HVAC Library

Exciting Updates to Our BAS Graphics and 3D Services in 2025!

January 17, 2025

At QA Graphics, we’re always looking for ways to enhance our offerings and provide greater value to our customers. Here’s what we have in store:

CompareIQ Enhancements

In 2024, our BAS graphic outsourcing team introduced an innovative tool, CompareIQ. This database tool streamlines the sorting and organization of complex control system databases, improving productivity for our designers and reducing costs for our customers. As we move into 2025, we’re excited to announce new features that will enhance CompareIQ’s capabilities:

AI-Assisted Database Comparison for even more efficient analysis.
Segmented Database Search to improve precision and flexibility.

These advancements are just the beginning. We’re committed to expanding CompareIQ as we continue to build out our development roadmap.

Expanded BAS Floor Plan Templates

We’re updating our standard BAS floor plan templates to offer a more robust selection. Customers will be able to easily customize their templates by choosing from a variety of options, creating floor plan designs that truly reflect their unique brand. This personalized approach ensures every floor plan is tailored exclusively to each company.

Growing 3D HVAC Library

Responding to customer requests, our 3D department continues to expand its collection of HVAC equipment models. These high-quality, detailed 3D models provide better visualization and support for building automation projects across the industry.

All-New Symbol Library

In 2025, we’ll be releasing an updated version of our popular V5 Symbol Library. The new (yet to be named) library will feature a fresh, modern style and raster-based graphics with various animation options—compatible with different building control systems.

We’re thrilled to introduce these enhancements and look forward to continuing our innovation in BAS graphics and 3D solutions throughout 2025. Stay tuned for more updates!

Update your control system graphics with more options

September 26, 2019

When You Buy Both the Vector and v5 Symbol Libraries You Will Receive 10% Off

You then own the libraries for a one time fee to use on all your locations’ projects.

What Do You Get?

Over 1,000 graphics total
Represent mechanical control drawings in schematic and graphical views with hundreds of SVGS, PNGS, animation files, and static graphics
Capability to save .svg in any size without pixelization
Ability to build system graphics using scalable vector images for a mobile device or larger without pixelization or degradation of the graphic

Learn how to make our symbol libraries yours, today: [email protected]

Vector Symbol Library Going Toward Mobile

March 14, 2019

With technology in our world advancing every day, it has become increasingly important that industries continue to adapt and embrace the conveniences modern technology provides. Lately, the conversation in the building controls industry has been trending towards the advancement and adaption of mobile capabilities in building control systems and the platforms they operate on.

This topic was addressed at the 2018 Niagara Summit and conversation hasn’t slowed down since. Technology has led the industry to expect a higher quality and more creative visual representation even when you are on the move with your mobile device. In today’s day and age, you should expect to be able to access your building automation system via devices of all sizes. This trend means your graphics need to be optimized for mobile support and responsive to any device type without pixelization.

QA Graphics has constantly strived to stay ahead of current trends in the industry and that’s why we’re creating a new library. A core part of QA Graphics’ business is graphic outsourcing, taking mechanical control drawings and creating system graphics for the end user. Our Vector Symbol Library is made up of graphics that are scalable and seamlessly useable on devices of all sizes. We provide graphics that are of higher quality compared to what is available to our clients without the pixelization or degradation no matter the use.

This ultimately comes down to improved convenience and ease of use in the field for facility managers, and modern technology has made this possible. Our library allows you to be in the field with your mobile device to view your BAS graphics, and then back in an office projecting the same graphic onto a much larger screen. Your entire BAS systems can be located on one page allowing you to zoom in and out of certain systems. This further improves the ease of navigation by having less pages to sift through to find what you are looking for.

This technological advancement of mobile capability in this industry will continue to develop and progress. QA Graphics has stayed up to pace with this trend. Continuing to adapt with technological advancements is our priority, as you can see with our release of the v5 Vector Symbol Library.

The need for responsive design within the industry

January 31, 2019

BAS Vector Symbol Library

Addressing the need for responsive design within the industry moving to both large and mobile platforms. The Vector Symbol Library is powerful and includes hundreds of SVGS and animation files, more detailed graphics, and higher resolution images that are easily scalable for a mobile device.

Vector Library Features:

Represent mechanical control drawings in schematic and graphical views with hundreds of SVGS, animation files, and static graphics
Capability to save .png in any size
Ability to build system graphics using scalable vector images for a mobile device or larger without pixelization or degradation of the graphics
Pre-assembled damper configurations
Symbols for energy-efficient equipment
Pre-configured terminal air units
Datacenter graphics

Sensors & Filters Piping Valves

Why Should System Integrators and Building Owners Own an HVAC (BAS) Symbol Library?

January 10, 2019

The answer is simple: convenience. The purpose of the HVAC (BAS) symbol library is to provide accurate UI graphics and comprehensive symbol sets to building operators so they can better visualize and navigate their commercial space. In 2004, QA Graphics created its first Building Automation System (BAS) symbol library as part of its graphics outsourcing business. In 2006, a large control manufacturer purchased the first iteration. Since that time, QA Graphics has sold the library to countless others as part of its Original Equipment Manufacturer (OEM) BAS library.

Early in 2008, a trend started emerging in the building automation industry—system integrators and large building owners were struggling to obtain access to better UI graphics. Many control manufacturers failed to provide accurate, nice-looking visuals and lacked comprehensive symbol sets. The symbol sets are vital to building operator interfaces, as they reflect what’s controlling a building. To meet this demand, QA Graphics made their internal library available for sale to non-OEM’s. Each library was sold with a license for system integrators or businesses to use on any project as needed at a one-time cost.

A digital control panel, featuring a Symbol Library, displays the status of AHU-1 MS East Gym—showing airflow, temperature, fan status, damper positions, and setpoints. System details and a navigation menu are on the left side.

System integrators (SI) benefited greatly, as they now possessed a library that was better looking than anything else on the market. End users who hired these SI’s gained beautiful system graphics, which included 3D equipment and animations. System integrators also gained a symbol library that worked in almost any control manufacture software, making it user-friendly and versatile. Many larger businesses purchased the library to use on all their buildings, allowing these companies to set the same standard for each one of their commercial spaces regardless of the control manufacturer. In other words, operators now had the same system graphics no matter what location or system they logged into.

A detailed diagram, enhanced with a Symbol Library, showing the internal components and sections of an industrial HVAC system, including fans, filters, ducts, coils, electrical systems, and mechanical parts in a cross-sectional view.

In 2016, QA Graphics came out with version 5 of the symbol library. The Symbol Library v5 offers a competitive advantage in the BAS industry, delivering more appealing and realistic graphics than typically provided with BAS software. It’s currently one of the largest, most diverse libraries on the market. The extensive symbol catalog allows customers to pick and choose only the graphics that apply to their BAS system. As part of the initial purchase, clients were asked to request any symbols that were necessary to fulfill their customers’ needs within a project. QA Graphics added these symbols to the library for free, and we’ve been rolling out updates every quarter. In conjunction with the v5, our company will be releasing a new symbol library in 2019. This will be a high-end vector library that will address the need for responsive design within the industry, moving to both large and mobile platforms. The Vector Symbol Library will include hundreds of SVGS and animation files, more detailed graphics, and higher resolution images that are easily scalable for a mobile device, granting clients the ability to access their building’s graphics right at their fingertips.