Selecting the Right Partner: A Different Approach to Preventative Maintenance

In light of the current situation in the world today, building owners and operators are facing even larger obstacles in keeping their mechanical HVAC and building automation systems running efficiently, reliably, and safely.

In light of the current situation in the world today, building owners and operators are facing even larger obstacles in keeping their mechanical HVAC and building automation systems running efficiently, reliably, and safely.

While energy efficiencies and savings remain a top priority, closer attention to ventilation rates, indoor air quality, and humidity levels within the building infrastructure are proving to be equally important due to the current threat of viruses.

Moving forward, these areas will be even more scrutinized in order to protect staff and visitors. The challenge to address these areas properly is to select a contractor that takes a holistic approach to not only meet your financial and operating objectives, but can also provide solutions to keep people safe by promoting a healthy building.

While energy efficiencies and savings remain a top priority, closer attention to ventilation rates, indoor air quality, and humidity levels within the building infrastructure are proving to be equally important due to the current threat of viruses.

Choosing a contractor by their values

To begin, select a contractor based on their organization's core values. First and foremost, ask: Is there common interest in promoting a healthy building? Are they relationship-minded, collaborative, and innovative? Do they have the resources and service offerings to be your one phone call, allowing you and your building to operate successfully?

Consider your facility's needs & goals

Day to day, it is important that service providers strive to make clients' lives easier by providing an opportunity to get granular with preventative maintenance services — both on a budget and operational level.

Consider these questions:

• What are your owning and operating costs?
• What KPIs drive your facility budget?
• Have you benchmarked your HVAC equipment?
• Are you meeting your equipment lifecycle goals?
• Are you paying too much in utilities?
• Are you promoting a healthy building?

Having answers to these questions will put you on the path to future success. By not overlooking maintenance as a service due to costs, there can be a lot of value in utilizing a data-driven approach to maintenance.

When choosing a building solutions provider, it's important to select a partner that is uniquely positioned to assist answering the questions surrounding these issues as well as solving them.

To learn more about the importance of choosing the right partner and a preventative maintenance approach, check out part 4 of our Conversations about Energy: Reopening Buildings Series video here.