By Healthcare Facilities Today

Des Moines, IowaCollaboration between member firms of the InsideIQ Building Automation Alliance, an international alliance of independent building automation contractors, enables the Alliance to share best practices and function like a large national organization, although each company is an independent, local building automation, security, systems integration and energy services expert. Baker Group, a leading provider of critical building infrastructure systems based in Des Moines, and a long time member of InsideIQ, has frequently partnered with other InsideIQ firms in order to provide the highest level of service to clients.

“InsideIQ member firms are dedicated to sharing best practices that strengthen their organizations,” said Frank Rotello, president of the InsideIQ Building Automation Alliance. “InsideIQ members combine a broad array of business and technical experience from thousands of client projects, and more than 5,200 employees worldwide. Baker Group is an excellent example of this spirit of collaboration and has had significant success serving customers in partnership with other InsideIQ firms.”

Daryld Karloff, business chairman of the InsideIQ Board of Directors and vice president, business development for Baker Group, offers three examples of collaboration between InsideIQ member firms that has benefitted clients.

As the building automation system (BAS) contractor of choice for a major banking and mortgage provider with a facility in Des Moines, Baker Group installed and serviced the BAS for a 1.7 million square foot office and data center. Together, the bank and Baker Group built graphical standards that made operation and maintenance of the buildings very efficient for the bank’s maintenance team. When they decided to build an office building in Springfield, Illinois, the bank asked Baker Group to install the BAS to the same standards in the new facility. Baker Group partnered with the local InsideIQ member in Springfield, Alpha Controls & Services, to make this happen. Baker Group engineers designed the systems and the graphical interface to match the Bank’s other sites and Alpha Controls technicians installed the systems. Today, Alpha Controls works closely with the bank to maintain the systems in Springfield. As InsideIQ members, Baker Group and Alpha Controls worked together to keep a client promise to deliver consistently regardless of the geographic location.

Baker Group has established a solid relationship with a major developer of medical office buildings who appreciates the consistency of the BAS products and graphical interfaces they receive from Baker Group. The developer recognizes that having the same BAS products and software applications in multiple sites makes maintenance, remote monitoring and system analytics much more efficient. To maintain this consistency beyond Iowa sites, Baker Group partnered with InsideIQ member Long Building Technologies in Denver to install identical BAS systems in multiple locations. The customer values the scalable, reliable and consistent results they receive from InsideIQ members.

When a major appliance manufacturer decided to update the BAS at their headquarters, Baker Group proposed new controllers and an improved graphical Person-Machine Interface (PMI) as part of the upgrade. At the same time, Baker Group found themselves with several other large projects that were also approved. With a short-term scarcity of skilled technical resources, they turned to their partners at InsideIQ. LONG Building Technology sent a technician from Denver to work with Baker’s technicians in order to deliver the project on time and under budget. By working together, InsideIQ members delivered successfully on a promise. 

“No one is closer to their clients than InsideIQ Members and this focus on long-term relationships helps our members clearly understand their client’s evolving needs,” said Rotello. “In addition, InsideIQ members are technological leaders who understand the latest developments in BAS technology. This enables InsideIQ members to bring insightful trends to their clients all over the world so they can effectively manage their facilities and anticipate upcoming market changes. Furthermore, InsideIQ firms work closely with manufacturers to be sure that as new products are introduced they are refined to better serve the needs of building owners.”

About InsideIQ

InsideIQ Building Automation Alliance is an organization comprised of 49 independent commercial building and facility automation companies representing common automation and security system platforms. Members specialize in the design and implementation of facilities and process control systems, systems integration, enterprise security systems, facilities maintenance services, energy services, and the representation of other value-added products and services. InsideIQ is the largest independent organization of its kind. Member companies provide consistent applications, coordination, and support for commercial facility owners across the United States, Canada, The Netherlands and Australia. More information is available online at www.insideiq.org.