Small- to medium-sized buildings — usually considered to be under 50,000 square feet — make up about 94% of all commercial buildings in the U.S., according to the U.S. Energy Information Administration, yet only 13% of those buildings have a building automation system (BAS). In a white paper entitled, The Untapped 87%: Simplifying Controls Technology for Small Buildings, author James Dice, PE, CEM, CMVP and founder of Nexus Labs, says that cost and complexity are the main reasons why BAS are often only installed in larger buildings.
“Controls technology is complicated — and determining the why, who, what, where, how, and when is just plain difficult,” said Dice. “Despite the benefits, the owners of small buildings simply don’t have the time, resources, or capital to wade through this muck.”