Building Automation
& Smart Control

Building Automation Systems in Burbank, CA

Smart building technology carries a reputation for being finicky: systems that demand a specialist every time something drifts, or interfaces that confuse the very people responsible for running them day to day. That reputation is not entirely unearned, and it is a reasonable thing to be wary of before committing to a substantial infrastructure investment. Madison Electric’s approach is built around closing that gap. We keep things simple. Every system we design and install comes with hands-on training, and most clients are fully comfortable operating their building after just 15 to 30 minutes of that first walkthrough. The technology is only as good as the people who can use it.

Building automation systems are control systems composed of sensors and actuators programmed to monitor and regulate HVAC, lighting, and plug loads in a coordinated way, operating not as separate siloed functions but as an integrated whole. When those systems are properly tuned, the efficiency gains are pronounced. Research from the U.S. Department of Energy shows that well-calibrated building controls can cut commercial energy consumption by roughly 29% on average. For commercial property owners, entertainment studios, and hospitality operators across Burbank, that figure translates directly into operating cost, grid demand, and long-term asset value. Madison Electric delivers building automation in Southern California with a focus on systems that hold their performance: not just at commissioning, but through years of actual use.

Burbank Is Building

The Burbank Media District Specific Plan Update projects up to 3,986,207 square feet of commercial and general business development and 400 hotel rooms, per the CEQAnet State Clearinghouse.

The City has also evaluated a Sustainable Infrastructure Alternative specifically to address electricity demand impacts from this expansion. For developers and facility managers entering this corridor, advanced building automation is the mechanism for managing energy load at scale while satisfying the local environmental review requirements that come with development at this density.

Schedule a Burbank Commercial Automation Consultation

Talk through your project with Madison Electric’s team. We will map out a custom system design and installation plan built around your facility’s actual demands, rather than a standard package.

Call (310) 514-6114

Intelligent Climate and Lighting Control Systems

A well-designed climate control system does not announce itself. Temperatures adjust before occupants register a shift; ventilation responds to how many people occupy a space rather than running at full capacity regardless. Lighting follows the same logic: gradually brightening as a workday begins, moderating in response to natural light coming through windows, and easing down in the evening without anyone touching a switch. These are not amenities layered on top of a functional building; they are what happens when a building is genuinely programmed to respond to the people inside it. That is the goal.

The energy case is equally clear. Replacing aging building control systems with modern direct digital controls (DDC) and ASHRAE Guideline 36 sequences, representing a full hardware and software retrofit, achieves 26% to 35% electricity savings with 6- to 8-year simple paybacks, per a California Energy Commission final project report. When combining electricity and natural gas, full retrofits reach 35% to 45% whole-building energy savings. For buildings that already have modern DDC infrastructure in place, a software-only retrofit updating the programming to Guideline 36 delivers 11% to 17% electricity savings with payback periods as short as two years, creating a considerably lower barrier to entry.

Our Climate and Lighting Services

We offer tailored climate and lighting solutions designed to integrate with your Burbank commercial property’s existing infrastructure while maximizing energy efficiency, reducing operational overhead, and improving daily occupant comfort. We help you. Start here.

Smart HVAC Automation: Fine-tune heating and cooling with intelligent climate controls that adapt to occupancy, reducing energy waste and maintaining consistent comfort throughout your facility.
Smart Lighting Installation: Automated lighting that tracks your building’s natural rhythm, using daylight harvesting and occupancy-based scheduling to maximize energy efficiency.

Plan Your Climate and Lighting Automation

Security, Access, and Media Integration

Burbank’s media corridor operates under pressures most commercial districts do not face. Soundstages run on tight production schedules where an unauthorized access event or an environmental control failure carries real financial consequence. Post-production offices handle proprietary content that requires layered access restrictions, not just a locked door. Hospitality venues adjacent to studio campuses need smooth guest experiences while managing back-of-house complexity that is invisible to anyone checking in. Integrating security and AV automation with core building systems addresses all of this: access control tied to occupancy scheduling, surveillance woven into the same management platform as HVAC and lighting, and media environments that respond to a single command rather than requiring separate interfaces for every subsystem.

A concern we hear frequently from facility managers is the cost of legacy hardware. Replacing every controller and sensor in an older building is expensive and operationally disruptive in ways that cannot always be scheduled around. Our approach is open-architecture integration: we connect diverse hardware brands and existing legacy systems under a single, unified management platform. The existing infrastructure stays in place; what changes is how it is orchestrated and monitored. We make it work. Security comes first.

The Burbank Commercial & Studio Automation Integration Checklist

Smart technology should work for your operation from day one. Ask us about what a structured, low-impact deployment looks like for your facility: we design around your schedule, not the other way around.

Call (310) 514-6114

Our Security and Media Services

We provide integrated security and media solutions designed to protect your Burbank facility’s physical assets and streamline your production workflows without introducing any unnecessary operational complexity or downtime. We help you. Start here.

Integrated Security Systems: Protect your facility with smart access controls, surveillance, and real-time monitoring integrated into your building management platform.
Audio and AV Automation: Automate sound systems, displays, and media environments for production studios and commercial spaces with centralized, navigable controls.

Discuss Security and AV Integration

Compliance and Energy Efficiency Standards in California

California’s Building Energy Efficiency Standards (Title 24, Part 6) and the CALGreen code (Title 24, Part 11) establish requirements that go well beyond what most commercial operators expect when they first encounter them. The 2025 Energy Code mandates advanced controls, including occupied-standby ventilation, which includes systems that disable zonal airflow when spaces are unpopulated rather than conditioning empty rooms at full rate, per the California Energy Commission 2025 Building Energy Efficiency Standards. The controls architecture required to satisfy those mandates is, in most cases, the same architecture that generates measurable operating savings. Compliance and efficiency are not competing priorities here; they are the same investment. They work together. We help you.

The scale of what is achievable over time is worth understanding before making a decision about scope. Over a 15-year horizon, implementing Guideline 36 and networked lighting controls across California’s existing commercial building stock has the potential to reduce electricity use by 2,387 gigawatt-hours, saving $373 million in energy costs and eliminating 1,742 million pounds of CO2 emissions, per the California Energy Commission final project report. For a Burbank developer navigating the Media District’s environmental review requirements, those figures are not abstractions: they are the quantified argument for building the right controls infrastructure now rather than retrofitting under future mandates.

Plan Your Energy Compliance

Why Choose Madison Electric for Your Burbank Property

The gap between a technically capable building automation system and one that gets used comes down to how the people running it were trained, or if they were trained at all. Operators who do not understand their system override automated setpoints, disable schedules, and gradually erode the efficiency gains the installation was designed to deliver. This is a proven pattern in the field, not an edge case. Madison Electric closes that gap deliberately: our hands-on training is built into every deployment, and most clients are fully comfortable with their system after just 15 to 30 minutes of that first session. Ongoing support is part of the engagement, not an upsell. We support you. We help you.

Our commercial specialization is concentrated in Los Angeles, and Burbank’s particular mix of entertainment infrastructure, hospitality, and corporate office space sits squarely within the work we do most. You can learn more about our background and service approach on the Madison Electric About Us page. On the deployment side, we use structured, low-impact methodologies designed for environments where downtime carries real cost: production schedules, occupied office floors, and active hospitality operations each require a different kind of project management than a ground-up commercial build, and we plan accordingly.

Frequently Asked Questions About Building Automation

The cost depends on facility size and the depth of integration required, typically ranging from $2.50 to $7.00 per square foot. Full hardware and software retrofits average $6.40 per square foot, while software-only retrofits, which involve updating existing DDC programming to Guideline 36 sequences, average $0.65 per square foot, per the California Energy Commission final project report. The right approach depends on what controls infrastructure your building already has in place.

The three control adjustments with the greatest individual impact are adjusting setpoints (approximately 8% energy reduction), reducing minimum air flow rates through VAV boxes (approximately 7%), and limiting heating and cooling to occupied hours (approximately 6%), per U.S. Department of Energy research. Each of those measures is modest on its own; applied together across a full building schedule, they compound into the roughly 29% average reduction the DOE research documents.

ASHRAE Guideline 36 single-zone VAV control strategies save 5.7% to 21.7% annual HVAC energy compared to conventional baselines. One specific sequence, cost-based supply air temperature reset, yields an average of 13.1% lower HVAC energy use and 9.5% lower whole-building energy costs, per the California Energy Commission final project report. The range reflects real variation across building types and climates, so actual results depend on your facility’s existing baseline.

Yes. We specialize in open-architecture solutions that connect diverse hardware brands and legacy systems under a single, navigable interface, avoiding the need for a full hardware replacement. The goal is to get your existing infrastructure working as a coherent system, not to start from scratch. We can help.

We provide hands-on training that gets your team comfortable within 15 to 30 minutes, backed by ongoing support after commissioning. The relationship does not end when the system goes live: that is when the operational questions tend to start.

Contact Us Today

If you are ready to talk through a specific project, Madison Electric is available to help route you to the right solution. Reach us by phone at (310) 514-6114. Whether you are evaluating a full BAS installation, a software-only retrofit, or an integration of existing systems into a unified platform, we will start with your building’s actual demands and work from there.

Discuss Your Burbank Project

Building Automation & Smart Control