The focus of the Building Automation Systems Division (BASDIV) is based on how to capitalize on ISA’s 66 years of automation knowledge and apply that to the building automation vertical. ISA openly acknowledges others have made significant contributions to the vertical application of automation within buildings, and that building automation does have different requirements. But that is the case with many different verticals; packaging automation is not the same as oil and gas automation. Yet our methodology allows us to pull the best from the many different verticals represented in order to assist all of them. It allows us to build a common base to improve productivity, training, certifications, and to advance the profession.
The purpose of this group is to be a home for building automation professionals within the larger automation society, to allow us to gain a consensus within our vertical market, and to use that as a basis for making change within the industry. BASDIV will start by marketing ourselves to peers as a source of certification and education.
BASDIV is not a competing set of standards, but rather a set of complimentary ones. Other SDOs have done some marvelous work for building automation, and it is not our intent or purpose to replace or diminish the value of that work. Rather BASDIV is going to work on those areas in which ISA has a long history of success and bring that over to BASDIV.
Many of these standards call upon the same manufacturers to supply all the different verticals. By using the same standards as bases we can more easily affect the differences needed for our industry by cooperating rather than competing. To make these happen, key members of this group will be meeting to select up to three of the above-mentioned standards to review, and write Recommended Practice advisories.
ISA, through the Automation Federation, is working with Continental Automated Buildings Association (CABA) to provide education, training, and certifications for building automation professionals.
In addition to these classes, ISA sponsors two certifications for the automation industry. The first is the Certified Automation Professional® (CAP®). The CAP® is geared towards engineers or designers of automation systems, or those who manage or consult to them. The second is targeted at technicians, and is the Certified Control Systems Technician (CCST®). The CCST® comes in three grades to help clarify where an individual is in their growth path. Both certifications have an application process that includes verification of education, experience, and testing of knowledge.
BASDIV will be working with both the education and certification groups within ISA to continue to refine offerings and servicing the building automation market segment. Generally we believe that we have these very well covered to start with.
BASDIV will also be doing outreach to help authorities having jurisdictions determine what assistance they need for building automation. Currently their job is very convoluted with no less than four different codes covering the automation components in most jurisdictions. As many are aware, poorly tuned systems can account for huge energy losses, safety issues, and basic operational needs in buildings.
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