By Shelia Watson
Contributing Writer

Southeast Integration Services can be described as truly successful: The eight-year-old company is expanding, with branches soon to open in Greenville , S.C., and Charlotte, N.C.

For Tom McConnell and Darby Hughes, principal owner and owner, respectively, the work is energizing, fulfilling and perhaps even fun.

But describing exactly what they do can be a challenge, even for them.

“We design, install and maintain building automation systems,” said McConnell. “Although people tend to understand it better when we say we put in energy management systems.

“We call it ‘building automation’ because it encompasses a lot of different systems: heating and air, indoor air quality, lighting, data collection. And they’re integrated together into a single front end that’s accessible by the owner.”

For instance, McConnell pointed out that 60% to 70% of a company’s utility bill is comprised of just the lighting and heating and air systems.

“In a large office and with multiple personnel in the office, when the lights are left on, that represents a lot of money wasted,” he said.

Hughes said the work generally falls into three problem areas for customers: high energy bills, indoor air quality such as mold and mildew and maintaining the correct humidity level for comfort.

One of the ways Southeast Integration helps a company save money is by installing a computerized system that knows when people are in the room.

The system uses motion detection sensors or key cards that include information such as which office or workspace the person uses to know in which area the system will turn on lights and air.

The system can also be programmed with individual preferences, such as ideal temperature.

“You can actually prioritize people,” Hughes said. “So if someone more important comes into the room, the system can reset to preferences of the more important person.”

The company also installs cameras, but McConnell is careful to distinguish between data collection and security.

“We don’t do security,” he said. “We do data collection. We install cameras and set them up to store the recordings on hard drive where the information is archived.”

Southeast Integration’s workload is comprised primarily of office buildings, schools, college campuses, military facilities and hospitals, although in the past few years, the company has seen growth in the high-end residential market.

“The consumer is becoming more aware of what’s available,” Hughes said. “Some people see the technology and they just like it and want it.”

The company services all of South Carolina, coastal Georgia, parts of North Carolina in the Charlotte/Rock Hill area and the occasional high-profile project, such as the visitor center for the White House.

“We also handled the governor’s mansion when it had trouble maintaining humidity levels,” McConnell said.

Some clients they keep confidential because the work involved a problem the client would rather not have known, as in the case of getting rid of mold and mildew, Hughes said.

“They don’t want people to know they had a problem and we respect that,” he explained. “But for us, it’s an opportunity to take a bad situation and make them comfortable and able to enjoy being in their space again.”

For instance, the company worked with a resort clubhouse that was getting about 20 complaints a day regarding moisture and humidity. The company worked on the system to get the air and humidity just right, and in the end, the complaints dropped to averaging less than one per week.

“Basically what we do is take the customer’s problems and make everything better,” Hughes said. “We make our customers comfortable again.”

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