Backpack Site Visit: Everything You Need to Know

General Site Visit Information

An initial site visit is typically scheduled within one to two weeks of kickoff, coordinated between your Backpack Onboarding Coordinator and your main point of contact.

Additionally, your Backpack subscription includes an annual site visit to update and verify building information—details about this ongoing process are outlined below.

Estimated duration:

• Approximately 30 minutes for property interviews
•  1 to 4 hours for the site walkthrough to gather equipment and building details, depending on property size (add 45 minutes if a gateway installation is required)

Who is involved in the scheduling & visit:

1. A designated building representative from your team (typically the property manager) who can address questions regarding tenants, occupancy, utilities, and related topics.
2. A building engineer or facilities manager who can provide technical information about the property and escort the technician to mechanical areas as needed.

Tools for a successful site visit:

1. Provide base building plans ahead of the scheduled visit, prioritizing comprehensive MEP (Mechanical, Electrical & Plumbing) documents.
2. Arrange access to the primary building contacts listed above. If preferred, once initial interview questions are addressed, another team member may escort the technician for the remainder of the walkthrough.
3. Secure any necessary approvals from tenants if areas included in the visit require tenant authorization, escorts, waivers, etc. Coordinate these arrangements with your Onboarding Coordinator before the scheduled visit.
4. For properties where a gateway installation is planned, identify and confirm the installation location prior to the technician’s arrival.

Site visits include:

• An initial interview focused on gathering detailed information about your building(s), operations, tenancy, occupancy, and mechanical systems.
• A walkthrough of mechanical spaces, including chillers, air handling units (AHUs), rooftop units (RTUs), and similar systems, to document equipment and install QR codes for asset identification where applicable.
• A review of an area of the building with standard or representative common area light fixtures
• Review and photo documentation of the building’s primary utility meters (electric, gas, water).
• Examination and documentation of the building’s waste services area (trash and recycling).
• If your contract includes it, the technician will install the Backpack Gateway device onsite, enabling a secure, read-only connection to your Building Automation System (BAS/BMS/EMS). For site visits with gateway installation, your Onboarding Coordinator will guide you through this process prior to dispatching the field technician. More information about the gateway and installation process is available here.

Site Walkthrough Details

1. A technician will conduct an interview with the property manager or building engineer to collect detailed information about the building’s energy consumption and operational practices, with particular attention to Energy Star and compliance-related data.
2. The field technician must be escorted to the location of the building’s primary electrical, gas, and water meter locations. At each site, the technician will document the position and setup of ownership-paid utility meters, capturing photographs and recording meter numbers. Sub-meters that are tenant-paid do not require documentation; however, if you wish to include these, please coordinate directly with your Onboarding Coordinator.
3. Next, the technician will survey the building for typical lighting types throughout the property, focusing on both standard common-area fixtures and those in tenant spaces. The building engineer should guide the technician to all relevant areas and provide essential lighting details (such as fixture types and bulb specifications). All gathered information is entered directly into a secure online form.
4. The technician will continue by visiting the building’s central plant and/or representative equipment in the building, such as chillers, rooftop units, pumps, and boilers.
5. Finally, the field tech will need to visit the mechanical rooms for significant HVAC systems, which will be included in the walkthrough. During this process, the technician will:
   1. Photograph nameplates of all major HVAC equipment
   2. Photograph a general view of the equipment from at least 3-4 different vantage points
   3. Photograph any associated maintenance logs when available

In some cases, it may be necessary to access tenant-occupied areas. Please inform us in advance of any restricted spaces and work with your team to coordinate access as needed. The Onboarding Coordinator can assist in providing personnel details and facilitating logistics for the site visit.

After the Site Visit

Following the final site visit, the Backpack team will process all collected equipment images and data for seamless import into your Backpack platform. Once the foundational equipment details are uploaded, our platform enriches the dataset to include:

• Calculation of the age of the equipment
• Visual assignment of the remaining useful life and a replacement schedule timeline
• Linking of replacement costs (when age information is available)
• Additional specifications, such as horsepower, fan speed, and other key equipment attributes

Equipment data is typically processed within one week. Your Onboarding Coordinator will notify you as soon as your equipment list is fully available.

As part of our ongoing partnership, our team is ready to walk through this data with you, providing actionable insights on how your equipment portfolio may inform broader property strategies and decision-making.

For further guidance, explore our Backpack training sessions to maximize the value of your equipment data.

To help you get started, we’ve also highlighted some quick tips for effective budgeting with Backpack.

Questions?

Contact our support team at support@backpacknetworks.com