Building owners know there will always be problems with the structures they own. Sometimes they can band-aid their way to temporary solutions. At other times, tenant complaints and safety concerns add up to situations that are no longer manageable with short-term fixes.

So they seek help to figure out what needs to be fixed, how to fix it, and how to verify if what was fixed was fixed properly. Their resources could include consultants, architects, test-balance experts, mechanical engineers, contractors, and subcontractors ranging from painters and drywallers to HVACR technicians and plumbers - and most every other trade.

But the thought of dealing with all the different components and personnel can prove daunting. That’s why a former HVACR contractor from Bradenton, Fla., has developed a one-stop place to deal with all those issues - or more correctly, to have all those issues turned over to one person. Larry Pearson created Panoramic Building Performance Solutions, which includes an expertise he said he has been offering for some six years. This consists of:

• Building diagnostics to determine what is needed.

• Building improvements per the diagnostic.

• Third-party verification of the improvements.

“Basically, we are the consultants and contractors in one,” said Pearson. “We determine why a building is not performing, then we actually do the needed work to make it perform. We function as the owner’s design-build construction division.”

DRAWING ON EXPERIENCE

Pearson is drawing on more than 30 years in the HVACR business, both as a technician and owner, to offer this expanded service.

After first working for others, he founded Larry Pearson Air Conditioning (LPAC) in 1989 which eventually evolved into a diverse IAQ contractor. Over the years, Pearson found himself more and more involved in IAQ issues, which he today says remain among the most critical issues for existing commercial buildings. He said the problems are often caused by mechanical system performances or lack thereof.

So important was (and is) IAQ that in 2007, Pearson made the transition from LPAC to Panoramic Building Performance Solutions and sold his residential air conditioning business to Lance Landrum, who continues to operate it as LPAC. In fact, the groundwork laid by Pearson and fine-tuned by Landrum caused LPAC to win The NEWS’ Best Contractor to Work For contest in 2007.

Panoramic officially came in- to existence in April 2008, even though the concept was in use for several years.

NEW VENTURE

Pearson said Panoramic focuses primarily on existing commercial buildings, a much bigger share of the commercial market than new construction. “There are always going to be existing buildings,” he said, even when new construction slows down.

And, he said, there are going to be owners who would prefer to let a single source diagnose and correct problems, rather than try to pull the complex pieces of such a renovation-upgrade project together. Pearson said he finds that most owners prefer the turnkey approach once they find a company to do it. “The problem is that entities want to consult or contract - not both, like Panoramic does.”

In approaching a project, Pearson said he looks at buildings holistically. “The building itself reacts to its own ‘parts’ and the occupants within,” he said.

The diagnostic work is done for a fee by a team assembled by Pearson that could consist at a minimum of a mechanical engineer, test-balance specialist, certified contractor, and certified industrial hygienist. Owners are shown what needs to be done and the cost. If Pearson gets the go-head, he assembles those who will do the work. The team could encompass drywallers, painters, plumbers, and HVACR people, all under Pearson’s supervision and reporting to him rather than to the building owner.

While Pearson said some projects could have some phase-in aspects, the purpose of Panoramic is not to provide piecemeal or stopgap solutions in just one or two areas of need when there could be a large number of areas that need help. He said Panoramic was designed to resolve all building issues.

Pearson said Panoramic’s services are offered nationally. “We function as the owner’s design-build construction division. That, coupled with Panoramic’s project verification component, makes our services totally unique, cost effective, and attractive,” he said.

For more information, visit www.panoramicbps.com.

Publication date: 10/20/2008