Getting to know your building's tech stack

*This post is an excerpt from New School: Becoming a Next Gen Facility Manager
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​You may be asking yourself, what the heck is a tech stack? For facilities, a tech stack is the technology infrastructure or eco-system used to run a building. It can be anything from building automation, to security systems to electronic facility records. In this section, we examine the categories of technology that are important for buildings and what the Next Generation Facility Managers view as critical in the stack. 

Building Automation Systems
The automatic centralized control of a building’s core systems. The objective is improved comfort, efficient operation of systems, reduction in energy consumption, reduced operating costs, historical performance documentation, remote access/ control/operation, and improved lifecycle of equipment and utilities.
Core systems include:

• HVAC
• Lighting
• Access Control
• Alarms

System Management Platforms
These are systems that are critical to building’s day to day functioning, but are not automatic or on timers. Instead these help with inter-building communication and monitoring. Next-Gen Facility Managers need to be aware of (if not familiar with) industry trends towards using the IP network to connect and manage more and more systems.
These include:

• Clock systems: Clocks used to be hard-wired and voltage used to change the time or maybe hung on the wall with a battery and manually adjusted. Many clock systems now are battery-powered, but managed with a wireless signal.
• Paging systems: Paging speakers used to be organized by amplifiers and daisy-chained circuits. Now they are often directly wired and actually connected to a network port and often Powered over Ethernet (PoE).
• Security Systems: Video surveillance cameras also use the network for transporting and storing video on archivers, which are simply another server on the network.

IT Networks
A NGFM will need to have a working knowledge/familiarity with IT Networks. They also need to have a good working relationship with the staff members who provide these services. The NGFM is technically a customer of this service and should manage their relationship with the IT team through this lens. The analogy being, you don’t need to know how to fix the car to drive it, but you do need to know some basic things like when to change the oil and rotate the tires. It’s critical for the NGFM to become comfortable with accessing information on their network. In addition, they need to be able to organize digital information and understand how to search what they are looking for. The use of tags and keywords, for example, are more important than a strict filing convention of old.
The two primary systems of the IT Network are: 

• Infrastructure: The physical pathways, spaces and cabling
• Network - wireless and wired: These include the VLAN’s, IP Addresses, MAC Addresses

Planning and Management Software
Software helps NGFM’s centralize all of their building information, to-do lists, routine preventative maintenance and future planning. Historically referred to as CMMS (computerized maintenance management system), the software systems available today go far beyond what a CMMS system can do. Software will allow you to see a virtual view of your buildings, allow for others to collaborate and share information, track depreciation and replacement costs of assets, plan for future investments and keep you focused on the key tasks at any given time. There is software to help you manage:

• Work order and asset management: This system is critical in the day to day management of your building. It includes an online ticket system, preventative maintenance routines and reminders, inventory management and asset management.
• Electronic facility records (EFR): An EFR system is the source of truth for all of your facility drawings and information, as well as the place to store your asset records, warranties, manuals and documentation. Makes it easy to retrieve information about your building.
• Digital floorplans: A digital floorplan allows users to markup their building floor plans to identify and tag where assets and other important details are. You can add layers for different systems.
• Capital planning: Capital planning software allows users to look ahead years in advance and map out replacement and depreciation costs on assets, as well as an major facility updates. With planning software, you will be better prepared to speak to the needs of your facilities in the future and set expectations with senior staff on future needs.
• Project and construction management: Project management software helps users manage a specific construction project for your facility. It allows for timelines and 3rd parties to collaborate. You can manage deadlines, dependencies and budget with a project management tool.

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