About | BIG-ATL

The Atlanta Chapter of the Building Intelligence Group, BIG-ATL, brings together a community of people working in the built environment space in Atlanta, GA.

As consumer-focused smart home devices permeate our everyday lives, so will new technologies designed to make our commercial and corporate buildings (and even our cities!) "smart." But what does that even mean?

A smart building has the ability to monitor room occupancy, analyze air quality, control lighting based on natural sunlight schedules, and much more! Smart buildings help us live better lives by seamlessly analyzing and optimizing our natural and built environments.

Our Mission

Our mission is to provide an educational, forward-thinking, and enjoyable environment for those who are interested in the development, design, and future of built environment intelligence and technology.

Hybrid work is now the norm for many organizations, and BIG-ATL wants to be a place for professionals to connect in person to share their experience, grow their network and learn together.

Meet the Team

We are the volunteers working to bring you the learning and network opportunities to grow your smart building savvy.

Co-Founder, Steering Committee

Max Shirley

Max is a smart buildings strategist and engineer leading a team that consults, designs, educates, and advocates for smart, securely connected, and responsive buildings.

He believes in a built environment that works for the occupants, operators and owners to provide healthy, comfortable and sustainable places to live, work, eat, have fun and make money.

His mission is to orchestrate the people, processes and technology to support these goals for both individual project teams and broader portfolios.

Steering Committee

Jason Pohl

Jason is a smart building software professional with a background in IT and modern building automation system deployment and operations. . His focus lately is helping operators and service providers leverage Fault Detection and Diagnostic tools on HVAC and IAQ systems to save energy and keep occupants comfortable.

Steering Committee

Danielle "Dani" Schmitt

As a military brat, Dani is passionate about change. Her role as a Principal and Interiors Practice Leader allows Danielle to partner with our clients to develop successful strategies to navigate change over the course of a project, resulting in highly efficient, tailored environments that reinforce the business goals and corporate culture. She is particularly adept at managing large, complex projects and enjoys leading project teams across all aspects of design. In her down time, you will usually find her cooking, traveling to various sports stadiums with her husband, or curled up reading a good book with her two cats.

Co-Founder, Steering Committee

Alex Bunda

Alex is dedicated to driving innovation and disruption to facilitate the expansion of businesses, products, technologies, and people. He inspires, promotes, and cultivates design-thinking frameworks that blend creative ideation with quantitative data insights. Known for fostering a growth-minded culture of thought leadership, Alex forms, leads, supports, and challenges cross-functional teams to explore differences, frame opportunities, and build informed consensus. He is a consultant and advisor to senior executives and supports the communication and collaboration of a multi-generational workforce. Linking user needs to strategic opportunities, Alex leverages exceptional storytelling and human-centered design approaches to drive transformations.