vfd & Control cabinet replacement

In 2018, our team alerted a client to the pressing need to replace three VFD drives and their control cabinets at the client’s highest-occupied building in our contract. Completing this project would both increase machine efficiency and allow for the changing of controls providers to a more technically capable program—later resulting in more energy-efficient operations and cost savings.

With the hopes of providing our client with options, we requested pricing from two different contractors. After receiving both proposals, our Project Manager was unhappy with the pricing and value to our client, so we challenged our in-house personnel to identify alternatives. The team stepped up and started researching alternatives in their off-hours. The staff returned to the Project Manager with a solution grounded by our proven capabilities of smaller installs and retrofits, as well as our relationship with our BAS start-up provider, we gained the confidence and permission of our client to take this job in-house.

The job was completed in the same, expected timeframe utilizing our in-house capabilities and providing significant cost-savings to our client, as shown below:

• Cost Savings In-House vs. Contractor 1: 45% of Contractor 1 Cost
• Cost Savings In-House vs. Contractor 2: 57% of Contractor 2 Cost

Our successes in this project allowed for more cooperation from our client when it came to taking on new in-house projects, which were once outside of our scope of work. Complete Building Services demonstrated our philosophy to be in a partnership with our clients, doing what is best for the facility first.