HVAC Efficiency: Steps To Savings
Part 1: Managers Need to Address Building-Wide Energy Use
Part 2: Energy Efficiency: Commission for Savings
Part 3: Conduct Energy Audits to Identity Inefficient Systems
Part 4: Preventive Maintenance Ensures Peak Operating Efficiency
Part 5: Retrocommissioning and Energy Audits Produce Quick Payback
Preventive Maintenance Ensures Peak Operating Efficiency
By Gregory Hughel - February 2009
An extensive and detailed preventive maintenance program is integral in ensuring facilities operate at peak efficiency. Preventive maintenance not only helps managers reduce the frequency of equipment replacement and expensive repairs. It also minimizes occupant complaints and increases building efficiency.
Typically, departments should maintain building systems on a seasonal, monthly, or annual basis, depending on the type of equipment. Managers should develop schedules designating the number of hours technicians need to perform maintenance tasks, the individual assigned to each task, the frequency of maintenance, and steps technicians can take to properly complete each task.
Managers can use a spreadsheet to develop these schedules for technicians, or they can use a computerized maintenance management system that issues maintenance requests at set frequencies, provides the equipment’s maintenance history, and holds the staff accountable for completing assigned tasks.
Establishing a preventive maintenance program can ensure equipment is more efficient, which will reduce utility costs and extend the equipment’s performance life.
