In HVAC Operations and Maintenance, Consider Trade-Offs
In HVAC Operations and Maintenance, Consider Trade-Offs December 29, 2009
Today's topic is trade-offs in HVAC system operation and maintenance.
In a perfect world, facility executives would have the staff they need to keep up with routine maintenance. But even when the economy is strong, staffing is tight and often not adequate. So facility executives have to make hard choices. The trick is to look at all the impacts of options being considered.
A case in point is a large convention center. Keeping up with filter changes in all the air handlers in the center was a time-consuming task. For a while, the center outsourced that job to ensure that changes were made on a timely basis while keeping staff free for other tasks. But when budgets were cut, the money to cover the filter-change outsourcing was dropped. That meant staff time would have to be devoted to the task.
To compensate, the center decided to try longer life filters. That way, changes would be less frequent, saving staff time.
But the ultimate benefit from the change will depend on its impact on energy use. If a higher pressure drop with the new filters raised energy costs too much, it could outweigh the benefit of the savings in staff time.
Of course, the analysis of the benefits of the change would also have to consider what the in-house staff was doing with the time it saves with the new filters.
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