Real Estate Broker vs. Your Controls Contractor

As buildings get more technologically advanced control companies are playing a bigger role in the decision process when it comes time to purchase commercial real estate.  Before Direct Digital Control (DDC), pneumatic controls where widely used in commercial building applications and many facilities today still currently use them.  However, many manufacturers are phasing out the production of these controls so finding replacement parts is getting harder and harder.  A facility operating with a substandard control system will also be evident in utility costs. Modern control systems improve space comfort, reduce operating cost, record data for troubleshooting, all while providing the facility manager with a simple user-friendly interface.

When purchasing commercial real estate, the buyer needs to have a good understanding of what control system is in place and in what shape it is in.  If the building is equipped with a pneumatic controls system or DDC system and that system is not running properly due to age and lack of maintenance, the cost to repair over time, could vastly out-weight the cost to convert the system to DDC.

So who is more important, your real estate broker or your controls contractor…