildings! Plan on attending the Building Intelligence Tour seminar on January 25, 2006 at AHR in Chicago and find out why. Leading industry experts will come together to define the elements of an intelligent building, document the financial benefits, detail the required technologies, reveal research, and assist you with planning your next project. In addition, the seminar will feature profiles of actual projects from around the world and reveal the best practices. |
| 2004 | ||
| Jan/Feb 2004 | Facility Management – Better, Faster and Cheaper | Providing better, faster, and cheaper solutions is a great benefit offered in the world of Facility Management today. Consulting and systems integration firms that focus on facilities and document management information technology solutions are able to provide their customers with better, faster, and cheaper solutions through the focus of different Facility Management processes. |
| Mar/Apr 2004 | Entering the Enterprise Through the Office | As purveyors of dynamic data in our newly defined building automation industry, we are constantly exploring the best methods of bringing our wares to our client’s enterprise. The general acceptance and industry familiarity with the Microsoft Office Suite of programs makes this a natural conduit to pipe our real-time data to the enterprise. The power and inter-workability of this family of programs has made them a global de facto standard for most corporate enterprises. |
| May/Jun 2004 | Waking Up to Wireless | Approximately 10 to 15% of the folks at the conference were in the wireless industry. Wireless is now cheaper, runs forever on batteries, can even be self-generating, and can now organize itself into self healing and repeating networks. Let me provide you connection to some of the new thinking that will appear in our building automation products in the near future. |
| Jul/Aug 2004 | Connecting Convergence | In our fourth supplement “Connecting Convergence” prepared for Engineered Systems Anto and I identify the major trends that are fuelling the connection of real time data to our client’s enterprise. For the most part convergence has happened and what is left to do is sort out who will be the players and which standards will be used in providing these essential connections. |
| Sep/Oct 2004 | Globalization of Building Automation Standards | October 2004 hosts several international events that will do a lot to globalize Building Automation Standards. The global acceptance of these standards will greatly enhance their overall powers. |
| Nov/Dec 2004 | From Disneyland to Disney World | This year, the Expo will feature over 1500+ Leading Manufacturers and Suppliers from 30 Countries, thousands of new and upgraded products, an anticipated 45,000+ HVAC&R professionals including thousands of international visitors. |
| 2003 | ||
| Jan/Feb 03 | Repackaging the Large Building Automation Industry | In the last few decades our industry has evolved from low visibility sub contractor supplying thermostats, dampers and valves, to our present position of partnering directly with owners to simplify, enhance and automate building operations. |
| Mar/Apr 2003 | It is Time to Upgrade your DDC System | Our industry’s Direct Digital Control (DDC) systems, some of which are up to 20 years old, have performed extremely well with great reliability, and have reduced control maintenance to the point that it has almost been eliminated. This has been of great benefit to Building Owners. |
| May/Jun 2003 | Preparing For Your Metamorphosis | Metamorphosis is evolution on fast forward. The ability for a metamorphosis to occur requires all the evolutionary pieces are in place, but once they are, metamorphosis occurs very quickly. If you are not paying close attention all of a sudden you are still in your original form and everyone else has morphed. Is your present level of personnel evolution ready to allow for metamorphosis? |
| July/Aug 2003 | XML Spells Connection to the Future | An open letter to the Building Controls Industry turned into a reality at the consortium’s first meeting at BuilConn in Dallas. That open letter, which we ran on the AutomatedBuildings.com website, proposed that we establish a consortium that would work on the creation of a guideline for use of XML and Web Services in building automation and control applications. I was able to attend this groundbreaking meeting in Dallas and the sense of purpose and cooperation in the room was amazing. |
| Sept/Oct 2003 | Documenting our Changing World | Our ability to assemble and document the information we are about to change, as well as documenting how we changed it, is cardinal to our successful transition. |
| Nov/Dec 2003 | Protection, Correction and Connection | Several hundred years ago large buildings were all about Protection. Castles and churches provided protection against the weapons of the time; spears, arrows, swords and other hand-to-hand combat weapons. This era ended because of the development of “gunpowder”. These structures could no longer effectively provide protection. Social changes followed as the development of weapons using gunpowder started the industrial revolution. Large numbers of workers in the cities led to the development of buildings for housing. |
| 2002 | ||
| Jan/Feb 2002 | Building Automation Globalization | Users like myself equipped with a wireless LAN card in their notebook have the ability to connect to the Internet through Wireless LAN which provides Internet access services running at high speed. This is the future, high speed wireless access will be everywhere and if you are within range you will have access. Costs will fall as services are more commonly used and areas of the globe that do not provide low cost or no cost seamless wireless Internet access will be severely handicapped. |
| Mar/Apr 2002 | Making Our Own Markets | The way we market our large Building Automation Industry is rapidly changing. As if the technology explosion occurring in our industry was not enough, now all the marketing rules of the past are changing. Old relationships, methodologies and even some of the mythologies are giving way to new and creative approaches to marketing our wares |
| May/Jun 2002 | Increased Focus on Online Training for Building Automation | The importance and necessity of online training for our industry has reached a new level. In the past online training concepts gained ground but recent events have increased industry focus on the value of online training. Travel restrictions plus the reduced desire to travel, when coupled with the amount and diversity of information necessary to learn, are driving us to more online training |
| Jul/Aug 2002 | Web Based Facilities Operations Guide | Doing more with less by using Web-based anywhere information to amplify your existing building operational resources. The reality of today’s and tomorrow’s economy is that we will be doing more with less to effectively manage our buildings. Our saviour is that technology in the form of Web-based everything is now providing us with a path to improved communications while simplifying the movement of complex building information to the evolving Building Operations Specialist. |
| Sept/Oct 2002 | We The People | I am often asked, “Who is driving the web integration that is presently revolutionizing our industry?” The answer is “We the people of the large building automation industry”. That includes you! There are no secret organizations or committees spearheading the revolution, it is simply happening. We the messengers are only reporting and linking to existing web integration information. |
| Nov/Dec 2002 | Industry Focus Shifts to Web Convergence | The first few years of the DDC revolution our industry created a stable of ” Awful Mated Buildings ” I fear this could occur again with our first attempts at web convergence. The large building automation industry understood early the concept of web convergence but I do not believe that we envisioned ourselves as having such an active part in it. |
| 2001 | ||
| Jan/Feb 2001 | “State-of-the-Art Capabilities in Building Automation” AHR Expo Session | The new educational sessions are designed to deliver objective content that informs and educates AHR Expo attendees. International Exposition hosted its first ever session of this type at last year’s AHR Expo in Dallas, Texas and I had the opportunity to be part of this groundbreaking session. There I met my speaking partner David J. Branson for the first time. We had assembled our presentation over the internet, but had never met. |
| Mar/Apr 2001 | Working Without Wires | Working without wires is a new concept for our Automated Buildings Industry. Like the skydiver in our article badge the freedom and power is awesome, but a little scary. Our industry has been woven together with wires and only recently have we been getting our minds around a wire-reduced world with the acceptance of several levels of networking. |
| May/Jun 2001 | eDucation | Sensing the industry need for education we have replaced the Systems tab on our top menu bar with the word eDUCATE. The small e large D refers to our online education web presence like eCom. The Systems information has become a subset of eDUCATE. The rapid changing Automated Building industry has always required that all players be constantly re-educating themselves to keep current, but never has there been a time when this is so important. |
| Jul/Aug 2001 | is full of IT | Building Automation IS IT I greatly underestimated the speed at which our industry would migrate to information systems and information technology. |
| Sept/Oct 2001 | Restructuring for the Componentization Era | Major restructuring of our industry is required and is happening allowing web-wise solutions with full integration of the Componentization Era into powerful enterprise controls. Ken Sinclair, AutomatedBuildings.com |
| Nov/Dec 2001 | The Indispensible Internet | My last few ES Building Automation columns, as well as follow up article “Restructuring for the Componentization Era” all have the common theme that web ways are winning. Further reading of related articles and interviews in the last several months’ issues of www.automatedbuildings.com’s online magazine “The Automator”, indicates that the web is destined to control the Building Automation evolution. |
| 2000 | ||
| Jan/Feb 2000 | Integrating the Integrators with BIAS | When I first grasped the concept of a Building Automation Integrator it seemed simple. Open Networks and Common Communication Protocols allowed a person called “An Integrator” to piece together a more flexible control system from several vendors’ products. It seemed to be a natural evolutionary step for existing automators to use their newfound networking powers. |
| Mar/Apr 2000 | When Automation Becomes Art | This is not just a spectator sport, please send your articles, new releases and new product information to us. Click here to see article format. If you are pushed for time send us an email and we will format your message to the industry and your clients. |
| May/Jun 2000 | Ten Observed Trends in eCom for the Building Automation Industry. | Our new Industry eCom Directory resulted from a review of several e-com sites. Below are ten observed trends followed by a few of my own thoughts on eCom for our industry. |
| Jul/Aug 2000 | A Year of Rapid Change at AutomatedBuildings.com | I have been on the leading/bleeding edge of the building automation industry for over 30 years. I have seen pneumatic control give way to electronic, electronics turn into main frame computers as big as refrigerators, mainframes give way to mini computers the size of suitcases, mini computers evolve to stand-alone panels the size of clipboards which gave away to micro panels the size of pocket calculators, and now input and output devices become addressable. |
| Sept/Oct 2000 | North American Controls Market could double | The latest edition of i&i/ Proplan’s study on the North American market for Intelligent Building Controls (IBC(e))* shows that sales by IBC(e) manufacturers at engineered prices were approximately $1.3 billion in 1998 making it the world’s largest single market. |
| Nov/Dec 2000 | Creating and Maintaining Your Virtual Image | To the connected community you are your Virtual Image. This is the way they will first meet you and create their relationship with you. Your core business is the purpose for you to create and maintain your virtual image but do not underestimate the power of this new medium in evolving your business to a new identity and purpose. It is inevitable that your virtual image and real identity will become one. |
| 1999 | ||
| Jul/Aug 1999 | Our Startup Issue! | The Automator our Emagazine will keep you on top of the late breaking news, articles and product reviews for the Building Automation Industry. Our Editorial below provides an update on what is new in this issue |
| Sept/Oct 1999 | Management’s Top Five Y2K Issues | As promised, this top-five summary consists of information that is non-technical. It’s intended primarily for those with management responsibility for Y2K projects within their organizations. The top five points about the year 2000 problem are: • IT’S TIME SENSITIVE. • IT’S A BUSINESS, NOT TECHNICAL, PROBLEM. • 100% SOLUTIONS MAY BE IMPRACTICAL. • NO BUSINESS IS AN ISLAND. • LABOR-SAVING RESOURCES EXIST. |
| Nov/Dec 1999 | Are Automated Buildings Converging or Colliding With The Internet? | Are AutomatedBuildings Converging or Colliding with the Internet? Is our industry listening to the wake up calls of the information revolution? |
First 20 years of 25 anniversary Our AB blur in a video posted on LinkedIn with a dynamic menu you can control below.
In this video, We share our experience creating the first ever online DDC spec in the mid-1990s. I talk about how it all started with how the website took on a life of its own over the next 20 years. Join me as I take you through the blur of what you missed in the first two decades of automatedbuildings.com
Click here, go to the 3D button on the left, and see our first 20 years as you scroll
| View AutomatedBuilding’s History by Timeline view Online Chapters of our Digital Transformations 20 year History of AutomatedBuildings 15th Anniversary Celebration |
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