How a Building Automation System Can Protect Your Small Business

Posted on 9/22/2021

You’ve worked hard to build your small business—but keeping it protected from day to day requires constant vigilance. A building automation system not only provides the protection you need, but can help lighten the load of your daily tasks.

Rather than a one-sized-fits-all solution, commercial building automation is customized for your unique needs. While each system incorporates a variety of hardware, they can typically integrate:

• Lighting controls
• Heating & cooling systems
• Fire alarms, sprinklers, & fire suppression systems
• Other life safety systems
• Surveillance cameras & security systems
• Access control systems

Energy Savings

One of the major benefits of building automation is the ability to reduce your energy waste. In large commercial buildings across the country, a drastic amount energy is expended on lighting, heating, and cooling outside of working hours. But even smaller facilities have great opportunities to reduce their carbon footprints. By setting a schedule to automatically turn lights on and off, adjust the thermostat, and enable and disable your alarm system, your business becomes more energy efficient, without sacrificing safety, security, or comfort.

Cost Savings

Of course, reduced energy usage translates into something all small business owners want: lower utility bills!

However, a building automation / security system can also save you money in ways you may not have considered. With integrated surveillance cameras, retail businesses can reduce incidences of shoplifting, while commercial facilities can protect against equipment theft, burglary, and vandalism.

Access control systems are frequently incorporated into building automation, allowing business owners to set permissions facility-wide. Access to secure areas can be granted to individual employees or staff groups, thereby reducing assets lost due to theft, damage, or mishandling of sensitive information. These systems also allow for accurate time and attendance monitoring, providing both real-time and scheduled reporting on when employees clock in and out. This eliminates the hassles and inaccuracies of traditional time cards, and helps you control payroll costs.

Time Savings

For small business owners, who often find themselves in multiple roles throughout the day, time is an invaluable asset. A building automation system is like having an extra set of hands.

Scheduled building operations—e.g., turning lights off and lowering the thermostat at 6 PM—take the burden of these tasks off you and your employees. This means there’s no need to walk around the facility each evening to double-check locks and manually set alarms. By reducing the number of responsibilities on your plate, your own productivity can increase as you have the time to focus on other aspects of business.

In addition, with remote monitoring and management of your building operations, you can make manual adjustments anytime, anywhere, with no need to drive to your facility. Whether you’re at home in the middle of the night or across the country on a business trip, you can change your automation settings, revoke employee building access, or check in on surveillance footage—saving you time and providing peace of mind.

Risk Reduction

Some business owners have long been set in their daily routines, and are hesitant to automate these tasks. However, as the world around us changes, so too does our risk level, and the “old ways” may not be adequate to keep your staff, customers, and assets safe.

Human error is an inherent risk. Even with the most detailed closing checklist and experienced team members, a door may be left unlocked; a security alarm may go unset. Put simply, building automation reduces these risks.

And while business owners do eventually need to sleep, automation systems don’t—they work for you around the clock, every day of the year. Integrated environmental sensors protect your building from smoke, fire, and flooding. Access control systems prevent unauthorized access to dangerous areas or equipment. Cameras, intruder alarms, and system monitoring provide a tough layer of protection around everything you’ve worked so hard for.