Marcus Myers · Knowledge shared
The same curiosity Marcus brings to projects runs through his teaching and LinkedIn posts. Explore the lessons, the original graphics and the thinking behind BPV.
Learn through connections
Start with something familiar. Predict what happens next. Follow the connection into commissioning, controls, people and data.
Try the interactive lessonsYour experience is a place to start
Start with a room that feels warm. Follow the seven circles to see how an everyday question becomes a way to think through technical work.
01 / Experience
You already notice when something does not work as expected. That everyday habit gives you a place to begin learning the technical work.
A room feels warm. The thermostat screen says 72°F. You notice a difference between what you feel and what you see.
What do you actually know, and what are you assuming?
You know the room feels warm to you and the screen shows 72°F. You have not yet established whether that number is a measured temperature or the desired setting. Naming what you do not know gives your next question a purpose.
02 / Principle
A useful lesson gives you a way to think that you can use again. Here, the principle is to understand what information represents before relying on it.
The number 72°F could be the temperature you asked for or a sensor reading. Those tell you different things.
Does asking for a result prove that you got it?
A setting tells the system what you want. A measurement describes a condition at a particular location and time. Neither, on its own, tells the whole story about comfort or system performance.
03 / Pattern
Once you understand an idea, look for it somewhere else. Connections make unfamiliar work easier to approach, provided you also notice where the comparison stops.
An oven set to 350°F has not necessarily reached 350°F. A room thermostat follows the same useful distinction between a requested condition and a measured condition.
What carries over from the oven example, and what does not?
The distinction between a setting and a result carries over. The equipment, controls, operating conditions and checks are different. Recognizing a pattern helps you ask better questions; it does not replace learning the new system.
04 / Practice
You build understanding by working through a task and explaining your choices. A coach can help you catch a missed connection before it becomes a habit.
In a training exercise, you receive a thermostat screenshot and a simple room diagram. Your task is to identify the setting, the reading and the location each refers to.
What would you check first, and why?
Start by identifying what each value represents and which room or sensor it belongs to. Then compare the available information. If a label or location is missing, say what you need instead of filling the gap with a guess.
05 / Proof
An answer becomes more useful when another person can follow how you reached it. Show the observations, comparisons and limits behind your conclusion.
In this example, checking the display labels confirms that 72°F is the desired setting. You record the sensor reading, its location and the observation time.
What evidence supports your explanation, and what is still unknown?
Clear labels and traceable observations support the explanation of what the display means. They do not, by themselves, prove the cause of discomfort. Evidence should support the claim you are actually making.
06 / Reflection
You learn more from an exercise when you look back at the decision, not just the answer. Useful feedback tells you what to repeat and what to improve.
At first, you assumed the room was 72°F. Checking the label showed that you had read the desired setting as a measurement.
Which assumption changed, and what will you do differently next time?
The useful change is a specific habit: check what a value represents before using it. Missing that distinction in practice gives you something concrete to improve. You can try again and see whether your reasoning is clearer.
07 / Transfer
Learning starts to travel when you can apply the idea in a different situation and help someone else understand it. A new context also gives you something new to learn.
A building controls screen says a fan is on. You ask whether that means a command was sent, a status signal was received or airflow was measured.
What does “on” mean here, and what would show the intended result?
A command, a status signal and a measured result represent different information. Their relationship depends on the system and its required operation. Your everyday question now helps you begin reading a sequence of operations and following the evidence.
Keep the connection going. Try another everyday example with Coach
This week’s field lesson ·
A familiar example can make an unfamiliar technical idea easier to understand. I use stories and analogies to help people recognize the connections, then practice applying the lesson.
Choose one unfamiliar concept. Explain it using something you already understand, then ask where that comparison stops being useful.
Understanding is a starting point. Practice, feedback and evidence show whether you can apply the lesson. An analogy helps explain the idea; you still need to check the real requirements and conditions.
Adapted from Marcus’s teaching and LinkedIn writing.
Lessons from Marcus’s LinkedIn writing
Start with the featured field lesson, then explore a subject that fits where you are. These short summaries connect the original posts with practical questions, training and a conversation with Marcus.
17 lessons
Starting out · Changing careers · Growing your skills
A new technical idea makes more sense when it connects to something you already understand. Stories, examples and practice give you a place to begin.
What is one idea you understand better when someone connects it to a real example?
Starting out · Developing a team
Hiring is only the beginning. Clear expectations, coaching and useful feedback help people understand the work and contribute to the team.
What should a new teammate be able to explain and demonstrate after their first month?
Starting out · Growing your skills
Learning Cx connects building systems, controls, construction quality and operations. Asking why helps you understand the decisions beyond your own task.
Which part of a project do you want to understand beyond your current role?
Changing careers · Growing your skills
Cx draws on technical knowledge, operations, communication and judgment. Identify the skills you can bring forward as you learn a new discipline.
Which skill from your current or previous career could help a building team work better?
Starting out · Changing careers · Growing your skills
Experience can leave gaps when every lesson comes from a different project. Revisit the process, the requirements and the reasons behind the work.
Which foundation do you want to revisit with someone who can explain the why?
Changing careers · Growing your skills · Developing a team
Listening, asking useful questions and coordinating with others help technical teams work toward a shared result. These are skills worth practicing too.
When has listening or asking a better question helped your team solve a technical problem?
Changing careers · Growing your skills · Developing a team
Trade, facilities and project experience can provide a foundation for a new responsibility. Define the skills the new role needs, then connect learning with supported practice.
Which part of your experience could help you contribute in a different role?
Developing a team · Growing your skills
A strong résumé opens a conversation. Use realistic questions, guided learning and practical evidence to understand a person’s skills and development needs.
What task would help you understand how a candidate thinks and works?
Growing your skills · Developing a team
A master systems integrator follows the connections between equipment, controls, networks and operations. Clear responsibilities help each team hand something useful to the next.
Who owns each handoff between the equipment and the information your operator receives?
Starting out · Changing careers · Growing your skills
Mechanical, electrical, controls, the building enclosure and energy performance are connected. Curiosity helps you look beyond your own task and understand what the next person needs.
If one part of your system changes, what else might change with it?
Growing your skills · Developing a team
The hybrid Cx professional connects physical systems, controls, data and operational needs. Technical knowledge becomes more useful when you can also coordinate people and explain what the evidence means.
Which connection between the physical system and its data would make you more effective?
Growing your skills · Developing a team
Division 25 is more useful when the team understands the intended result, responsibilities, interfaces and acceptance evidence. Define those expectations early enough to guide the work.
Could two different teams read your integration requirements and agree on who delivers and verifies each result?
Starting out · Growing your skills · Developing a team
More data does not automatically produce better decisions. Marcus’s Data Assurance Cx approach asks what information matters, where it comes from and what evidence makes it trustworthy.
What would you check before using a dashboard value to make an operating decision?
Starting out · Growing your skills · Developing a team
Bring owner goals, space needs, performance, operations and integration into the conversation. Keep the requirements useful and current as decisions develop.
Whose operating need is missing from your OPR conversation?
Starting out · Growing your skills · Developing a team
Explore the operating boundaries, outage expectations and acceptance evidence behind a critical-facility requirement. Establish the criteria before treating a design choice as the answer.
Which operating condition would expose an assumption in your requirement?
Starting out · Growing your skills · Developing a team
Connect the owner’s requirements to the design approach, assumptions and supporting information. Understand why a proposed system should meet the need.
Can you trace one owner requirement to a design decision and the reasoning behind it?
Starting out · Growing your skills · Developing a team
Make responsibilities, activities, readiness and evidence clear enough for people to work together. Revisit the plan as the project develops.
Who needs to know what before your next planned verification activity?
No lessons match this selection. Choose another starting point.
Learn the connections
I teach people to connect their own work with the systems and people around them. Explain your reasoning, check the evidence and recognize when you need another discipline’s help.
A BPV example to discuss
The display is one piece of information. First, clarify whether it shows a command, a status signal or a measured result. Then consider what else you need to know.
Explore this through BPV 360Connect the control command with the pump’s actual response, the water path and the equipment that needs cooling. Identify which parts depend on electrical, mechanical or controls knowledge.
Clarify what the displayed point represents. Compare the expected response with relevant measurements and observations under the agreed test conditions. Explain what is known and what still needs verification.
Name the people responsible for the affected systems. Explain the impact, document the open question and seek the right support when a decision goes beyond your authority.
Discussion exercise. Actual field work follows approved procedures, qualified supervision and the learner’s authorized scope.
People & profitability
A deliberate development path connects role clarity, coached work and verified capability with team capacity and business value.
Read Marcus’s LinkedIn post
Teaching
How trust, familiar examples and project lessons help a new practitioner recognize what matters.
Read Marcus’s LinkedIn post
Data centers
Power, cooling, controls and data make more sense when people can see how they connect.
Read Marcus’s LinkedIn post
Leadership
A useful lesson changes the next job: the process, the responsibility, the training and the verification.
Read Marcus’s LinkedIn post
MSI & integration
Define interfaces, responsibilities and acceptance so integration becomes something the team can deliver and prove.
Read Marcus’s LinkedIn post
Controls & Cx
Seeing both sides helps connect the sequence, the screen and the physical system.
Read Marcus’s LinkedIn post
ASU & mentoring
The Cx Devils connect students with practitioners, mentoring and the opportunities beyond the classroom.
Photo: an earlier ASU student gathering. The linked post introduces Cx Devils.
Read Marcus’s LinkedIn postVisual lessons from BPV
Cx, controls, people, performance and the connections between them. Browse the collection by subject, open a graphic and start a better conversation.
Your people. Your priorities.
Tell Marcus where your team gets stuck. Build the session around a useful answer and the reasoning behind it.
Help shape BPV
Tell us what connected, where you got stuck or what is missing for your role. Your questions help identify the next lesson to develop.
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