An expert providing innovative, cost-effective control solutions and web-based facility integration design across a spectrum of facility types: Jackson Control

The pandemic effect has caused an acceleration in the technology adoption for buildings. What was going to take 10-15 years, will now happen in 5 years. Building owners must now consider the health and safety of their occupants and indoor environment, while also meeting their proposed efficiency and sustainability targets. Occupants are demanding that buildings are safe and secure before returning to work. Stakeholders are demanding buildings meet their net-zero carbon emission goals. In this new normal, buildings must make the jump to an intelligent building that connects health, safety, and efficiency.

Upgrading to an intelligent building presents challenges. A key challenge is upgrading the technology in the most efficient manner to save on the investment that has already been made in the building technology infrastructure. Finding a partner in building technology that can comprehensively look at the building and understand how to use its legacy systems is rare. Jackson Control has emerged as a leader in the industry. Jackson Control is a high-value-add building technologies distributor that provides world-class products and an open technology platform that delivers healthy, efficient, and secure building environments. The company’s objective is to serve as a trusted advisor for building controls and provide the ultimate open platform, best-in-class solution. Jackson Control’s core competencies are Building Efficiency Solutions - HVAC, BAS, Lighting Systems, Building Security Solutions - Access Control, Video Surveillance, Alarms & Safety, and Building Health Solutions -Indoor Air Quality, Water Quality, and Leak Detection.

In conversation with Greg Ericksen, Chairman & CEO of Jackson Control

Q. What was the motivation behind starting Jackson Control?

During the late 1970s, we saw energy management and energy conservation emerging as an important sector. The back end of the oil crisis in ‘79 really started the discussion around the sustainability issue and the need to become more energy efficient.

Q. How do you recruit the right talents for maintaining the quality of your solutions?

We rely on our people to recruit talent; they have experience everyday with the best talent in the market and understand our business better than anyone.

Tell us about your solutions’ impact on costs to make the construction sector more sustainable.

Buildings consume a disproportionate amount of energy. We focus on the achievable cost reductions when retrofitting buildings to make them more sustainable and efficient. We have the technical knowledge and ability to upgrade a building using its legacy systems. Building owners face a big challenge in using and connecting their existing legacy systems in a technology upgrade. Most buildings already have a large technology investment—those owners don’t want to lose—but ultimately need the assistance in upgrading and standardizing, so these technologies can work together.

Q. Growing the company based on employees’ passions must the priority. Do you ask your employees what they are interested in doing and how they would like to see their career unfold?

Yes, that is at the forefront of our philosophy. We try to find where somebody can make a great contribution to the company and where it matches up with their personal aspiration. An industry like ours has so many opportunities that it’s difficult to imagine not finding an area to excel.

Q. How has emerging technologies helped you to update your offerings?

We continuously upgrade our offering. It’s what our customers expect. One of the primary drivers of our business is making sure we’re delivering the latest and most effective technologies to the market. It’s a continuous evaluation process. Our customers rely on us to evaluate what product or technology is the best in the market. Part of our mission statement is to provide leading edge products and services. Quality of the product is more important than the price.

Q. How do you market your services?

Non-traditional joint ventures and partnering with customers in go to market strategies provide a more comprehensive solution for sustainability and energy efficiency. Developing long-term relationships with our customers is such a fundamental part of our business. Investing in these relationships helps us find out what is going on in the market and gives us the opportunity to work on more projections. Projects drive our customers business.

Q. Do you have any new services ready to be launched?

We’re launching our Building Lighting Solutions in 2022. Offering lighting solutions will help complete the total building technology package that we offer for our customers. The total building technology includes delivering, Building Efficiency Solutions (HVAC, Building Automation Systems, Lighting), Building Security Solutions (Access Control, Video Surveillance, Alarms & Safety), and Building Health Solutions (Indoor Air Quality, Water Quality, Leak Detection) all into one single open platform.

Q. What does the future hold for your company and its customers? Are exciting things on the way?

We’re a climate tech company. The industry is in its infancy. Our Purpose: Retrofitting buildings to save the planet. Building owners are adopting net zero-emission goals for their facilities. These goals are nearly impossible to achieve without a technology upgrade. Based on our experience, a smart building upgrade will save 30-35% on energy. Getting a building connected, making the mechanical equipment smart, reduces run time for the equipment and saves energy. The opportunity is huge.

“The next 1,000 billion-dollar startups will be in climate tech. Getting to net-zero carbon emissions by 2050 is going to require a revolution in the production of everything we produce and a revolution in everything we consume. The process of creating fuel, food and construction materials, with all the needs that we have as humans, it all has to reinvent.” – Larry Fink, CEO BlackRock

“Whether the needs are basic replacement control components or a complete new integrated building solution, we provide the technologies, support, and retrofit expertise to get the job done right.”