GARDINER
Maximizing Building Efficiency

GARDINER

Todd Barnhart, President, GARDINERTodd Barnhart, President
It's the era of smart buildings. Today, it is imperative to adopt advanced technologies and modernize building automation systems to improve uptime, energy savings, the life cycle of utilities, reliability, and occupant comfort, among others. With the right solution provider, the benefits of building automation are immense. However, there is a catch.

Even as the construction industry lags behind the technology curve, most providers adopt a piecemeal approach to solutions and services and focus on just one aspect such as building an automation system, data analytics, or monitoring program. "On the other hand, we understand the facility owner's need for a comprehensive system that enhances their business and offer options and flexibility for the life of the building," says Todd Barnhart, the president of GARDINER. With over 55 years of industry experience, GARDINER along with their automation partner KMC Controls provides end-to-end HVAC, energy solutions, and professional services.

"Our mission of building mutually beneficial relationships with our clients and associates, and supporting them through a cradle to grave approach is something that we live every day," says Barnhart. With KMC, they offer everything right from installation, instrumentation, and engineering to the building of automation systems while supporting the sustainability goals through their data analytics and integrated services. What sets them apart from the other market players is that the GARDINER team invests time and effort to train and educate their clients to keep them abreast of continuous advancements brought forth by manufacturers.

The GARDINER team is targeted on addressing the problems faced by their clients amidst aging buildings and skyrocketing operating costs. Their client engagement takes a discovery approach where the team of engineers asks a series of questions to pinpoint the problems faced by the clients. The next step is to correlate the discovery phase with the data analytics gleaned from the facility to suggest the areas of improvement and investment. Their unique approach facilitates faster and cost-effective solutions that directly address the building challenges faced by more than 2,500 clients.

"Drawing on the longevity of our business, we have learned the importance of being independent and entrepreneurial," says Barnhart. The company's entrepreneurial approach has allowed them to carve out three facets of its business—distribution, services, and solutions. The distribution division is primarily focused on selling equipment from 50 different manufacturers and supporting clients with a vibrant parts program.

  • Our mission of building mutually beneficial relationships with our clients and associates, and supporting them through a cradle to grave approach is something that we live every day


The service division, on the other hand, has close to a hundred field technicians for maintenance and servicing of equipment from numerous manufacturers that include Daikin, Trane, Carrier, and York. The third division is the solutions division that encompasses energy and performance contracting, automation, and integration. Design and implementation of renewable energy and traditional HPC solutions alongside energy conservation initiatives and financing vehicles complete the scope of activities of the solutions division. The data analytics division, called Building AI: Applied IntelligenceTM, although forms an integral part of the service division permeates across the solutions and distribution divisions of the business to bring on added benefits. "The data analytics and its predictive diagnostics component support our clients’ better, turning facilities into a tool to help them improve the entire business as opposed to just being a place of work," remarks Barnhart.

"The last 55 years of our entrepreneurial approach has allowed us to grow into the next 55 years, where we're going to further expand the three divisions with an eye on utilizing data analytics and intelligence services to enhance our offerings and grow the business," remarks Barnhart. Moving forward with KMC Controls, GARDINER aims to be in line with the industry's shift toward open protocol systems as organizations across industries seek more decision making in their facilities and freedom to choose their solutions provider.

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Top 10 Building Automation Consulting/Services Companies - 2019

Company
GARDINER

Management
Todd Barnhart, President

Description
GARDINER is a full-service HVAC, energy solutions and professional services company proudly serving the area's most extensive commercial, industrial and institutional facilities. They are the exclusive Daikin factory systems, parts, services and solutions representative in Northern Ohio. GARDINER provides HVAC systems, mechanical equipment, building automation & controls systems, boilers, energy solutions, parts & supplies, and technical training. The GARDINER team is targeted on addressing the problems faced by their clients amidst aging buildings and skyrocketing operating costs. Their client engagement takes a discovery approach where the team of engineers asks a series of questions to pinpoint the problems faced by the clients. Their unique approach facilitates faster and cost-effective solutions that directly address the building challenges faced by more than 2,500 clients

  • GARDINER News

Gardiner Announces Expansion into Fort Wayne

Leading Building Technology Company Targeting Growth in Northeast Indiana
SOLON - Gardiner, its expansion into Fort Wayne and Northeast Indiana. As part of this expansion, Gardiner immediately becomes the exclusive factory sales representative in the region for Daikin Applied and Daikin Comfort Technologies.
Gardiner President and CEO Todd Barnhart sees the move as a milestone in the company's commitment to continued growth. "This is a perfect next step based on what we've been able to accomplish across Northern Ohio," said Barnhart. "Our presence in Fort Wayne will not only strengthen our relationship with Daikin, but also open up new opportunities for Gardiner and our associates."
As for why Fort Wayne, Barnhart pointed to the natural fit with Gardiner's current markets, being just miles from the Ohio border. More importantly, though, he says the timing is right given the business climate in Northeast Indiana.
"Much like how people have overlooked cities like Cleveland historically, most people don't realize what's been happening in Fort Wayne over the past several years and the growth trajectory there right now. We think we can have a positive impact on that both as an employer and as a partner in the construction sector across the region. We're excited to be part of it."
The company also plans to create new jobs by hiring local associates in the Fort Wayne area and open a physical office in the Fort Wayne area in the months ahead. Gardiner EVP, CFO & COO Rob MacKinlay noted the importance of establishing a local presence and a focus on long-term investment in entering the market.
"At Gardiner, we put an emphasis on local business and long-term relationships," he said. "We believe in establishing operations in the places we do business. We look forward to assembling a world-class local team and becoming part of the business community in Greater Fort Wayne in the weeks, months and years ahead. We're going to do things the right way."
As an employer, Gardiner brings a reputation of being recognized as a perennial top workplace, being the only company to have been recognized as a Cleveland.com Top Workplace and NorthCoast99 winner every year since 2010.

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