Trane’s Top Tips for Summer Safety

Every cooling season, accident rates rise among facility staff and contractors. This is due to heavy cooling season workloads and the rush to respond to unscheduled maintenance. Summer brings more on site accidents of all types, and it’s critical that facility managers (fms) are prepared.

“Even under the pressure of a cooling emergency, take time to plan ahead, especially for safety,” says Bob Murphy, Trane safety leader. “No one goes to work expecting to get hurt. Safety is good for individual business and for practicing at customer sites. One of the most proactive things you could do before starting equipment repair or replacement is to ensure you have the right tools and personal safety equipment."

Murphy recommends:

• Wearing the proper head protection for all conditions. MSA Hard Hats offer protection for the most stringent requirements of Class E Electrical Rating which is tested to withstand 20,000 volts.
• Conducting a job site audit for every new project to insure you will work in safe conditions.
• Using a strong glove when working with metals—lacerations and scrapes are the number one injuries. The Terminator Glove, made of Dyneema the world’s strongest fiber, can protect hands against injury and can be laundered for repeated use and a long life.
• Having what you need before starting a new project including: tools, equipment, approach boundaries, guards, barriers, PPE, knowledge, training or personnel.
• Wearing proper eye protection. Nearly 70% of eye injuries occur from flying particles and can be prevented by wearing the right safety glasses. Nemysis Eye Protection and AO Safety Eyewear provide wrap around styles to insure flying particles don’t reach the eyes.
• Training your 5 + 1 senses to recognize hazards including: sight, hearing, smell, touch, taste, and common.
• Keeping cool. Heat illness is indicated by: fatigue, confusion, nausea, fainting, clammy skin, and low blood pressure. When these signs of heat stress are present, stop exerting, move to a cooler place, and drink plenty of fluids with electrolytes. Electrolytes are crucial to maintaining healthy muscles and a productive energy level. To help stay cool, use a MiraCool Bandana—which helps keep the body cool and comfortable for up to 48 hours.
• Notify others when you observe unsafe actions. Use the S.T.A.R. (Stop, Talk, Agree, Recognize) method to help correct it.
  

AHRI Awarded Prestigious ANSI Accreditation

The Air-Conditioning, Heating, and Refrigeration Institute (AHRI) announced it has been awarded accreditation by the American National Standards Institute (ANSI) as a standards developing organization.

"ANSI accreditation adds value to our standards development process by confirming that our procedures meet ANSI's essential requirements for openness, balance, consensus, and due process," said AHRI President Stephen Yurek. "In order to maintain accreditation, AHRI is required to consistently adhere to a rigorous set of requirements and procedures."

Many of AHRI's standards outline technical procedures for uniformly measuring the performance of heating, ventilation, air conditioning and commercial refrigeration (HVACR) equipment. Through the use of these standards and voluntary participation in the industry's performance certification programs, consumers can be assured manufacturers' performance claims are verified and rated uniformly to enable fair comparisons.

"The rigor of ANSI accreditation makes it widely recognized as a valid measurement of a standards program's credibility and competency by federal and state governments and governments outside the United States," said Yurek. "It also enhances the integrity of AHRI's industry certification programs, and improves consumer confidence in the performance of heating, cooling and commercial refrigeration equipment and components both domestically and abroad."

UVC, Turbine Cooling Included in New ASHRAE Handbook

New chapters related to ultraviolet lamp systems and combustion turbine inlet cooling are featured in ASHRAE’s new 2008 Handbook volume.

HVAC Systems and Equipment discusses systems and the equipment that comprise them, including features and differences. It is designed to help system designers and building operators select and use equipment. It contains 48 chapters.

The chapter on ultraviolet lamp systems addresses the use of such systems to improve indoor air quality. “Use of ultraviolet germicidal irradiation has increased as concerns about the transmission via ductwork of pathogenic organisms, such as tuberculosis and even bioterrorism agents, have escalated among designers,” Walter Grondzik, chair of the subcommittee that coordinated publishing of the 2008 volume, said.

The new combustion turbine inlet cooling chapter provides discussion on how the cooling is used to help improve combustion turbine performance. It was added to address use of such cooling to improve the environmental and economic performance of combustion turbine installations, typically used for electric power generation.

“Inlet cooling can mitigate the negative effects of high inlet air temperature, a critical consideration in this era of rapidly increasing energy costs and depleting resources,” he said.

The cost of the 2008 ASHRAE Handbook, HVAC Systems and Equipment, print edition (either I-P or SI and includes a CD of all content in both I-P and SI units) is $195. The 2008 volume also is available in CD format for $155. The Handbook can be ordered from this link.

WEB EXCLUSIVE: Cool Schools In Texas

In an interview with Farshad Shahsavary, P.E., C.E.M, Austin Independent School District, he gives details on the school system's recent HVAC adaptations.

What is your position? How many years have you been in the facility management profession?
I am the energy coordinator/ mechanical engineer for the Austin Independent School District (AISD), construction management department. I have been in facilities management for three years and have been a mechanical engineer for 19 years.

Please give a brief description of the facility/facilities involved in this project.
The AISD has approximately 600 portable buildings serving grades K-12 throughout the city of Austin, Texas, and in Travis County. Each building consists of two classrooms, giving the AISD a total of 1,200 portable classrooms. The project involved installing Telkonet SmartEnergy, an energy management system, in all of the AISD's portable buildings.

Why was the decision made to pursue this project for the facility?
The decision to install an energy management system was part of a larger overall project originated by the state of Texas energy office and the City of Austin. The project included replacing all lighting and upgrading the HVAC controls in each of the portable buildings.

We had identified that the school district was wasting energy in the portable buildings by continually running the air conditioning, even when the classrooms were unoccupied. One of the problems was that during the summer months, the portables became much too hot if the air conditioning was turned off —reaching up to 100°-120°—and there was a danger that the buildings would start to decompose!

Please describe the decision-making and research process for this project.
While this has been a long-term project (the City of Austin completing the lighting portion of the project over two years ago), the energy management solution for the portable buildings had not progressed until early 2007. At this point, I became involved with implementing a plan to save energy in the portable buildings.

What was the vendor selection process like? Did you feel limited?
The City of Austin proposed Smart Systems International (SSI), now Telkonet, as the vendor. We reviewed their proposal in detail and met with SSI, who explained their energy management system (now called Telkonet SmartEnergy™) and how the thermostats and occupancy sensors worked. I was satisfied that SSI’s system was the fastest, easiest way to complete the project. At the time, SSI met our needs and any potential limitations were outweighed by the benefits.

Also, as a result of our close working relationship with the City of Austin, we trusted their recommendation to use SSI’s energy management system and knew they had gone through an extensive evaluation process before making this recommendation.

What led you to choose the specific solution that you did?
Our principal concern was to ensure that SSI’s energy management was effective in saving energy, so we implemented a pilot project where we installed their system in 30-40 portable buildings in the summer of 2006. We conducted audits to collect the energy data and determine the system’s effectiveness. Although the final detailed report is not yet available, the pilot gave us a clear indication that the installation would meet our needs and goals. As a result, we made the decision to implement the Telkonet SmartEnergy solution throughout the entire school district in all the portable buildings.

What benefits have you reaped as a result of this project?
With SSI’s energy management system, we are realizing a number of benefits. We are saving energy, reducing our utility bills, increasing the lifespan of the portable buildings, and helping the City of Austin reduce the amount of energy they need to generate. In the summer months, the temperature inside the portables is now controlled at an optimum temperature of 85 degrees. Previously, we either had to run the AC all the time, constantly wasting valuable energy, or shut it down completely.

What economic benefits have you reaped as a result of this project?
We estimate the energy savings to be significant, reducing our costs by about $200,000 per year.

Did you encounter any unexpected highlights or challenges while implementing this project?
The only challenge we encountered was how best to schedule the installation of the new thermostats and occupancy sensors so we would not disrupt the teachers when school was in session. We worked around this by installing the system when classes were not in session and during holiday periods.

The installation process went much better than we anticipated. The City of Austin hired Honeywell as a subcontractor, who removed the old thermostats and replaced them with SSI’s thermostats, which were wired to their occupancy sensors. All of the thermostats were already preprogrammed by SSI.

How did this project require you to change your operations and maintenance practices?
The thermostats and occupancy sensors work together to sense when a room is occupied or vacant. They also take into consideration a variety of factors, including external temperature, room conditions, and humidity levels, to ensure that the temperature inside the portables is energy efficient.

The system incorporates Recovery Time™ (RT) technology that performs constant real time calculations to adjust and maintain a room’s temperature based on occupancy. We anticipate that our HVAC units will be subject to less wear and tear, helping to extend the units’ lifespans and reduce maintenance.

What has been the reaction to the project from others in your organization?
Initially, our maintenance staff was reluctant about this change; they were concerned about how the new system would work, how long the thermostats would last, and the long-term impact. However, they are now seeing that this program is working as planned. We also have a maintenance agreement with our installer, who will replace any thermostats as needed, and will assist in training our maintenance personnel.

How have the community and customers responded to this project?
As we have tried to keep this project as low profile as possible, the changeover to the new energy management system has been pretty non-existent. We haven’t seen any reaction either way, which means that the transition has been smooth.

One issue, however, was that the teachers liked being able to control the air conditioning in the rooms. Although they now have less latitude, they can control the temperature within 3°-4° of our preferred temperature setting, giving them some control.

What was the most professionally rewarding aspect of this project?
On a personal level, it has been very rewarding to manage this project from the beginning to the end—setting up the system, getting it working, and seeing the energy savings as a result of all of our efforts. The investment was minimal compared to all the benefits that we will be reaping. It’s been a win-win for the AISD and the City of Austin.

This interview was the last in the Facility Fix series by former editor Jillian Ruffino. For more facility fix interviews, please visit http://www.todaysfacilitymanager.com/facfix.php

WEB EXCLUSIVE: Cool Case Study

Wherever he goes, Bill Schuelie with SBE Hotel Group is ready to chill. And not long ago in Puerto Rico, he solved two cooling problems ― one which meant life itself.

As a construction manager, Schuelie is a roving warrior tasked with overseeing all things building related. On the construction project in Puerto Rico, he encountered two problem hot spots. One was a telephone equipment room. The other? A medical room that houses organs donated for transplants.

Hot Lines And Cool People
“We needed a way to keep both of these rooms at a cool temperature,” Schuelie says. “Equipment rooms are notorious for heating up. And we needed to keep the medical room cool seven days a week, even when the rest of the building had its air conditioning off for the weekend.”

The medical room solution sought to keep the employees cool and comfortable and support their efforts to keep the transplant organs in healthy condition. Adding to the cooling problem was the outside temperature. “Summer in the Caribbean is really hot, which makes it even worse,” Schuelie adds.

Cool Air By Air
An engineer designed an air conditioning solution, but it was expensive and inefficient, according to Schuelie. He contacted MovinCool in Florida and had two CM12s flown in. He chose the small, ceiling-mount system for several reasons.

“The units are ceiling mounted and self contained; there’s no condensate pan. The exhaust duct went into the plenum return. The unit has its own thermostat, so we just set it to the right temperature and that’s it,” he says.

“The whole experience was painless,” Schuelie notes. “You just install the CM12 and walk away. It doesn’t take up any floor space and there’s no special electrical required ― it’s 110/220v.”

The CM12 solution was not only convenient, but also more cost effective, Schuelie says. “We saved thousands. Everyone was really happy. The units more than paid for themselves.”

Today, Schuelie is in Los Angeles, overseeing a major transformation of the SLS Hotel (formerly Le Meridien Hotel Beverly Hills), which has been conceptualized by celebrated designer Philippe Starck. So far, Schuelie hasn’t needed any portable cooling solutions for the job. “But if a problem should arise, I have a MovinCool solution ready,” he says.

HVAC Association In China To Work With AHRI

An agreement between the Air-Conditioning, Heating, and Refrigeration Institute (AHRI) and the China Refrigeration and Air-Conditioning Industry Association (CRAA) is aimed at encouraging Chinese HVACR equipment manufacturers to voluntarily participate in AHRI's performance certification programs.

"The confluence of skyrocketing market demand for air conditioning in China and the current emphasis of the Chinese government to reduce energy use has created an acute need for performance certification there," said AHRI president Stephen Yurek. "This agreement is indicative of the global HVACR market and the need for standard and certification program harmonization. We hope participation by Chinese manufacturers in our certification programs will be accelerated by empowering CRAA to facilitate the application process for manufacturers."

The agreement, which was signed on April 10, 2008 during an industry event in Shanghai, authorizes CRAA to serve as AHRI's exclusive certification agent in China. It authorizes CRAA to begin promoting AHRI certification next year to Chinese HVACR manufacturers and also to assist interested companies with the certification application process. Additionally, the agreement provides a framework for future cooperation in certification testing.

"Building AHRI's capacity to test and certify HVACR equipment and component performance outside of North America supports our objective of creating a level playing field by allowing consumers to make fair product comparisons," said Yurek. "This agreement is a significant step toward increasing global access to high quality HVACR equipment that provides indoor comfort efficiently and reliably."