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Building automation is one of the least standardized trades in construction. Every manufacturer names points differently. Every integrator programs sequences differently. Graphics vary wildly from job to job and company to company. Tridium looks nothing like JCI, JCI looks nothing like Siemens, and no two Automated Logic installs are the same. On/off sequences that are "standard" at one firm are unrecognized at the next.

Everything we teach here is a foundation, not a rulebook. The concepts are real. The sequences are representative. But the moment you hit a job site, expect to find things done differently, named differently, or wired in a way nobody warned you about. There is always an edge case. Consume everything here with that in mind.

Some content here is intentionally ambiguous or unstandardized. That is not an oversight: it reflects how the industry actually works. If something looks like it could go either way, that is often because it can. Learning to operate in that gray area is part of the job.

Active Track

HVAC Controls Track

Building Automation Systems

Field controllers, terminal units, air handling systems, central plant, supervisory controls, and protocols. The full picture of how a commercial building automation system is built and operated.

Orientation

Lesson 0.2

5 minLesson

I Do Not Know. Here Is How I Figure It Out.

Everyone thinks I have the answer. That is rarely the case. A lesson on troubleshooting mindset: how to build a mental model, close the gap between expected and actual, and carry patterns across domains.

Lesson 0.3

15 minLesson

The Language of BAS

The jargon nobody explains. 60+ terms across nine groups: the wire, the equipment, the protocols, the numbers, and everything else people assume you already know.

Foundation Series

Lesson 1.1

10 minLesson

What Is a Field Controller

The brain of the equipment. What it is, what it does, and what every terminal on it means.

Lesson 1.2

8 minLesson

There Is No Button

Your first power cycle. Why there is no switch, what to do about it, and what this moment is really teaching you.

Lesson 1.3

10 minLesson

Bips and Bops

Inputs, outputs, and why every manufacturer decided to name them differently.

Lesson 1.4

10 minLesson

Learning the Language

Point naming conventions, how to read a controller program without a translator.

Terminal Unit Series

Lesson 2.1

12 minLesson

Introduction to VAV Boxes

What a VAV box is, where it lives, and the six points you will be working with.

Lesson 2.2

15 minSimulator

VAV Box Simulator

Wire the controller, map the points, and watch a real sequence run.

Lesson 2.3

10 minLesson

Reheat Boxes

Constant-volume air with a heating coil downstream. No damper, just a valve.

Lesson 2.4

10 minLesson

VVT Systems

Zone control from a single packaged RTU. How the bypass damper, zone boxes, and master controller work together.

Lesson 2.5

8 minLesson

Fan Coils, Cab Heaters, and Unit Vents

A quick field guide to the terminal units you have not met yet: FCUs, cab heaters, unit vents, radiant, baseboard, and exhaust fans.

Air Handling Systems

Lesson 3.1

8 minLesson

What Is an Air Handling System

The equipment that conditions air and pushes it to the spaces your terminal units serve.

Lesson 3.2

12 minLesson

Rooftop Units

A packaged 2-heat / 2-cool unit: staged outputs, OAT lockouts, and a sequence that knows when to stop.

Lesson 3.3

15 minLesson

Built-Up Air Handling Units

Mixed air dampers, chilled water, hot water, duct static pressure, and a VFD. A full built-up AHU in the mechanical room.

Lesson 3.4

20 minSimulator

AHU Simulator

Map the points, wire the controller, learn the sequence, and run a live built-up AHU simulation.

Lesson 3.5

10 minLesson

Makeup Air Units

100% outside air, no recirculation, and a freeze-stat that will shut the whole unit down before you blink. What MAUs are, where they live, and what the sequence is actually doing.

Plant Controls

Lesson 4.1

10 minLesson

Boilers and Chillers: The Big Picture

Central plant from 1,000 feet. What a plant is, why it exists, and the concepts that apply whether you are working on a 200 MBH boiler or a 500-ton chiller.

Lesson 4.2

15 minSimulator

Hot Water Systems

One boiler, two pumps, a VFD on each, OAT reset on the supply temp setpoint, and differential pressure control. The sequence, the point map, the wire sheet, and a live simulator.

Lesson 4.3

12 minSimulator

Chilled Water Systems

One chiller, two pumps, OAT lockout, and differential pressure control. Same structure as the hot water lesson, applied to the cooling side.

System Review

System Review

8 minLesson

How It All Connects

Plants, air handlers, terminal units, and zones: the full chain from energy source to conditioned space. Every component you have learned, shown together in one animated diagram.

Supervisory Controls

Lesson 5.1

10 minLesson

Supervisors and Basic Graphics

The hierarchy above the field controller: what a supervisor does, what graphics look like, and the platforms you will encounter on real projects.

Sequences of Operation

Lesson G36

20 minLesson

ASHRAE Guideline 36

One standard set of high-performance sequences for VAV systems. Trim and Respond reset logic, air handler and terminal unit sequences, occupancy modes, and built-in fault detection.

Protocols

Lesson 6.1

12 minLesson

BACnet

The building automation standard. Objects, properties, MS/TP versus BACnet/IP, COV subscriptions, and the five most common field problems explained.

Lesson 6.2

10 minLesson

Modbus

The industrial workhorse. Coils, registers, RTU versus TCP, and how to read a register map without guessing.

Lesson 6.3

10 minLesson

LonWorks

The peer-to-peer protocol that dominated commercial buildings from 1995 to 2010. Neuron IDs, bindings, SNVTs, and what to do when you walk into a building still running LON.

OT/IT Networks

Lesson 7.1

10 minLesson

Operational Technology and Building Automation

Where BAS fits in the OT landscape, what IT/OT convergence actually means for field techs, and the cybersecurity basics you need to not create problems when you commission a controller.

Advanced Programming Simulator

Coming Soon

Complex sequences, PID loops, and a full sandbox to build and debug real logic.

Integrations

Coming Soon

APIs, IT/OT convergence, and connecting building systems to the wider world.

More tracks coming

Coming Soon

Surveillance Systems Track

IP Video and VMS

IP cameras, network video recorders, video management software, and the infrastructure behind a real surveillance system.