RSMeans Business Solutions Completes Industry Benchmark Study for CABA February 2006 - Kingston, MA RSMeans recently completed a 22-building study for Continental Automated Buildings Association (CABA) with the intent to assess buildings for best practices with full or partial building control integration. The purpose of the study was to apply best practices information for new buildings to define life cycle costs. Office buildings were chosen as the first building type for the assessment. CABA is a not-for-profit industry association that promotes advanced technologies for the automation of homes and buildings in North America. Their mission is to encourage the development, promotion, pursuit and understanding of integrated systems and automation in homes and buildings. The existing buildings with full or partial building automation were studied regardless of building type to determine costs and savings. The 22 buildings were reviewed using collection of public information, interviews with managers, and interviews with building control contractors. The buildings were of various types and square foot sizes. Among the findings were: Office buildings of 50,000 to 100,000 SF demonstrated the best ROI for integrated systems Public regulations regarding energy conservation economies of centralized maintenance added to the emphasis on integrated systems Owners are concerned with first costs and building appearance as well as operating costs Some building codes discourage full integration and require certain systems to be independent Systems control by tenants vs. building owners were identified as the key to achieving maximum efficiency from systems integration. The CABA study demonstrates the capabilities of RSMeans Business Solutions to quantify leading-edge sustainability issues and define performance metrics for engineering applications. RSMeans Business Solutions engineers and analysts conduct a variety of studies including predictive cost modeling for buildings, market research, and custom analytical applications for associations and their members. For additional information on the CABA study or to discuss benchmark applications or the development of web-based tools for your association; E-Mail Laura Dempsey, Senior Consultant or call her at 800-706-8827.