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Facing Escalating BAS Integration Costs, CannonDesign Cut a $100K Controls Proposal to $29K by Bringing in an MSI to Mediate the Integration
When CannonDesignâs BAS vendor raised an integration quote from $66,000 to nearly $100,000 for a new Chicago office buildout, Brian Green-Carson, Mechanical Project Lead for CannonDesign, "nearly fell out of his seat."
The BAS vendor was actually CannonDesign's landlord's BAS vendor, leaving CannonDesign with less leverage as a tenant of the building. CannonDesign was building out a 40,000-square-foot flagship office in Chicago and needed access to the base-building BAS, without touching central equipment. âGetting access to the BAS was probably the most challenging piece for me on this entire project,â said Green-Carson. âI took tons of meetings and a lot of negotiation with the building owner.â
The landlord required strict network isolation and limited access only to terminal units serving the tenant space. No air handler access. No shared systems.
The first proposal came in at $66,000. After revisions, it jumped to  $100,000.
Instead of absorbing the cost, CannonDesign brought in OTI as its Master Systems Integrator (MSI) to review the architecture and scope.
After redrawing the architecture and tightening the scope boundaries, the final cost came to $29,000.
While CannonDesign typically acts as the designer, in this example, they also played the role of the corporate occupier and were able to see firsthand where MSI can alleviate integration stress. Rather than just handling integrations, OTI acted as a scope arbitrator between tenant, BAS vendor, and landlordâprotecting network intent and controlling costs.
During design and construction, integrations are always the messy middle. Multiple stakeholders are involved, and everyone feels risk and a lack of control, leading to higher costs and implementation gaps. This risk can escalate further in a tenant-landlord relationship, where access and security can get muddy.
CannonDesign's case study is a strong example of how an MSI can act as a moderator and translator, lowering project costs while ensuring accountability.
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When CannonDesignâs BAS vendor raised an integration quote from $66,000 to nearly $100,000 for a new Chicago office buildout, Brian Green-Carson, Mechanical Project Lead for CannonDesign, "nearly fell out of his seat."
The BAS vendor was actually CannonDesign's landlord's BAS vendor, leaving CannonDesign with less leverage as a tenant of the building. CannonDesign was building out a 40,000-square-foot flagship office in Chicago and needed access to the base-building BAS, without touching central equipment. âGetting access to the BAS was probably the most challenging piece for me on this entire project,â said Green-Carson. âI took tons of meetings and a lot of negotiation with the building owner.â
The landlord required strict network isolation and limited access only to terminal units serving the tenant space. No air handler access. No shared systems.
The first proposal came in at $66,000. After revisions, it jumped to  $100,000.
Instead of absorbing the cost, CannonDesign brought in OTI as its Master Systems Integrator (MSI) to review the architecture and scope.
After redrawing the architecture and tightening the scope boundaries, the final cost came to $29,000.
While CannonDesign typically acts as the designer, in this example, they also played the role of the corporate occupier and were able to see firsthand where MSI can alleviate integration stress. Rather than just handling integrations, OTI acted as a scope arbitrator between tenant, BAS vendor, and landlordâprotecting network intent and controlling costs.
During design and construction, integrations are always the messy middle. Multiple stakeholders are involved, and everyone feels risk and a lack of control, leading to higher costs and implementation gaps. This risk can escalate further in a tenant-landlord relationship, where access and security can get muddy.
CannonDesign's case study is a strong example of how an MSI can act as a moderator and translator, lowering project costs while ensuring accountability.
â
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This is a great piece!
I agree.