Shadowing Practice: BAS Bootcamp: Day 1 BAS 101 - Learn English Speaking with Video

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All right, folks.

Hey, my name is Phil Zito, and I'm the founder and CEO of Building Automation Monthly.

We are a provider of online training for building automation professionals.

So right now, at the time I'm recording this, a lot of schools are starting to close and businesses are starting to close down because of the coronavirus.

A lot of people are stuck inside.

And I thought to myself, man, you know, we give out our podcast every week.

Why not just do a weekly, or daily rather, unscripted training series on building automation.

And so that, my friends, is actually what you are watching right now.

You're watching part one of this multi-part series.

And basically what we're going to do is we are going to forever long this little virus thing goes on.

Every weekday, I'm going to be recording.

And right now you can see I've got 21 days.

So I'm hopeful that this is not going to last that long.

But I'll be recording a topic for you.

And my hope is that you're going to come out of this,

you know, staying at home thing with a lot more knowledge of building automation and that people in the future, because I'll put this on YouTube,

I'll put this on our website, people in the future can use this as well just to help them become more aware of what building automation is,

how it works, and just in general help out the community.

So today's topic is going to be on an introduction to building automation.

So in order to get started on this entire journey,

I mean, from inputs and outputs to controls theory to IT to programming to HVAC, et cetera, et cetera, we really have to know where we're starting.

And we're starting at building automation systems, kind of what those are.

Now, I'm going to give you a couple of resources.

I'll put these in a link below the video that you can go to after the fact.

And I encourage you to use these resources, one of which is this Honeywell Gray Manual,

which I personally used when I was first getting into this industry.

Just a little background on me real quickly in case you don't know who I am.

I used to lead the integration program at Johnson Controls, coming up with all sorts of complex integrations.

I've been in sales.

I've been in operations.

I've led ops teams.

I've written a book on building automation, created like 13 courses now, and we've got the fastest growing BAS training business with, at the time of this recording,

5,500 students who are enrolled in our courses.

All right, so all that being said, I know a thing or two about building automation.

And what I find is when folks start to talk about building automation, the first thing they get mixed up is building automation versus control systems.

So this is a building automation controller.

Like this one's an integral actuator controller.

And what it has, this would most likely go on a VAV box.

And then this is just most likely a basically like a building controller for an air handler or a small central plant.

And what you can see, and let me kind of get some larger icons here.

But what you can see as you start to look at these controllers is that they have inputs, they have outputs, they have field trunks.

And if none of this makes sense to you, don't worry, because this is just no review right now.

We're going to be going much deeper as this course progresses.

But these controllers, they have inputs, they have outputs, they have field trunks to communicate to supervisory devices.

Right now, by the way, I just want you to get familiar with these terms.

You're hearing me say inputs, outputs, field trunks, supervisory devices.

Don't worry about what they mean.

Just be comfortable with the terminology.

So all of these come together, and the entire collection of all of this, supervisory devices, inputs, outputs, field trunks,

field controllers, is known as a building automation system.

Its purpose is to automate your building.

So, you know, it had network engines or supervisory devices connected to field trunks, connected to controllers, which process inputs and outputs to make things happen in a building.

But it wasn't always this way.

When this all started, so it all started with the thermostat, right?

We had thermostats that basically would allow us to turn on radiators

or to open louvers or dampers in order to allow fresh air into a building.

And that was kind of the limit of things until pneumatics came about.

And the reason I have this gray manual on my screen is because as you hear me talk, I'm going to recommend

that you start to work through kind of this controls fundamentals where it's going to talk about different types of systems,

pneumatics versus DDC versus analog, et cetera, et cetera.

Well, what happened basically was we started off with just basic thermostats thermostats, like not what you have in your house today not electromechanical thermostats

that basically sense the temperature change

and then energize a relay no we had just basic contact uh as metal elements expanded you would go

and make contacts happen things like that and not even

that complex in the very beginning then we moved to pneumatics

which is basically pressurized air

and pressurized air would flow around it through a series of accumulators and regulators and solenoid valves and things like that, you would make things happen inside the building.

You would have like your air handling units and your valves

and your dampers and your fans and your inlet vanes and all sorts of stuff.

And it was all controlled by pneumatics.

Well, around 1970, 1980, we started to get into microprocessor controls.

So basically, you know, computers were the big thing in the 1970s.

Everyone, 1980s, everyone's like, oh my gosh, get a desktop, right?

I mean, people could actually afford one now.

Well, as all that started to happen, we actually started to have computer chips in our controllers, and this was known as direct digital control.

And direct digital control, more so towards the late 80s, what that allowed us to do is actually program our controllers

so we could go into software that didn't really look like this.

I mean, this is modern GFX, disc tech software, but looks something like this, right?

And so this software would then allow us to go and program.

And in the beginning, it was actually application-specific controllers where you would actually go into like a graphical user interface

or use a set of DIP switches and you would pick a pre-configured program.

But then we got to what's called free programmable controllers.

And so inside these controllers, we could actually freely program them.

Now, that's all well and good that you could program these DDC systems.

That's wonderful and great.

The problem was we had no way of really taking this data out of the controller

and putting it on a screen like you're seeing right now so that someone could actually do something with it.

And that's where these supervisory devices came in, right?

So you may have heard network engines.

You may have heard of Java application control engines.

You may have heard of JASIS, WebSoup, whatever you've heard of.

The main purpose of supervisory devices originally was to take data from these field controllers and put it into a thick client,

so just a stationary desktop that could display data from the field controllers and allow the building operator to interface.

And this was a big freaking deal.

Like, this didn't exist before then.

Before then, you actually had to go and read gauges.

You had to go and change things in your pneumatic system.

You didn't have these capabilities.

But now with DDC and with supervisory devices and the ability to put these into thick clients,

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which basically a thick client is software that is in the actual PC, in the desktop.

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And it's not accessed via a web browser like ThinClient.

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Like nowadays, we use web browsers to access our building automation system, and that is called a thin client or a web app, right?

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Well, we didn't have that.

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And so what happened is you had these supervisory devices, and they would then communicate to a user interface.

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Fast forward, you know, another 10, 20 years.

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Now we're starting to have web-based building automation systems, cloud-based building automation systems.

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We're starting to decouple ourselves from the supervisory device

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and starting to make it to where we only need to use field controllers and web front ends.

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And the field controllers are actually smart enough to have a web interface into them.

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Now, I realize this is 101, this is BAS 101 for you right now.

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A lot of what I just said probably doesn't make sense.

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There's a lot of background to it.

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Like I said, don't worry.

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We're going to be going through BAS inputs and outputs.

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We're going to be going through control modes.

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We're going to be going through devices.

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We're going to take a look at our little control wall that's behind me here.

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And we're going to have a lot of fun with this.

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I'm going to try to keep each one of these videos at about 10 minutes.

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That way you can kind of catch them in between a break.

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My goal is that by the end of this whole series, it'll be a couple hours worth of content that you could go through.

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And it'll be a really solid primer on BAS.

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What I want you to do, so depending on where you're watching this, whether you're watching this on Facebook or on YouTube, or whether you're watching this on our website,

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there's going to be a place where you can ask questions in the comment section.

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I encourage you to do that.

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If there's something that you just feel was missed, please reach out.

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Like I said, tomorrow is going to be much more graphical

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because we're going to be having the camera and we're going to be looking at actual inputs and outputs.

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But today, just a very basic, and I want you to definitely use these links right here.

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They're going to be below the video in the comments or in the description, depending on where you're watching it.

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Be sure to check out the rest of our content at buildingautomationmonthly.com.

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I encourage you to do that.

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We have 200-plus podcast episodes.

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We have a bunch of information that would be really valuable for you.

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And I look forward to seeing you in tomorrow's video.

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Thanks a ton, and take care.

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Vocabulary and speaking notes for this lesson

This C1 speaking lesson is built on the video “BAS Bootcamp: Day 1 BAS 101”. The speaker keeps coming back to these words: controller, automation, device, field, supervisory. This video has 136 sentences and 1809 words to shadow. The speech runs for 10:13. The speaker talks at a natural 177 words per minute, close to everyday conversation. 83% of the words are among the 3,000 most common in English; the rest is worth studying before you start.

Key vocabulary in this video

The 15 most advanced words in the video, with pronunciation and meaning:

Word	Pronunciation	Meaning
automation noun	/ˌɔ.təˈmeɪ.ʃən/	The act or process of converting the controlling of a machine or device to a more automatic system, such as computer or electronic controls.
supervisory adjective	/ˌsuːpə(ɹ)ˈvaɪzəɹɪ/	Of, pertaining to, or in the capacity of a supervisor
thermostat noun	/ˈθɝməstæt/	A device that automatically responds to changes in temperature by activating a heating or cooling system to maintain the temperature at a desired setting.
trunk noun	/tɹʌŋk/	The usually single, more or less upright part of a tree, between the roots and the branches.
pneumatics noun		The branch of mechanics that deals with the mechanical properties of gases
desktop noun	/ˈdɛsktɒp/	The top surface of a desk.
damper noun	/ˈdæmpɚ/	A valve or movable plate in the flue or other part of a stove, furnace, etc., used to check or regulate the draught of air.
graphical adjective	/ˈɡɹæfɪkəl/	Of, related to, or shown on a graph.
pressurize verb	/ˈpɹɛʃəɹaɪz/	To put (physical) pressure on; to put under pressure.
browser noun	/ˈbɹaʊ.zəɹ/	One who or which browses.
accumulator noun	/əˈkjum.jəˌleɪ.tɚ/	One who, or that which, accumulates.
actuator noun	/ˈæk.tjuː.eɪ.tə(ɹ)/	Something that actuates something else.
automate verb	/ˈɔ.təˌmeɪt/	To replace or enhance human labor with machines.
configure verb	/kənˈfɪɡə(ɹ)/	To set up or arrange something in such a way that it is ready for operation for a particular purpose, or to someone's particular liking
coronavirus noun	/kəˈɹoʊnəˌvaɪɹəs/	A member of the family Coronaviridae, comprising viruses which infect animals and human beings, and the genome of which consists of a single strand of RNA.

Phrasal verbs you will hear

Word	Pronunciation	Meaning
go through verb		To travel from one end of something to the other.
check out verb		To record the departure or withdrawal of someone or something (such as guests, employees, books, etc.).
close down verb	/kləʊzˈdaʊn/	To stop trading as a business.
come together verb	/ˈkʌm tʊˈɡɛðɚ/	To assemble; to congregate; to combine.
come up with verb		To manage to produce, deliver, or present (something) by inventing, creating, thinking of, or obtaining it.
give out verb		To utter, publish; to announce, proclaim, report.
help out verb		To provide assistance.
look forward to verb		To anticipate, expect, or wait for, especially with a feeling of approval or pleasure; to be excited or eager to.

Sentences worth repeating

Short, complete lines from the video that you can reuse in everyday conversation:

You're watching part one of this multi-part series.
Every weekday, I'm going to be recording.
You didn't have these capabilities.
We're going to be going through control modes.
We're going to be going through devices.

Grammar in this video

The structures the speaker uses most, with the exact words from the video:

Structure	In the video
Passive voice be + past participle — the focus is on what happens, not who does it	are enrolled · being said · is known
Present perfect have/has + past participle — a past action that still matters now	I've been · I've led · I've written

Pronunciation to watch

The speaker uses 52 contractions and reduced forms, such as we're, you're, I'm. Say them the short way, as you hear them.

The “sh” and “zh” sounds: automation /ˌɔ.təˈmeɪ.ʃən/, pressurize /ˈpɹɛʃəɹaɪz/, stationary /ˈsteɪʃəˌnɛɹi/, gosh /ɡɑːʃ/
Long words — get the stress right: automation /ˌɔ.təˈmeɪ.ʃən/, supervisory /ˌsuːpə(ɹ)ˈvaɪzəɹɪ/, accumulator /əˈkjum.jəˌleɪ.tɚ/, actuator /ˈæk.tjuː.eɪ.tə(ɹ)/, coronavirus /kəˈɹoʊnəˌvaɪɹəs/

How to practise with this video

Listen to the whole video once without speaking and note the words you do not know.
Start at 0.75× speed, shadow it sentence by sentence, then go back to normal speed once it feels easy.
Record yourself and compare with the original, paying attention to words like automation, supervisory, thermostat.

What is the Shadowing Technique?

Shadowing is a science-backed language learning technique originally developed for professional interpreter training and popularized by polyglot Dr. Alexander Arguelles. The method is simple but powerful: you listen to native English audio and immediately repeat it out loud — like a shadow following the speaker with just a 1–2 second delay. Unlike passive listening or grammar drills, shadowing forces your brain and mouth muscles to simultaneously process and reproduce real speech patterns. Research shows it significantly improves pronunciation accuracy, intonation, rhythm, connected speech, listening comprehension, and speaking fluency — making it one of the most effective methods for IELTS Speaking preparation and real-world English communication.

Shadowing technique: read the full step-by-step guide →

Shadowing Practice: BAS Bootcamp: Day 1 BAS 101 - Learn English Speaking with Video

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