by Brianna Crandall — April 7, 2014—InsideIQ Building Automation Alliance member firms have installed or upgraded the building automation systems (BAS) at hospitals in Colorado, Maine and Texas, the organization announced recently. An international alliance of independent building automation contractors, InsideIQ firms service all kinds of commercial buildings, and recently members Control Technologies, LONG Building Technologies, and Maine Controls have completed important BAS improvements at local healthcare facilities in their regions.
Evans Army Community Hospital received a complete overhaul of its building automation system from LONG Building Technologies, based in Littleton, Colorado. The hospital at Fort Carson in Colorado Springs had old, outdated equipment that was no longer manufactured, says InsideIQ. LONG replaced it with new direct digital controls (DDC), bringing the hospital’s once obsolete system up to the latest standard in controls.
Control Technologies, headquartered in Lubbock, Texas, integrated a proprietary BAS into a new open-protocol DDC platform at Baptist St. Anthony’s Medical Center in Amarillo, Texas. The company met the twin challenges of keeping the hospital heating, ventilation and air-conditioning (HVAC) systems operational during the change-over as well as integrating two different technologies manufactured by two different companies. The new BAS platform uses thin-client access and open protocols on all current and future modifications or additions, notes InsideIQ.
Maine Controls, based in Portland, Maine, has provided BAS upgrades to several regional hospitals in the state recently, including facilities located in Bangor, Caribou, Houlton, Millinocket and Presque Isle. Work has included upgrading to universal network controllers and replacing pneumatic systems with DDC. Using the newest open-protocol technology, Maine Controls has enabled some hospitals to update their BAS gradually as money allows, instead of replacing entire systems at one time.
“InsideIQ member companies offer advanced BAS technology and skilled technicians who can complete the most complex system installation or upgrade on time and on budget, even in a demanding setting such as a hospital,” said Frank Rotello, president of the InsideIQ Building Automation Alliance. “Our members are vendor neutral, so our goal is always to find the best solution for each customer’s particular needs, not sell a specific product. InsideIQ’s expertise is the prescription for providing any hospital with a BAS that provides integrated, technologically advanced and efficient operations.”
