The adventure started with four control engineers in a garden shed. Now there are five at ACME Technical Services on a mission to put energy back into building management. HVR tells the tale...
ACME Technical Services is on a mission - to put the energy back into building management systems. In the early days of building management systems, the technology was referred to as BEMS - building energy management systems.Over the years, the focus switched to making buildings work and ensuring different
services were able to communicate to each other - and the energy element just faded away.

Today, with increasing focus on energy efficiency and the need for buildings to meet strict
performance goals set down by new legislation, this Surrey-based contractor sees a big opportunity to ensure controls engineers lead the drive for low-carbon
buildings.

'There are a lot of buildings out there that are not ready for Energy Performance Certificates,' says ACME sales director Gary Franklin. The certificates are required in buildings of more than 10,000m2 from this month - and for all buildings by October.

'This is a huge opportunity for companies with real controls expertise,' he adds.
'Controls are the brains of a building. They gather vital energy information, which allows you to create a performance profile. This is the key to setting up an energy strategy. That data is usually available if you know where to look, but too often it is simply not understood, not analysed, and, therefore, wasted. Companies like ours can change that.'

The market is clearly moving in the right direction for ACME. The company was founded in 1991 by four former Staefa controls engineers: Kevin Germany, John Baker, Sam Saunders and Steve Morrissey - Gary joined later.

Today, it is nudging £5M turnover and employs 55 staff, including 38 engineers and an administration team. It moved to new premises in Woking in January 2008 and opened a regional office in Bristol in 2002. The head office covers London and the Home Counties, with Bristol providing services to the South-West, Wales and the Midlands.

ACME has also carried out projects throughout the UK and Europe - in all kinds of buildings - and beyond, including the North Sea. Here John helped BP get many more years of working life out of its Magnus oil rig. By replacing the old pneumatic system with modern controls, BP was able to adapt the rig accommodation block and continue with new, enhanced, oil production.

ACME has enjoyed steady growth of 20% year-on-year up to 2007, when turnover suddenly leapt from £3.5M to £4.7M. Much of this was down to additional upgrade and refurbishment work from existing clients - and this pattern is accelerating.

The five left senior positions at Swiss BMS company Staefa because: 'We were frustrated at only being able to work on a single range of products,' says Kevin. 'Customers were always asking us if we had other solutions we could offer.'

Their first office was in Kevin's garden shed. 'It was a very nice shed,' he points out. 'I had it
properly insulated and plaster-boarded!'

An attention to detail gave them an edge in the market right from the start as they were one of the few controls firms to offer complete, detailed reports.

In those days, they relied on a word processor to create reports. Commissioning was a particular strength of the company from day one, and mucking in together over bank holiday weekends because the project had run out of time was a regular occurrence.

It allowed the five to build up a high level of trust with their contractor clients.
Today, ACME provides in-depth commissioning as part of a complete controls solution. This incorporates design, installation and maintenance. It offers a 24-hour cover facility, as well as a bureau service. This monitors and adjusts clients' plant remotely.

The company also provides consultancy services from original project concept to specification writing as well as energy surveys and implementation reports to help clients reduce their carbon footprint.

Energy bill
'One of our clients in the City cut their energy bill by almost 60% without changing any of their building services equipment,' says Gary.

Today, ACME has working partnerships with eight control systems manufacturers, including Trend, Delta, Honeywell, TAC and their former employer, now part of Siemens.

'The days when manufacturers could dictate what customers could and couldn't have are long gone,' says Sam. 'Clients are more aware of what can be done and what things cost, so manufacturers work with companies like ours to deliver solutions.'

HVAC equipment manufacturers are also making their own interface devices, so there is less need for complex interfaces to link different pieces of plant together.

'All the manufacturers are also moving towards open protocols [where controls systems communicate with each other],' adds Steve. 'There are a number of options out there for an industry-wide standard, but our money is on BACnet.'

Open standard
BACnet, developed by the American Society of Heating, Refrigerating and Air Conditioning Engineers, seems to be winning the contest to be the open standard for building-management systems.

'BACnet ticks all the boxes,' says Steve. 'It was designed by the industry, and specifically for the industry's applications.'

However, the equipment is not the most important element for a controls-engineering practice: 'People are our biggest asset. We are not just selling a product, but a service too,' says Kevin. 'We work hard to retain our staff - very few companies of our size have such a good record on staff retention.'

Also, every engineer in the business has completed training for membership of the Competent Person Scheme run by Building Engineering Services Competence Accreditation (BESCA).

HVCA appointed BESCA trainer and energy management specialist Mike Malina, who provided the training at ACME's premises, is hugely impressed by the company's approach. 'It is unprecedented for a contractor to put its entire engineering staff through the training,' he says. 'It shows fantastic commitment and makes sound business sense.

'Companies like ACME will definitely carry the future as they are able to offer their clients an excellent level of technical expertise and energy advice,' adds Mike.
'Controls are the most critical element in any energy strategy. Too often, we come across buildings where the controls were either not adequate, or incorrectly set, in the first place.'

ACME has a dedicated energy specialist, whose role is to help clients meet their obligations under the legislation and save money. The founders are also keen to see a new generation of controls engineers for whom energy efficiency is second nature.

'Since the company's launch, there has been a commitment to implement and maintain a scheme for young people to join our industry and help to bridge the ever-increasing skills gap,' says Steve.

'We have enjoyed great success with this scheme and have been fortunate to find a good number of young people, both with an aptitude for this work and the right attitude.'

ACME's first trainee engineer, Stuart Richards, who is now a senior engineer with the company, scored 97% in his BESCA examination. This is one of the highest marks achieved in the UK so far.

'We pride ourselves on our ability to train and retain high- quality engineers,' says Kevin.
'All that comes at a price and we admit we are not the cheapest, but to help clients meet their energy goals and obligations you have to be properly trained and accredited.'
www.acmetechnical.co.uk