2004 Buildy Award Winners

Chosen by more than 250 of their peers, the four final Buildy Award winners representing the North American organizations and individuals who best support the vision of networked building systems emerged at the Industry Gala at BuilConn 2004, April 15, in Dallas, TX. 2004 marks the debut year for the award Buildy Awards that was designed to increase awareness of the benefits of whole building integration and honor successful implementation strategies.

View the Buildy Winners Press Release - PDF

Vision Award

Paul Ehrlich, Business Development Leader for Trane, was presented with the Vision award for his vision of whole building integration and interoperability through advocacy, promotion, educational and training endeavors. Mr. Ehrlich has dedicated his time and energy to chairing oBIX (Open Building Information Xchange), the CABA-initiated project created by the buildings industry to develop XML/Web Services standards for buildings. Such an initiative is recognized by the industry as the primary vehicle in which true integrated, intelligent buildings will be delivered. In addition to product development at Trane and oBIX-related activities, Mr. Ehrlich has also chaired an ASHRAE committee on specifying DDC controls.

Best New Product

The Best New Product award was presented to WebGen Systems in honor of the IUE (Intelligent Use of Energy) software suite, a product that successfully overcame a significant challenge, enhanced or simplified the integration process. IUE is an enterprise-level suite of open protocol software tools that provides real-time monitoring and command of building systems to generate operational benefits and energy savings. The system connects all aspects of building management systems to automatically measure, monitor and control energy consumption, and it has been designed to easily integrate all legacy and open system building automation platforms via XML, BACnet®, LONWORKS® and various other communication protocols.

Best Building Award

Presented to building consultant ARAS Systems for the Echelon Campus was the Best Building award in honor of the most progressive building technology supporting the vision of whole building integration. The 78,000 sq. ft. Echelon Campus houses an office complex, a lab facility, a parking structure and common outdoor campus areas, all of which are completely automated and monitored with the goal of optimizing each occupant’s productivity, comfort and safety. Occupancy, Lighting, HVAC, Audio/Visual, touch screens, card access, perimeter security, video cameras, video recording, blinds and shades, irrigation, energy meters, fires and life safety and even the elevators are monitored and controlled with off-the-shelf interoperable products from multiple vendors.

Best Integration Project

The Best Integration Project award was presented to ECI, Energy Control Inc. for the Cottonwood Office Building, in recognition of the successful integration of a wide array of building systems and their operation over a corporate IT infrastructure. The 30,000 sq. ft., energy-efficient and cost-effective building features building automation with DDC to the Zone Level and Access Control. Integrated systems include 24/7 video streaming and monitoring video surveillance, fire and life safety, data networking, information technology and Internet-based monitoring, all of which were financed and paid for from achieved energy cost savings. ECI aided in mechanical and electrical design and completed building-wide automation, and as a result of these enhancements, the Cottonwood Office Building has been submitted for certification under the Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design (LEED) Existing Building pilot program.