With the ever-broadening implementation of video surveillance and access control, audiovisual communications, fire protection, security systems, emergency systems, lighting controls, HVAC controls and green technologies, demand for building automation systems (BAS) integration is spiraling upward.

Rolling back the clock, a 2018 study commissioned by ELECTRI International determined that the biggest barrier to electrical contractors taking on BAS integration work was finding systems integration specialists. That challenge still exists, but less for ECs that  have systems integrators on payroll—or work with them frequently. 

Miller Electric Co.

Miller Electric Co., Jacksonville, Fla., acquired SiteSecure LLC in 2014, which served as a systems integrator for security systems—video surveillance, access control, automated license plate readers and security management. The acquisition enabled the company to expand its Integrated Systems Division’s product and service offerings. Because SiteSecure came with a client base in the Florida and Texas markets, the merger also expanded Miller’s geographic footprint.

With 3,500 employees, Miller Electric operates 19 offices in Alabama, Arkansas, Florida, Georgia, Maryland, North Carolina, South Carolina, Tennessee, Texas, Virginia and Wisconsin. The Integrated Systems Division employs around 250 low-voltage technicians and accounts for $65 million in annual revenue. That’s about 10% of Miller’s business, much of it coming from healthcare facilities and data centers, and most of it powered and controlled by power over ethernet.

“This specialty requires high-level training and expertise. It has enabled us to follow our clients as they expand to new areas,” said Kevin Flanigan, senior vice president of Miller’s Integrated Solutions Division. “All of our work is based on strong customer relationships.”

“We really don’t operate in the open bid world. The majority of our work is repeat business or referrals,” said Craig Bowen, director of technology for Miller’s Integrated Solutions Division. 

Bowman joined the Miller Electric team from SiteSecure. He and his brother, Andrew Bowman, Miller Electric’s chief technology officer, are engineers and worked as vice presidents for SiteSecure.

“Security tends to be the most common application for systems integration,” Craig Bowman said. 

In a hospital, a security system would likely include surveillance cameras, access controls and automated license plate readers in parking areas. For healthcare settings, system designs can accommodate Chang industrial robots that deliver medicines to patients. These operate on a private LTE broadband wireless channel.

Over the last decade, Miller Electric’s expanded BAS integration services include audiovisual and emergency communications, wayfinding, sound masking, HVAC and power quality. Systems integration work starts with installations and often yields maintenance contracts, Flanigan said.

Need for BAS integration is fueled by solar power generation and battery backup systems, which have become more common with installations of electric vehicle charging stations, Bowman said.

“There’s a real trend to create self-contained microgrids,” he said. “Monitoring and controlling the ebb and flow of the power they produce is crucial for maintaining power quality, but also for maintaining the proper functioning of other systems.”

“Because of our size and relationship as an electrical contractor, we can take advantage of product training such as Schneider Electric’s [Andover, Mass.] power management system,” Flanigan said. Though Miller Electric operates at the cutting edge of systems integration, Flanigan and Bowman said not all clients desire optimum connectedness between all systems.

“It’s a general fear of too much connectedness and being managed by a third party, but also a matter of cost,” Bowman said. “At this point in time, it costs a lot to connect everything.”

Lighting controls figure into BAS controls, but not so much for Miller Electric.

“Our work is more focused on infrastructure, security, access control and audiovisual,” Flanigan said. “Light harvesting and people counters aren’t really happening as much in the Southeast.”

Even so, Miller Electric serves clients that want novel features such as windows that change opacity depending on who enters a building. 

“These high-end features are usually for a headquarters, not for their meat-and-potatoes operations,” Bowman said.

Miller Electric relies heavily on manufacturer training and supports certification of staff engineers who create interactive, industry-­certified systems secure by design.

“Manufacturers drive a lot of the training,” Bowman said. “Whether it’s security or audiovisual or power management, you have to be certified by a manufacturer. And you have to keep learning and using what you know. It’s a lot like learning a language.”

Miller Electric created a low-voltage learning lab, used by the Electrical Training Alliance of Jacksonville. The company also hires just about all video/data/voice apprentices, otherwise known as low-­voltage technicians, trained out of IBEW Local 177 in Jacksonville.

“We anticipate that manpower demands will continue to pose a challenge with systems integration,” Flanigan said. “That’s why we’ve done our part to keep cultivating low-voltage talent.”

Jamerson & Bauwens Electrical Contractors Inc.

Jamerson & Bauwens Electrical Contractors Inc., Northbrook, Ill., prefers to partner with systems integrators, even though some staff members have extensive experience in that capacity.

“Systems integration is huge for us right now,” said Gary Shamasko, vice president of Jamerson & Bauwens’ Solutions division, which optimizes building automation systems for healthcare, commercial, education, industrial and other high-capacity environments.

“Our work in this area jumped in the last year, so we created a separate division with dedicated persons, all with electrical or facilities background,” Shamasko said. “The average tenure is 20-plus years. They all have the hands-on knowledge and a passion for it.”

As a prime contractor, Jamerson & Bauwens works with integrators for lighting controls, audiovisual equipment installation and corresponding systems integration work. The company works with Schneider Electric and Johnson Controls, Milwaukee, for building controls, with Siemens Corp., Washington, D.C., and Convergint, Schaumburg, Ill., for fire alarm.

“Working at this level enables us to operate as a trusted BAS consultant,” Shamasko said. “We are not a systems integrator.”

Shamasko has a strong working relationship with Ryan Zimmerman, general manager for Schneider Electric’s Digital Buildings Chicago branch office. This office works with local electrical contractors to provide robust systems integrations through the Schneider Electric EcoStruxture Building Management System platform.

More than anything, providing data—which everyone needs to see what’s going on—helps building managers make intelligent decisions. You can’t start making changes toward greater sustainability if you can’t measure what’s going on.”

—Ryan Zimmerman, Schneider Electric

For the end-user, Schneider Electric provides a standardized mobile platform with real-time visuals and performance metrics related to energy use, HVAC and lighting controls. The platform can also connect to security and other business systems.

“The EcoStruxture platform allows connected equipment, such as PoE devices, to be monitored and controlled,” Zimmerman said. “Buildings in the Chicago area we often work with include commercial office spaces, hospitals, data centers, educational institutions and specialized buildings, including museums.”

Online advertising for EcoStruxture suggests the trademarked software can make buildings more intelligent, but Zimmerman said, “More than anything, providing data—which everyone needs to see what’s going on—helps building managers make intelligent decisions. You can’t start making changes toward greater sustainability if you can’t measure what’s going on.”

For maintaining electrical infrastructure, the data can inform planning for curbing energy consumption, scheduling repairs and even detecting urgent energy leaks such as an exhaust fan stuck in construction mode.

Zimmerman agreed that complete interconnectedness of all building systems is happening for some clients and still on the horizon for others. Either way, he said, end-users appreciate the one-pane view that reports the activities of several different operating systems.

Jamerson & Bauwens works with Schneider-certified BAS integrators from the bidding stage to installation and even on through to maintenance.

“The majority of local contracts for Jamerson in any given year are healthcare-related,” Shamasko said. “We understand healthcare better than most contractors. We also realize the client experience is supplanted with patient experiences.”

Those experiences are supported by various systems including administrative functions for patient admissions, medical gases, audiovisual communications, elevator controls, lighting controls, climate controls, patient security and access for staff and visitors, video surveillance, fire alarm and emergency response.

The epitome of systems integration functionality is a security system kicking into gear to thwart a possible infant abduction. 

“That’s a vital situation,” Zimmerman said. 

Access to portions of a hospital abruptly shut down when the child’s hospital bracelet nears alarmed exits, while door locks and additional security measures are activated.

“An infant abduction would only happen with a complete failure of building systems integration,” Shamasko said. “Everything else related to this work is a different rendition of all the pieces going into healthcare at this level. For a data center, it will look slightly different. Video and access will change. The healthcare setting is our comprehensive baseline. For everything else, we subtract out.”

But for each client, Shamasko said, “You must ask, to what level does the building owner want to integrate? In the case of a large healthcare campus, it takes staff.” 

This may explain why more than half of Jamerson & Bauwens staff members report to work at client facilities.

Keeping multiple systems working in concert and functioning at high levels requires constant monitoring and regular maintenance. In keeping with the theme of healthcare and wellness, Jamerson & Bauwens developed its trademarked maintenance approach, Infrastructure Wellness Solutions.

Images: stock.adobe.com / lyudinka / kora_sun / avaicon / Feodora / Miller Electric Co.