• ACP has created invaluable toolkits consisting of various products and services to promote Building Automation Systems (BAS) education, certification, training, and workforce opportunities.

• No. Most of the toolkit resources are open-source. You may download or contact ACP to receive open-source products. Some products are available either as complementary resources for ACP members or at a cost. 

• Yes. Most of the ACP’s BAS Toolkit and Learning Resources are digital products.  
• An easier way to share our resources is to direct your network contact to our website www.acp21.org.  

• The BAS Toolkits and learning resources are organized into four (4) categories to support diverse groups of stakeholders interested in promoting BAS education and career pathways. 

• Secondary Academia: Students, faculty, and staff engaged in promoting STEM-based careers.
• Post-secondary Academia: Students, faculty, administrators, and staff of community and technical colleges, undergraduate programs, and graduate studies related to engineering, automation, mechatronics, sustainability, IT, and other disciplines.  
• Workforce: Employers representing large-, mid, or small-scale building automation systems, HVAC/R, building maintenance, building management, controls professions, Building IoT, and other building technology-related fields.
• Agencies, Organizations, and Community: Local (county), state, and federal agencies. Non- or for-profit agencies promoting STEM-based career pathways, educational and workforce equity issues, workforce opportunities, economic development, and other critical service sectors that champion human-centric causes. Communities and community leaders who are passionate about transforming one life at a time to improve our societies.

• Teachers can use all information inside the toolkits as supplementary teaching materials in the classroom.

Yes. Please complete the online form on our website (link here) or send an email to info@acprofessionals.org.

• Yes. Please acknowledge the ACP works when using our content for news reporting, scholarship, research, and teaching.
• Obtain permission from ACP if you plan on mass distribution (over 1000 copies) of printed material or plan to publish a portion of ACP work on your website. 
• Under no circumstances ACP’s BAS Toolkits and Learning Resources should be sold by the users. 

• ACP welcomes collaborative efforts in promoting BAS education, training, and workforce opportunities. Please contact us to discuss your needs, and ACP may create solutions that best meet your expectations. Complete the online contact form or send an email to info@acprofessionals.org.

• Yes. ACP hosts a monthly online BAS Discovery forum to address queries on all of our services. Please sign up for ACP Newsletter or check our events page for the date(s) of the upcoming forum(s).

• ACP offers numerous benefits and preferred services to four (4) groups of stakeholders that promote BAS education, employment, policy, funding, and businesses. ACP's nationwide membership initiative is designed for all BAS-ecosystem and related fields professionals.  We encourage collaboration within and among the four categories of members to build a robust pipeline of skilled BAS workforce.

• The four (4) categories are
• Council of Academic Leaders and Practitioners (CAL-P):  Students, faculty, staff, and administrators of all post-secondary academic institutions may apply for the CAL-P membership.
• Council of Corporate Leaders and Practitioners (CCL-P): CCL-P is a network of entry-, mid-and senior-level professionals from industries engaged in building automation, controls, maintenance, and energy management systems.
• Council of Individual Leaders and Practitioners (CIL-P): ACP's Council of Individual Leaders and Practitioners (CIL-P) is a network of individual professionals working in building automation, controls, maintenance, and energy management systems and businesses.  Individuals interested in ACP Membership may join CIL-P.
• Council of Organizational Leaders and Practitioners (COL-P): COL-P is a network of professionals from government, non-profit, and for-profit institutions promoting education, training, certification, and workforce issues related to all BAS-ecosystem and related issues. 

• Following the rollout of the academic membership this summer, ACP shall launch the three (3) other memberships in September 2021.

• ACP members shall receive a preferred (discounted) rate on certification testing fees, publications, marketplace consultancy, workshops, conferences, and BAS career pathways resources.  For benefits comparison, visit (link Membership > Overview page here).

Yes.  Students enrolled in post-secondary academic institutions are eligible for ACP membership.  Institutional membership (i.e., when colleges join ACP's institutional plan) covers students, faculty, and staff.  Students from colleges that do not have an ACP institutional membership may join ACP as individual student members.

• All secondary schools are welcome to join complementary ACP membership.  As ACP members, secondary school staff shall receive key benefits to support STEM-based career pathways guidance and career opportunities in the BAS fields.

• Faculty and/or staff (FT, PT or adjunct) of post-secondary academic institutions are eligible to sign-up for ACP membership as individuals.  Institutional membership (i.e., when colleges join ACP's institutional plan) covers faculty, and staff.  ACP provides a preferred rate for BAS faculty and staff.

• Institutional Memberships:  Faculty, staff, or administrators of post-secondary institutions may complete ACP’s CAL-P Membership application on behalf of their college.  Each institution may designate up to two (2) representatives to liaise on all membership matters.  

Yes.  ACP hosts monthly events on diverse topics of interest to the BAS stakeholders.  Please check ACP's Events (link here), sign up to receive ACP's Newsletter, follow us on Facebook, Twitter, Linked In, and Instagram to receive a list of our events and workshops.

You may complete an online inquiry form (link here) or email Dr. Sudeep Vyapari (Executive VP, ACP).  His email is sudeep@acprofessionals.org.

• Technical Definition - “Building automation is the automatic centralized control of a building's HVAC (heating, ventilation and air conditioning), electrical, lighting, shading, Access Control, Security Systems, and other interrelated systems through a Building Management System (BMS) or Building Automation System (BAS).”  - Wikipedia, 2021.
• Workforce Definition - “The BAS ecosystem comprises many traditional, existing, and emerging marketplace opportunities that serve the critical infrastructure and workforce needs of building architecture, development, automation, controls, management, and maintenance.” - Vyapari, 2020 (link this to the article).

• BAS jobs are in high demand.
• Many entry-level position jobs are available for 2-year community or technical college graduates.  Some entry-level job titles include BAS Technicians, BAS Controls Technicians, and HVAC Technicians.  
• A 4-year degree in electrical, electronic, mechanical, or computer engineering provides mid-level job opportunities. Some job titles include Building Automation Engineers, Electrical Engineers, Mechanical Engineers,  Energy Engineers, and Robotics Engineers.
• Check the (link here) career pathways information on the ACP website for additional job titles.

The average annual salary of a BAS Controls Technician in the United States is $68,054 / year.  (Source:  Ziprecruiter.com, May 10, 2021).

• Yes.  While most employers prefer candidates with a 2-year community or technical college education, many employers do encourage high school graduates to intern with their company to explore the promising BAS careers.  

• Yes.  In the United States the residential and commercial sectors accounted for a 40% combined of total U.S. energy consumption in 2020. (Source:  U.S. Energy Information Administration, 2020).
• Advances in BAS technology combined with the BIoT (Building Internet of Things) provide vital solutions to reduce carbon emissions.

• Yes.   The 21st-century BAS occupations use advanced computing techniques and technologies.  
• Today's BAS industry is solving critical problems using Big Data.  Data scientists from various disciplines of computer sciences, business management programs, software and hardware architects, social scientists, and many other researchers contribute to the sophisticated controls tools used by the BAS technicians and engineers.

• Contact your high school or college career counselors to seek information about the high-wage, high-salary STEM-based BAS occupations.
• Many technical and community colleges offer HVAC/R or BAS-related programs as credit-based or non-credit based options.  
• Contact one of our team members.  We will help you find a technical or community college program located in your state or elsewhere.  Send an email to info@acprofessionals.org.  

• Yes.  In general, the building automation industry suffers from a severe lack of diversity. According to the United States Department of Labor data, in 2017 women made up only 1.4% of the industry’s workforce.
• The most recent U.S. Census results (2021) show that women are making gains in STEM careers.  However, Women represented only about a quarter of computer workers and 15% of those in engineering occupations. 

• Yes.  The ethnic representation in the HVAC/R industry reveals a wide gap in diversity. According to the 2019 data provided by the Bureau of Labor Statistics (U.S. Dept. of Labor), 72% of/ the industry was made up of White employees, 11% Hispanics/Lation/ Spanish, and 9% African Americans.
• A recent article by Pew Research Center (2021) titled “STEM Jobs See Uneven Progress in Increasing Gender, Racial and Ethnic Diversity” shows that Black and Hispanic workers remain underrepresented in the STEM workforce.  Specifically, Hispanics and Blacks made up only 9% and 5%, respectively of the total engineering workforce in the United States.

• Yes.  ACP does have a program that offers scholarships to eligible candidates to complete a 2-year technical or community college education in BAS.  For details and information, send an email to info@acprofessionals.org.