7NOX Blog
Insights and helpful tips for facilities managers and property owners
10 Essential Skills for Working in the Building Automation Industry
If you’re thinking of starting a new career, there’s no better place than the automated buildings industry. It’s one of the best kept secrets in technology careers today. It helps when starting or growing any career, to have a...
12 Short Video Categories for Creating Engaging Content
The most difficult part of creating short videos isn’t the production or sharing. It’s coming up with effective content ideas. One easy way to generate engaging content is to use a common category as a guide. Here are some...
The Pros and Cons of Building Automation Systems
Building automation systems (BAS) or “smart buildings”, are increasingly popular in commercial and industrial buildings. Why? Because they improve energy efficiency and reduce costs by integrating and automated systems such as...
AI vs Machine Learning: What’s the Difference?
AI and machine learning (ML) are often used interchangeable, but they’re not technically the same thing. However, the difference is smaller than you think, and once you understand it, you’ll never mistake the two again. The...
Basics of Building Automation Systems: A Beginner’s Guide
As technology continues to advance, building automation systems have become increasingly popular in commercial and residential spaces. Like our vehicles and homes, many of the systems that run commercial and industrial buildings...
How to Improve Efficiency in Your HVAC System
Heating, ventilation, and air conditioning (HVAC) systems are a critical component of any building's infrastructure. They are responsible for maintaining indoor air quality and ensuring a comfortable environment for building...
What is Fault Detection and Diagnostics (FDD)?
Fault detection and diagnostics (FDD) is the process of identifying and analyzing malfunctions or failures within a building’s systems to detect and diagnose faults as early as possible. Early detection minimizes the impacts of...
IT vs OT Systems: What’s the Difference?
Information Technology (IT) and Operations Technology (OT) are two distinct yet interconnected fields that play critical roles in modern organizations. IT deals with the use of technology to support business processes, while OT...
Legionnaire’s disease and Chiller Systems: Stopping the Spread
If COVID-19 taught facilities managers and building engineers anything, it's the importance of proper design and maintenance of air and water systems for stopping the spread of pathogens. But aside from Coronavirus, there are...
6 Tips for Managing Remote Workers
Remote work has presented challenges for both workers and their companies. Challenges include adopting flexible schedules and conducting video interviews. However, managing a team of remote workers can be a challenge, but it can...
What Are Database Schemas?
Although often overlooked by building managers and engineers, data schemas are essential to the efficient building management, data analysis and system automation. That’s because schemas are the building blocks of effective...
5 Icebreaker Tips for Networking at Tradeshows
You stride through a bustling conference hall, alive with excited chats and enthusiastic handshakes. In your pocket, a stack of freshly printed business cards. In your head, a well-rehearsed elevator pitch. You're confident and...
BACnet Basics: What are Device Profiles?
In this article in our BACnet Basics Series, we look at Device Profiles, why they’re important and how they’re created. We’ve also included a real world example that illustrates how to use device profiles to accurately specify...
5 Beginner Tips for Video Job Interviews
Today more job interviews are being held via conference call apps like Zoom and Teams. Those looking to nab their next gig are jumping on a Zoom call to chat with prospective employer half way around the world. While a video job...
BACnet Basics: What are BIBBs?
Every complex topic or field needs a helpful naming system. Scientists name flora and fauna by genus and species. Even astronomers have their own planetary nomenclature. Standard naming conventions do just that—they standardize...
Effective Cybersecurity Habits for Your BAS
Properties need effective cybersecurity measures. Cybercriminals don’t just attack high profile companies and governments; they target small to medium businesses too. Computer viruses range from annoying adware infiltrating your...
The Metaverse, Digital Twins, and Building Decarbonization
After the former-company-known-as-Facebook rebranded itself in late 2021 to Meta, much of the world discovered the “metaverse”—the next generation of human connectivity that would fundamentally transform how we socialize and...
Open Building Systems are a Hedge Against Future Uncertainty
The social, environmental and technological challenges for the commercial real estate sector are significant. Many building owners and managers are still adjusting to the disruptions of the COVID pandemic, lock downs, remote...
Help Decarbonize Your Building with After-Hours HVAC Automation
Buildings are responsible for a significant chunk of emitted green house gases (GHGs) into the atmosphere. Therefore, they're a leading contributor to global warming. In the U.S., buildings account for 40% of all U. S. primary...
Hands-Free Building Tech You Probably Didn’t Know Existed
In a post-COVID workplace, “hands-free” is the new buzz world. It’s also the new hygiene standard. At times, it may seem the pandemic has turned everyone into Adrian Monk. But you needn’t be an OCD-suffering detective to solve...
What is an Overtime HVAC System?
If you have commercial tenants, they've likely scheduled heating or air conditioning outside of your building’s usual business hours. Managers and owners commonly refer to these extra hours as overtime HVAC, after-hours HVAC,...
Light Flicker and Its Effects on Tenant Health
Successful properties have lighting that suits the needs of their occupants. Proper lighting can boost productivity, mood and an overall sense of worker wellbeing. While bad lighting can do the opposite. Light flicker is...
5 Tips for Surviving Supply Chain Issues
Are you finding it hard to procure office equipment? Is your supply closet running short on toilet paper? Supply chain issues are a global problem, and shortages are hitting every sector. Office managers in the U.S. are finding...
3 Ways Your HVAC System Impacts Fire Protection
Fire protection systems are one of the most complex and ubiquitous structures within facilities today. They contain many parts intertwined with other building components. For example, emergency lighting and smoke detectors wire...
