Building Automation Support Specialist

Building Automation Systems (BAS/DDC)
Specialist

What We Do 
We empower our defense and law enforcement customers to focus on their primary mission by removing friction points and setting them up for long-term success. VWI provides facilities and infrastructure management; our specific services include housing management, custodial services, facilities management, operations & maintenance, and various professional services. By providing strategic, responsive, and mission-driven solutions, we forge long-term partnerships with our customers, vendors, and team members. We invite you to join our team, providing essential services for those who serve our country.

What You’ll Do

The Building Automation Systems (BAS/DDC) Specialist provides full-time, on-site technical support to the Walter Reed National Military Medical Center Facilities Management Department (FMD) for the operation, monitoring, troubleshooting, optimization, and maintenance of the Medical Center's Building Automation System (BAS) and Direct Digital Control (DDC) systems.

This position supports the Hospital Engineer, engineering staff, Operations & Maintenance personnel, Zone Managers, HVAC technicians, and clinical stakeholders in maintaining environmental conditions required for a complex healthcare environment. The BAS/DDC Specialist monitors HVAC control systems, evaluates alarms and system performance, modifies control parameters, assists with troubleshooting mechanical and controls deficiencies, and supports maintenance of critical temperature, humidity, airflow, and pressure relationships throughout the Medical Center.

The position requires particular attention to critical and patient-care environments, including operating/procedure areas, intensive care areas, isolation rooms, laboratories, pharmacies, sterile processing areas, and other spaces requiring controlled environmental conditions.

Work Schedule
 
Regular Workdays: Monday through Friday
Regular Work Hours: 0600 through 1530
Duty Location: On-site at Walter Reed National Military Medical Center, Bethesda, Maryland
 

• The position requires consistent on-site coverage during established duty hours to support Facilities Management Department operations, BAS monitoring, HVAC troubleshooting, environmental-condition response, and coordination with Government and maintenance personnel.
• Schedule adjustments or support outside normal duty hours may be required when specifically authorized for critical system events, planned outages, commissioning activities, or other mission requirements.

BAS/DDC Monitoring and Control
 

• Continuously monitor the Medical Center BAS/DDC system for equipment status, environmental conditions, alarms, trends, and abnormal operating conditions.
• Assist the Hospital Engineer in evaluating the condition and performance of DDC systems supporting HVAC equipment. Monitor and evaluate control points associated with air-handling units, exhaust systems, supply and return fans, terminal units, refrigeration systems, pumps, heating and cooling systems, and associated HVAC equipment.
• Recommend modifications to control parameters, setpoints, sequences, schedules, alarm limits, and other DDC functions to improve system operation.
• Make authorized DDC adjustments necessary to correct airflow, temperature, humidity, pressure, differential pressure, and other interior environmental conditions.
• Verify that BAS commands result in the intended physical response at the equipment and space level.
• Identify discrepancies between commanded values, sensor readings, actuator positions, and actual field conditions.

Alarm Management and Troubleshooting
 

• Monitor BAS/DDC alarms and promptly investigate conditions affecting HVAC and environmental system performance.
• Assist the Hospital Engineer in determining the equipment or system condition responsible for BAS alarms.
• eview BAS trends, histories, control sequences, and associated equipment data to identify the probable cause of abnormal conditions.
• Modify DDC parameters when authorized and appropriate to restore acceptable operating conditions.
• Determine when an alarm represents a controls issue versus a mechanical, electrical, sensor, actuator, communication, or equipment failure.
• Coordinate corrective actions with HVAC technicians, Operating Engineers, Zone Managers, electricians, and other maintenance personnel.
• Verify satisfactory system performance following corrective maintenance.
• Assist in modifying alarm parameters and BAS programming to improve alarm effectiveness and reduce nuisance or non-actionable alarms.

Critical Healthcare Environment Support

• Monitor and evaluate environmental conditions within critical patient-care and healthcare support spaces.
• Research and evaluate airflow rates and differential pressure relationships for positive-pressure and negative-pressure rooms.
• Assist with investigation of deficiencies involving room pressurization, airflow, temperature, humidity, and ventilation. Use BAS trends and field observations to assist in determining the cause of environmental control deficiencies.
• Coordinate with healthcare and technical stakeholders including Infection Prevention and Control, Industrial Hygiene, Hospital Engineering, Mechanical and Electrical Engineering, Nursing, Clinical Department Representatives, Facilities Management, and HVAC/Operations personnel.
• Support corrective actions affecting isolation rooms, procedure areas, intensive care areas, laboratories, biosafety spaces, and other environmentally sensitive locations.
• Implement authorized control adjustments consistent with applicable Unified Facilities Criteria (UFC), Facilities Guidelines Institute (FGI) guidelines, ASHRAE requirements, healthcare accreditation requirements, and applicable facility standards.
• Immediately communicate conditions that could adversely affect patient safety, infection prevention, clinical operations, or mission-critical services to the appropriate Government representative.

BAS Engineering and System Modification Support

• Make recommendations to electrical engineers, mechanical engineers, engineering technicians, and the Hospital Engineer regarding modifications to BAS hardware, software, sequences of operation, and system functionality.
• Assist Medical Center personnel in developing requirements for BAS additions, renovations, equipment replacements, and facility improvement projects.
• Assist with coordination of BAS requirements associated with construction, renovation, repair, and equipment replacement projects.
• Support engineering personnel in the design, configuration, testing, and implementation of BAS hardware and software modifications.
• Review proposed BAS modifications for compatibility with existing facility systems and operational requirements.
• Assist in coordinating BAS hardware, software, server, network, controller, sensor, actuator, and associated controls service work.
• Maintain coordination with Government personnel before implementing changes that could affect critical HVAC equipment or clinical environmental conditions.

Commissioning, Diagnostics, and Maintenance

• Assist with commissioning and recommissioning of BAS-controlled HVAC systems.
• Perform diagnostic procedures, including field verification of suspected system failures.
• Verify operation of sensors, controllers, actuators, dampers, valves, variable-frequency drives, and other BAS-controlled devices.
• Compare BAS-displayed conditions against actual field conditions when troubleshooting system discrepancies. Assist in functional performance testing of HVAC control sequences.
• Verify proper operation following maintenance, repairs, modifications, or control-system changes.
• Identify failed, unreliable, improperly calibrated, or improperly configured control components and coordinate corrective maintenance.
• Support trending and data collection necessary to evaluate recurring equipment or environmental problems.

Energy Management

• Assist the Government in implementing energy conservation measures using existing BAS capabilities.
• Evaluate operating schedules, temperature setpoints, equipment sequencing, setbacks, and other control strategies for potential energy savings.
• Recommend control modifications that reduce unnecessary energy consumption without compromising patient care, infection control, equipment reliability, indoor environmental quality, or mission requirements.
• Assist engineering personnel in monitoring the effectiveness of implemented energy conservation measures.

Coordination with O&M Personnel

• Maintain continuous coordination with the Hospital Engineer and Facilities Management personnel.
• Notify HVAC technicians and Operating Engineers when BAS monitoring identifies mechanical equipment problems.
• Work directly with Zone Managers and maintenance technicians to resolve environmental complaints and system deficiencies.
• Provide BAS technical assistance during emergency HVAC conditions, equipment failures, utility disruptions, and other facility events occurring during scheduled duty hours.
• Support troubleshooting activities associated with planned and unplanned HVAC outages.
• Document significant BAS adjustments, deficiencies, troubleshooting activities, and corrective actions in accordance with Medical Center and contract requirements.

What You’ll Have
Required Qualifications:

• Minimum five (5) years of directly related experience operating and maintaining Building Automation Systems/Direct Digital Control systems within a healthcare environment.
• Demonstrated experience supporting HVAC systems in hospitals, medical centers, laboratories, or similarly complex healthcare facilities.
• Experience monitoring and troubleshooting BAS/DDC-controlled HVAC equipment.
• Experience with BAS computer programming, graphical interfaces, alarm configuration, trending, control logic, and sequences of operation.
• Experience with building automation hardware including controllers, sensors, actuators, valves, dampers, VFD interfaces, communication networks, and associated control devices.
• Demonstrated understanding of mechanical HVAC systems and their relationship to BAS/DDC controls.
• The BAS/DDC Specialist should possess working knowledge of Building Automation Systems and Direct Digital Controls; HVAC control sequences; air-handling units and terminal systems; supply, return, and exhaust systems; VAV systems; heating and chilled-water systems; refrigeration; temperature and humidity control; airflow measurement; room pressurization; control valves and dampers; VFDs; sensors and actuators; BAS alarms and trending; control programming; HVAC troubleshooting; energy management; and HVAC commissioning.
• The successful candidate must understand that BAS operation in a military medical treatment facility directly affects patient care and clinical operations. The candidate should have experience or demonstrated knowledge involving environmental controls for:
  • Operating and procedure rooms Intensive Care Units
  • Isolation rooms
  • Positive-pressure protective environments
  • Negative-pressure airborne infection isolation rooms Sterile processing areas
  • Pharmacies
  • Laboratories and biosafety laboratories Diagnostic and treatment areas
  • Other critical patient-care environments
•  Knowledge of UFC requirements applicable to military medical facilities, FGI Guidelines, ASHRAE healthcare ventilation principles, NFPA requirements, and The Joint Commission Environment of Care expectations is highly desirable.

Preferred Qualifications:

• Technical degree, associate degree, trade-school certification, or equivalent advanced training in HVAC controls, building automation, electronics, mechanical systems, or a related discipline.
• Manufacturer training or certification on commercial BAS/DDC platforms.
• Experience working within a large acute-care hospital or Department of Defense Medical Treatment Facility.
• Experience supporting healthcare accreditation and Environment of Care activities.
• Experience with HVAC testing, adjusting, and balancing concepts.
• Experience commissioning or recommissioning HVAC/BAS systems.
• Experience interpreting mechanical drawings, control drawings, points lists, control diagrams, and sequences of operation.
• Familiarity with BACnet and other common BAS communication protocols.
• Experience coordinating BAS work during construction, renovation, and equipment replacement projects.

Core Competencies

• The successful candidate must demonstrate strong BAS/DDC troubleshooting capability; understanding of mechanical equipment and control-system interaction; ability to analyze BAS trends and alarms; ability to work effectively with engineers, technicians, healthcare professionals, Infection Control, Industrial Hygiene, Nursing, and facility management personnel; and the ability to troubleshoot critical environmental conditions under time-sensitive circumstances.
• The candidate must also demonstrate strong documentation skills, attention to detail, the ability to distinguish controls deficiencies from mechanical/electrical failures, and the ability to work independently while maintaining appropriate Government coordination and authorization.

Position Authority and Responsibility
The BAS/DDC Specialist serves as a technical resource to the Walter Reed Facilities Management Department and does not independently establish clinical environmental standards or make unauthorized changes to critical system operating parameters.
Changes affecting critical patient-care environments, life-safety systems, major HVAC sequences, network architecture, or established Government operating requirements shall be coordinated with and authorized by the designated Government representative.
The BAS/DDC Specialist is expected to identify deficiencies, recommend corrective actions, implement authorized BAS adjustments, coordinate field repairs, and verify restoration of acceptable operating conditions.
Position Objective
The primary objective of this position is to maintain a reliable, responsive, and properly controlled healthcare environment by ensuring the Walter Reed Building Automation System effectively supports HVAC equipment operation, patient-care environmental requirements, facility reliability, infection prevention, energy management, and the overall mission of Walter Reed National Military Medical Center.
What We Offer
At VWI, our people are our greatest strength. Our respect for the skills and expertise of our employees drives every decision we make. We strive to uphold our values of respect, dignity, teamwork, and transparency in the benefits and compensation we offer to our employees.

• Medical, dental, and vision insurance, covered by employer-funded Health & Welfare contributions, as per SCA regulations.
• Paid Time Off and Vacation Days 
• Opportunities for bonuses and compensation increase over and above guaranteed SCA wages.
• Opportunities for promotion to supervisor and management positions 
• Leadership and development opportunities  

VWI is an Equal Opportunity Employer