ControlTalk NOW — Smart Buildings VideoCast|PodCast for Week Ending August 7, 2016

ControlTalk NOW — Smart Buildings VideoCast|PodCast for week ending August 7, 2016 features interviews with Jenny Stentz, VP of Products & Distribution North America, at Johnson Controls, the world’s largest building controls provider and battery maker; Ken Sinclair, owner and editor of Automated Buildings, his August theme: Low Cost Powerful Hybrid Edge Controllers that move control and data analytics to the edge; and CityZenith’s Michael Jansen with amazing insight to big city solutions. Also this week: NexDefense’s call for action presentation at the Greater Atlanta Cyber Security for Control Systems Meetup; Lee Company deploys wearable technology for remote support; Vykon announces EOL for legacy JACEs, Honeywell’s Home Connectivity promo, and NREL’s Dylan Cutler uses Haystack tagging to reduce energy consumption.

Ken Sinclair’s Automated Buildings August Theme — Low Cost Powerful Hybrid Edge Controllers. In this August edition of Automated Buildings, owner and editor, Ken Sinclair, comments on how data will be alternating some its direction from the cloud to edge devices — where the data might be better served and for faster and greater effect. In Ken’s own words, “My five decades in the building automation industry have made it crystal clear that we are always moving towards or away from centralization and I love this month’s theme that sees us moving in both direction at the same time. This is important because the success of our industry and all other industries is embedded in the balance of cloud, edge and self learning devices.”

Tennessee’s Lee Company Technicians use Smart Glasses to Receive Remote Support. ControlTrends has been anticipating the adoption of smart glasses in our HVAC industry and learned that the Lee Company, a contracting firm servicing Middle Tennessee, has already fully adopted the innovative use of wearable technology, which is revolutionizing the Facilities Services Industry. As Lee Company’s marketing states, “Telepresence is not a thing of the future, it’s the way of today. Information is power. Move forward with Insight.”

An HVACR Open Letter to Graduates: NEWS editor-in-chief Kyle Gargaro explains the benefits of an HVACR career to recent high school graduates. This is a great video that delivers a straightforward message to high school graduates. As we read in the Johnson Controls’ white paper written by Renee Joseph entitled “Elevating the HVACR industry: Promoting exciting careers to diverse prospects can help address staffing shortages,” we are facing a double whammy: While our HVACR Industry is experiencing a 21% increase in HVACR mechanic and installer jobs through 2022, a survey by The Friday Group, an international firm providing facilities management consulting services to commercial business and government, projected that up to 60 percent of facility management staff – electricians, plumbers, HVAC mechanics, operations and maintenance workers and others – will retire in the next five to seven years.

ControlTalk NOW interview with Jenny Stentz, VP of Products & Distribution North America, at Johnson Controls, the world’s largest building controls provider and battery maker. Jenny gives ControlTrends fresh insight into Johnson Controls’ realigned sales and the leadership role Johnson Controls has taken in the building and energy storage space. Johnson Controls offers the latest innovations in renewable technology, efficiency technology, controls technology, and battery storage technology and is focused on the ease of doing business with its channel partners.

VYKON Announces End Of Line of Legacy JACE Platforms 700, 300E, and 600E. The performance, flexibility and range of accessory options offered by the JACE® 8000 surpasses that of the legacy JACE platforms, and components of the legacy platforms are becoming obsolete. With the introduction of Niagara AX version 3.8u1 featuring JACE 8000 support, VYKON‘s next-generation hardware platform that’s optimized for Niagara 4 now optimizes the features of Niagara AX.

SAVE NOW: Honeywell’s Make the Connection Fall Promotion. Grow Your Connected Home Sales! Take advantage of the industry’s hottest trend — home connectivity — with Honeywell’s Make The Connection promotion. You can save on Honeywell connected home products, and you’ll gain store traffic as contractors connect with you for their chances to win. Get all the details in the attached promo brochure.

Atlanta Cyber Security Meet Up: Breaking Down Two Major Control System Cyber Attacks. Thanks to our friend, Fred Gordy, we got to participate in an eye opening event.Stromquist & Company had the privilege of hosting the Atlanta Cyber Security meet up. The speaker, Doug Wylie, CISSP VP Product Marketing & Strategy at NexDefense was amazing. Doug explains several different types of cyber attacks and breaks down blow by blow two major cyber attacks on control systems that caused major disruptions. If you are interested in joining a cyber security meet up group on your area please let us know in comments and we will connect you.

“Bright Lights, Big City” Data Analytics for Big Cities, by CityZenith. “Bright Lights, Big City done gone to my baby’s head,” is a blues song by Jimmy Reed. If you are like me, somewhere along the line you had a break up that left you dazed and confused, hearing Jimmy’s song lets you know that there was someone who understood, could relate, and help you make sense of it all. When it comes to big cities, big data, and big time analytics, Michael Jansen and his team at CityZenith, understand, relate and can help city managers and planners make sense of the massive amounts of information and data that go into making a city run smoothly and efficiently.

NREL’s Dylan Cutler Works to Help the Navy Reduce Energy Consumption! NREL’s Dylan Cutler describes his work on NREL’s Energy Intelligent Campus project and ways that can translate to industry. Through an energy management and information system, Cutler looks at ways to bring together a variety of buildings data into a software platform where users can make intelligent decisions on how to manage their buildings and generation assets.