Create BAS Techs On-Demand

SBA's students take the exact same quantitative skill assessment that companies use to evaluate the performance of their employees. 

The results of this assessment determine the student's strengths and weaknesses. It pinpoints areas for students and their instructors to focus on during the program.

At the end of the program, students take the exact same assessment to validate improvement.

Objectives

At the completion of the course, the student will demonstrate a general level of knowledge and understanding of building automation. 

Students learn how to:

• Identify and explain the purpose of the key four layers of a building automation architecture and their function
• Identify the required control modes for specific control sequences
• Understand the individual stages of a building automation project
• Explain the different control devices and their purpose

Key Topics

This course focuses on providing the foundational knowledge that a BAS professional needs in order to kickstart their BAS career without the lengthy learning curve that is typically experienced. This course will cover BAS components, processes, and technologies. Students learn:

• A complete overview of building automation systems
• The 5 different pieces of BAS hardware and how each piece functions within a full-blown BAS
• The 3 different BAS architectures, the pros and cons of each architecture, and how to use each architecture
• What points, trends, and alarms are, how/when to use them, and point-naming strategies
• What a user interface is, how to properly structure graphics, why/how to use BAS reporting, and how to create an optimized scheduling strategy
• The 3 different BAS architectures, the pros and cons of each architecture, and how to use each architecture
• What control systems are, why control systems matter, the four different kinds of control systems, and how to tie each control system type into a BAS
• What control modes are, how the 7 common control modes work, when to use each, and how to adjust them
• What a protocol is, how the 3 most common protocols work, when to use each protocol, and how to use each protocol
• What the 3 types of controls work are, how each type of controls work is done, what your role in each type of controls work is
• The fundamentals of electricity, how wiring works, the different parts of wiring, what a circuit is, and how relays and safeties work in a circuit
• The key pieces and parts of an IT system and how each part relates to a BAS
• What the main construction documents are, how to use the documents as a BAS professionals, and how to interpret and use BAS controls documents
• What test and balance is, how the BAS professionals is involved in the T&B process, what commissioning is, and how to create and perform functional tests
• The basics of systems integration, what the three types of integration are, and when to perform each type of integration

Objectives

• Master how HVAC systems function and how to control them
• Demonstrate knowledge of BAS controls theory in HVAC systems
• Develop the ability to make design and programming decisions based on system requirements

Key Topics

This course solves the issue of finding building automation professionals that understand HVAC and "systems thinking". This course teaches students what building professionals need to know about HVAC systems and how to control them. Some of this course's key topics include:

• What control sequences are and how control sequences are structured
• The step-by-step process of interpreting control sequences
• The relationship between space control and upstream systems
• The different ways of controlling and conditioning the airstream along with the interrelationships between air systems and water systems
• What hot water systems are, how they are controlled, and how other systems interact with and influence hot water systems
• An awareness of how and why chilled water systems are used, the methods and processes that control chilled water systems, and the limitations of chilled water systems
• What the different strategies of pumping and piping are and how they affect the control and efficiency of water-based heating and cooling
• How unitary systems are controlled and how they affect existing building systems
• What a 2-pipe system is and how to properly control building systems that are supplied by 2-pipe systems
• What CRAC and CRAH systems are, how underfloor cooling works, and the gotchas associated with controlling integrated systems
• What VRV and VRF systems are, how they are controlled, and the complexities of integrating and controlling non-standard systems
• The 3 different kinds of recovery systems, how they are controlled, and the effect they have on other systems
• The different forms of integration, how the integration process works, and how to interpret integration specifications

This course will prime students for physical installation work by teaching them the fundamental skills related to:

• Tool Usage
• Electrical Fundamentals
• Word, Excel, and Visio Fundamentals
• Control Submittals and Project Documents

Objectives

• Install and configure controllers
• Inputs and outputs

Key Topics

This course teaches technicians how to effectively install controls systems from start to finish based on real submittal documents. Here are some of the topics that are covered in this course:

• Conduct a sales-to-operations handoff
• Review project documents and identify key information for proper project execution
• Create point-to-point checkout sheets
• Understand the impact of loaded and unloaded circuits on controllers
• Properly wire power for multiple controllers, inputs, and outputs
• Perform trunk wiring and termination
• Create a controller addressing scheme
• Research controller configurations
• Externally configure a controller
• Wire and test dry contact (status), resistive, voltage, and current inputs
• Wire and test internally sourced, externally sourced, voltage, and current outputs
• Conduct and document a point-to-point checkout

In order to exit the program, the student must perform the following to validate mastery of the skills taught in the program. 

Proctored Final Exam

Students perform a comprehensive, proctored final exam that tests their knowledge of the skills and processes learned during SBA's Workforce Development Progam

Hands-On Practicum

The student is remotely observed by an instructor as they assemble their lab kit into a functioning system based on an assigned design submittal set. The instructor then evaluates the installed and deployed system.