Training, Other People Issues Are Keys To Improving HVAC Performance
May 6, 2013
Today's tip from
Building Operating Management: People issues — like training and change management — are keys to improving HVAC system performance.
A facility manager who wants to improve the performance of an HVAC system will have to identify key people at both the executive and operating levels and possibly create a working group, says Angela Lewis, project manager for Facility Engineering Associates. "I definitely would not suggest that one person sit down and write a plan," she says. "The important thing is buy-in." It’s important to show operators how to make changes and sustain improvements without making them feel threatened.
Expect some resistance as new steps are taken; that means change management is important. "The first thing you'll hear is that's not the way we've done it for the last 20 years," says Lindsay Audin, president of Energywiz. "It has to be done in a way that won't increase negativity." He recommends bringing in an outside consultant to look at the situation with fresh eyes; building staff should work closely with the consultant on the commissioning, so that they can maintain the changes.
If a facility hires an outside firm to do an energy audit, says Charles Culp, a professor in the architecture department at Texas A&M, a critical factor is how well the firm works with the on-site staff. "It generally takes a day or two to build confidence," he says, which is vital, because "the internal people are going to determine the end success of it."
Once the changes have been made, Culp says, they must still be monitored. "You want to do it forever, because you do see degradation of savings over time," he says.
An important part of the facility manager's job, says Mike Bobker of the CUNY Institute for Urban Systems, who chaired the committee that wrote
ASHRAE Guideline 32-2012 For Sustainable, High-performance Operation and Maintenance, is to make sure employees get the training they need, so that a technician can read a graph, for instance. "It's quantitative skills for people who have been more machine-oriented," he says.
Many operators, Lewis says, have not had a chance to learn the latest developments in efficient HVAC. Despite tight budgets, it's important to invest in training. "You need to be able to measure, but you're not going to unless meters and sensors are installed correctly and calibrated," she says.
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