When we think of metropolis, a vast skyline of looming skyscrapers comes to mind. Like the skyscrapers are an integral part of the metropolis, smart buildings are the ‘heart’ of a smart city. These buildings, where everything—from electricity to water—is monitored and controlled through sensor networks, determine the future of smart cities. Such cities will not only optimize energy consumption but also reduce the carbon footprint. However, keeping the technological networks within the smart buildings in perfect condition is crucial to ensure the comfort of residents and ease the impact of cities on the environment. This is where Multi Air Services Engineers (MASE) specializes and is truly a league of its own. As one-of-a-kind 'maintenance doctor' for smart buildings, the company offers flawless operation and maintenance services for smart buildings’ seamless management.

Headquartered in Puerto Rico, MASE has an impressive and extensive experience of over 35 years in the installation and maintenance of commercial and industrial HVAC equipment. The company utilizes this extensive knowledge to implement efficient building automation systems (BAS) services. The family-owned company is committed to providing premium quality services to various sectors such as hospitals, banks, federal courts, federal prisons, shopping malls, office buildings, telecommunication sites, medical devices industry, and many others. MASE performs contracts for the federal government nation-wide, having already worked on more than ten states. The company has three distinct but integrated divisions–mechanical operation & maintenance, smart buildings, and mechanical/electrical construction.

MASE banks on its deep-rooted knowledge and provides its customers with full control of their building components such as air conditioning, security system, lighting, and others. “We not only install new BAS but also have the in-house expertise and experience working on the most complex Energy Savings Performance Contracts,”remarks Israel Alvarez, Project Director at Multi Air Services Engineers.

He adds, “Additionally, our smart buildings division provide support to our maintenance contracts by remote monitoring the buildings and ensuring that energy savings goals are met.” Alvarez mentions that building management systems are crucial to enhance the comfort and efficiency of smart buildings.

Also, having worked with reputed federal clients such as the General Services Administration (GSA), the Veterans Affairs (VA) hospital, among others, MASE has acquired an in-depth understanding of the intricacies involved in devising BAS solutions when compared to its competitors. Being proud partners with Distech Controls, MASE injects the Niagara framework to integrate several vendors or manufacturers into "a single unified platform," eliminating the need to replace an entire control system.

Speaking further, Alvarez points out that often the limited knowledge of operation and maintenance (O&M) contractors concerning smart buildings, BAS, and large HVAC equipment repairs comes as the biggest challenge to the building owners. In most cases, O&M Contractors lack the capability to understand and maintain the BAS, which can jeopardize the building performance and equipment reliability. To that end, through its top-notch services, MASE allows customers to meet their energy savings goals and maintain a high level of tenant satisfaction and equipment reliability. MASE can also implement construction task orders within an existing contract to upgrade the building HVAC and BAS. In short, MASE has emerged as the one-stop-shop that empowers its customers not only in the maintenance and construction of smart buildings but also in all aspects of energy savings.

The skilled workforce's combined knowledge imparts flexibility into MASE's services and helps it execute complex projects seamlessly. One such instance is depicted in how MASE came across a recent publication titled-Infection Control Mode implementation on existing AHUs and chose to seize it. The paper explained how, upon analyzing the ambient environment, a common comfort cooling AHU into an infection control system. MASE figured that apart from reducing infectious disease spread through the facility while in ICM, this cost-effective method could also maintain the highest efficiency when working in comfort cooling mode. The company was quick to deploy its proficient workforce–ranging from engineers (mostly mechanical and electrical) to technicians–to turn plans into reality. The combined knowledge of the proficient workforce imparts flexibility into its services and helps MASE to execute the complex projects seamlessly.

A typical federal client onboarding process at MASE involves responding to the government's market research and submitting proposals once the government issues a Request for Proposal (RFP). MASE then combines its Mechanical Maintenance Contract services with the BMS Maintenance Contract and Remote Monitoring to offer its clients unprecedented advantages such as reduced total contract costs, lower utility bills, and enhanced tenant satisfaction levels. Precisely, the company has categorized its operating units into two–a maintenance division that monitors the building and a smart building division that assists the maintenance division in operating efficiently. MASE maintenance divisions include certified technicians who possess ingrained experience on maintaining and repairing most chillers–even highly complex facilities such as VA Hospitals and US Courthouses without downtimes. Elaborating further on this, Alvarez cites several instances in which MASE worked throughout with GSA on several chiller plants optimizations that require mechanical construction and state-of-the-art BAS implementation.

"We have a strategy for growing the smart building divisions, the maintenance division, and the mechanical construction division in a synergetic way focusing on high profit contracts while maintaining customer satisfaction levels," mentions Alvarez.