What is a BAS Specialist, and Does Your HVAC Business Need One?

Industry demand for smart buildings and automated HVAC systems is intensifying. BAS (Building Automation Systems) refers to the interconnected systems that monitor and control a building’s HVAC, lights, and security.

HVAC businesses are increasingly expected to manage controls, automation, and energy efficiency. You’ll have to go above and beyond what normal HVAC requires. This opens up a lot of opportunities for you and your business, so the introduction of BAS is inevitable, but the question you need to ask yourself is:

Does my HVAC business need a BAS specialist?

What is a BAS specialist?

BAS is like a central point of contact for each building. It connects your systems, but it also contributes to energy management. The most common BAS technologies and platforms we see being used are those like Modbus and BACnet.

BAS shines when it comes to improving efficiency, monitoring, and remote controls. In terms of energy consumption, BAS can automatically adjust heating and cooling based on current occupancy levels and schedules, and this can significantly lower a building’s energy consumption.

Equipment faults are caught just in time before the really big, expensive breakdown can actually occur. So instead of having to only be called out when the equipment completely shuts down suddenly, you can plan your team’s call-outs and do some preventative maintenance to ensure the longevity of the equipment.

As a BAS specialist, your day-to-day would consist of programming and configuring HVAC controls, monitoring system performance, troubleshooting automation issues, integrating HVAC with smart building systems, optimizing energy efficiency, and possibly supporting remote diagnostics and analytics.

The role often consists of a combination of HVAC knowledge, electrical understanding, and software troubleshooting. BAS roles will frequently bridge field work and computer-based work.

How BAS specialists differ from traditional HVAC techs

Now, traditional HVAC techs focus primarily on equipment installation and repairs, whereas BAS specialists focus more on the control aspects, programming, and system integration. This role doesn’t cancel out HVAC techs and the work that they do, but these two roles do overlap these days.

But why are they becoming so closely connected?

The boom of smart buildings and energy efficiency regulations has driven this shift initially. This then brought on the customer’s expectation for remote monitoring, data-driven maintenance, and IoT-enabled HVAC systems.

Signs your HVAC business may need a BAS specialist

You’re taking on more commercial projects

The influx of commercial buildings ensures there is no shortage in the industry, and there’s an increasing amount of them that require BAS integration. And the larger facilities need centralized HVAC management.

Clients are asking you for smart building features

Maybe they’re asking for remote HVAC monitoring, energy dashboards, occupancy-based controls, or even automated scheduling. Or maybe they’ve directly said, “I want to make my building smarter.” Well, then it’s a bit of an awkward conversation you’d have to have, explaining that that’s beyond the capabilities of your business.

Your team struggles with controls or integration issues

Your team could be experiencing delays during commissioning, or you’re left outsourcing controls work. And another one is that your team may be having difficulty troubleshooting automation issues.

You want to expand your service offerings

BAS can open up a lot of new opportunities for an HVAC business. There are recurring preventative maintenance contracts, energy optimization initiatives, retrofits and upgrades, and continuous monitoring services. It’s a whole new stream of revenue for your business to tap into.

The business benefits of hiring a BAS specialist

As I’ve mentioned, there is an opportunity for increasing your revenue. BAS projects are often higher value in comparison to standard HVAC projects. And this presents the opportunity for you to offer recurring services, like monitoring or preventative maintenance. You’ll also have the ability to bid on larger projects of your choosing.

Customers tend to prefer one contractor handling their HVAC systems and controls together. A plus side of this, besides better customer retention, is that your troubleshooting processes will go a lot faster, and that leaves little room for communication gaps.

BAS specialists bring a certain energy efficiency expertise that is highly valued in the industry. They help optimize system performance, and energy savings happen to be a major selling point for customers.

This brings us to our next point.

Many HVAC companies are still outsourcing their automation work, so having in-house BAS expertise can differentiate your business in this competitive market.

The demand for this knowledge is continuous because the industry sits at an intersection between HVAC and IT. And if you can get your hands on some of this expertise, you’d really have an edge in the market.

What skills should a good BAS specialist have?

On the technical side of things, this specialist would need:

• Control programming skills,
• Networking fundamentals,
• Troubleshooting skills,
• To understand BAS software platforms and electrical systems.

But this doesn’t mean that HVAC knowledge falls away. They would of course still need to know about HVAC systems.

In terms of their soft skills, problem-solving, communication, and adaptability are pretty standard ones across the industry.

And then finally, the certifications and training your BAS specialist would need to have.

As a foundation, they would need to have HVAC controls certifications (like NATE). A Niagara 4 certification is like the gold standard to have in the industry for this role. Manufacturer-specific training, like with Siemens or Honeywell, is a really good sign. Actually, it’s the “wow” factor that can really help a candidate stand out from the rest.

As for BACnet certifications, while not absolutely necessary, they’re beneficial as they become evidence of acquired knowledge.

Should I hire a BAS specialist or train my existing team?

Hiring an experienced BAS specialist

So, a big advantage of this would obviously be that you’d have that expertise in your team immediately.

And you could start taking on automation projects as soon as the new hire starts.

As great as this sounds, there are some downsides to take into consideration.

For one, the high demand for BAS specialists will mean that finding the perfect candidate can prove to be difficult.

And because of this, if you do manage to find a suitable candidate, because they know their value in the industry, they might have high salary expectations.

Training your existing HVAC techs

The pros of hiring internally would be that they would already be an employee in your organisation.

They’d have existing knowledge about your company and its inner workings.

The “cultural fit” would be a lot easier because they already fit in the company. And of course, there’d be the opportunity for long-term employee development.

However, keep in mind that training will take time, especially since the role is more of a technical one. The learning curve can be quite steep.

Does your HVAC business need a BAS specialist?

Not every HVAC company needs a dedicated BAS specialist immediately.

However, businesses that are entering commercial HVAC or smart building projects should strongly consider BAS expertise.

Building automation is becoming a major part of the future of HVAC services, and customers’ attention is on this. They’re raising their expectations of HVAC companies, putting further pressure on the industry.

On the bright side, there is still a chance for you to get out in front of it all. Adapting early could give the competitive edge every business in the industry is looking for.