Past, Present, and Future; the type of thoughts used to establish goals

Nothing is closer to the mark in our industry than “the only constant is change”. It seems to have been the standard since the Montreal Protocol was signed in 1987. As I approach 30 years in the industry it’s a good time for me to stop and evaluate how we’ve gotten to this point. The path the industry took to this point is sure to indicate what we can expect the future bring. The Montreal Protocol was the beginning of the environmental consciousness in our industry. With the need to drastically redesign equipment came the opportunity for manufactures to be innovative. The way to set your product apart was through efficiency and with government standards it became easy to see which products were in the lead. The hold outs died, the followers survived, the early adopters thrived.

The engineers have been the driving force behind what’s been sold to the construction industry. They‘ve been the ones to evaluate new technologies and incorporate the latest innovations into projects. The government outdoor air regulations forced the manufactures to change the equipment. The equipment changes forced the engineers to change the design. Then government indoor air quality regulations required manufactures to change the equipment and again the engineers changed the design. All the while the service industry just followed along. Then came something different; the engineers got together and wrote the next rule book. The Federal Government recently mandated that all states must meet or exceed ASHRAE Standard 90.1-2010 by October 2013. This is what the future holds minimum standard rating regulations, innovation for a higher standard, raising the minimum standard, more innovation, raising the standard, innovation.

Most of the service industry will be surprised to learn preventive maintenance is mandated under ASHRAE 90.1-2010. If the prediction holds true that 75% of the buildings that will be occupied in 2050 are already occupied today, than it is sure to mean this is only the beginning of service industry regulations. If we are not going to build efficient new buildings to save the environment we are going to need to make the existing buildings more efficient. As we watched an MSCA webinar today on filling out Energy Star Benchmarking someone said “I’ll bet in 10 years every building will be required to fill this out and meet a minimum”.  Minimum standard regulations, more innovation, higher standards, innovation, I think you see where we're headed. First the raw products were regulated, then the manufactures, then the engineering of new buildings, next the service and maintenance, and all that’s left to regulate is the existing building.

Cooling Tower Repairs and Cleaning

We were awarded a scope of work by the Delaware Division of Facilities Maintenance at the Carvell Building in downtown Wilmington. The Base bid was the replacement of a defective two speed motor for the fan on one of three towers. We offered two alternates; one to replace the motor sheave and one to install a shaft kit. We also submitted a price to clean all three towers, plate heat exchangers and pump strainers. The State accepted the complete scope of work and requested the tower repairs and cleaning be completed by July 1.  The job was completed on time, including demobilization, for the quoted price.

We worked with the area representative Energy Transfer Solutions to get the OEM Evapco parts. While working through the process ETS suggested a factory training seminar and tour. Evapco has invested in research and development  to increase the efficiency of their cooling towers and fluid coolers. Evapco recognizes that it's not just more efficient motors and electrical components that saves money; making the towers easier to keep clean is key. They've made great strides in chemical-less water treatment products. I have included some pictures from the job site and the factory. I have two suggestions for interested people, one check out Evapco's web site for more details and two take the factory training sessions. It's a polished presentation by people who know their product and the important information the technicians who maintain their towers need to know.

Fluid Cooler

Another quick turn around on a fluid cooler. As usual we keep the down time to 24 hours. From Friday at 5:00 PM to Saturday at 5:00 PM. This project was estimated, sold and project managed to success by Mike Peet. The crew was close to same as the last tower in the fall. One pipefitter to coordinate the piping changes from the existing EVAPCO to the replacement RECOLD. One service technician to install the trim, controls, and VFD on the new tower. One electrician to reconfigure the power supply and a utility technician to assist as needed. Once again attention to detail, strategic planning and a team effort paid off. The pictures really tell the story and for this one we went from train car to full operation in a week.

Pride in the People

What sets a company apart, what makes someone choose A over B? Is it Price? Is it calling ahead to schedule the service or is it being able to show up with no advanced notice? Is it experience? Is it nursing things along or fixing anything that looks, sounds or smells like it could be a problem? Is it showing up with donuts and coffee or is it coming off the roof dirty from head to toe?

I like to say the truth is always somewhere in-between. Not the cheapest or the most expensive, but the best value. Asking the customer what will make the service the least disruptive and listening to them when they answer. The way you communicate to put a customer at ease so they feel confident you can get the job done. Sometimes that’s keeping it going and sometimes that's complete replacement. The only way to know what the customer needs is to take time to talk to them, which is just as important as what goes on in the mechanical room.

Last summer I posted a blog thanking our service technicians for the effort they made to take care of our customers. There is no in-between statement there. We did or we did not. Judging from the number of new and renewed contracts I would say we did. Year after year we maintain the same customer base and it also expands. The base is maintained because of the effort of those same technicians servicing the accounts. It expands because of the reputation of those technicians, both service and installation. They lead the apprentices and new to the company technicians by example.

I’m so proud of the people that work for ModernControls I’d love to say I trained them all. But the truth is all I did was hire them and give them the space to be their own person. As for the ones that have been there longer than me I respect them for giving me that space. Our control and mechanical installation technicians are the ones with the most years at ModernControls. I can’t tell you how many times a week part of my interaction with a customer involves questions about an installer. How’s their family, did their son get into that school, do they still have that Mustang? The relationship is strong because the job was done right, not just because they were a nice guy. ModernControls sold a job well done and the technician delivered a job well done. That includes the technician getting to know the customer so he can meet his expectations.

What set ModernControls apart is an owner that recognizes the efforts of the people around him, because he is right there with them. The technicians in turn treat the customers and each other well. It is great company to work for and a great company to work with. On behalf of all the office and sales staff I’d like to thank all the technicians’ both service and installation for their tireless effort. As we head into the summer I want everyone to know were right with them and ready to support them.

Boiler Upgrade Considerations:

As the heating season comes to an end and people consider boiler replacements before the beginning of the next heating season I’d like to offer some advice. This is a few of things I’ve recently seen that were not thought through when preparing for a few projects. Start with a clear list of objectives for the replacement. The list should include past, present, and future. Each category should include the following;
1) Cost and frequency of maintenance and repairs (past, present and future)
2) Cost and quantity of fuel and electricity (past, present and future)
3) Changes to the system and building (past, present and future)

Cost and frequency of maintenance should consider labor, cleaning consumables, fuel filters, seals, nozzles, and gasket. Most large boilers should be tuned three times a year for maximum efficiency. Don’t forget the cost of water treatment, especially for steam.

Cost and frequency of repairs should consider labor hours and parts. Also consider down time and availability of parts. Fewer sectional boilers are installed we see less parts for them on the shelf at the supply house. Burner manufactures are going out of business or changing their product line and we’re finding many parts hard or impossible to replace.

Cost and quantity of fuel should obviously be a major consideration if not a justification for change. It can also it can be used to determine how changes to the building or usage of the building may have changed. There is historical data available to factor in temperature and humidity differences from year to year. Also consider changes in the occupied period or set points that may have caused a change in fuel consumption. Recalculating the fresh air requirements and adding CO2 sensors to minimize excess outdoor based on current occupancy could have a huge impact on the total BTU requirements.

Changes to the system and building include the obvious like additions or space usage changes. Other changes to be aware of are piping changes, past or proposed. Would it make sense to reconfigure the piping to primary secondary or has it been done? Would it make sense to remove three way valves and add VFD’s to the secondary pumps or was it already done? Is there a boiler sequencer panel for multiple boilers? Would it be better to eliminate that panel and incorporate those functions into the BAS so that one microprocessor is coordinating the total building demand?

I like to see multiple high efficiency boilers with the extra capacity of a spare boiler equal to the others. A good example is a school we did over 10 years ago with 4 boilers that are 1 million BTU’s each at 95 % efficiency. We removed 2 boilers that were 3 million BTU’s each at 78% efficiency. Prior to the boilers replacement the windows were replaced and some additional baseboard heat was added. We also replaced heat only unit ventilators with dual temp unit ventilators and air handlers. We made some changes in the boiler room so that we have 3 secondary loops. One for is for radiant baseboard heat that basically works off outdoor air but can maintain unoccupied set points during most of the heating season. This minimizes outdoor air infiltration though dampers. Another is for heating only coils in the air-handles and VAV boxes that serve temperature and humidity sensitive areas. Each of these loops has its own reset schedule based on outdoor air and calculated demand. The third loop is actually a dual temperature loop with water cooled chillers and auto change over capabilities.

When the system was installed an expansion was in the future and we added the extra capacity to add two more boilers. By the time the addition was build we determined that through additional equipment changes and building envelop changes additional capacity wasn’t required. That addition, a theater, band rooms and art classes has been complete and occupied for over five years with no additional capacity and no major boiler repairs since installation.

We pride ourselves on what we do well, the experience we gain and the ability to incorporate those positive aspects of mechanical and control installations into future successes. Hearing the answers is as important as asking the right questions. Fixing the building is more important than replacing a piece of equipment.

What can you learn from you HVAC Company?

So often we try to justify our services with the cost savings they provide. We go to great lengths to educate our customers with the knowledge we’ve acquired. It’s not always well received and at times our intent is viewed with skepticism. Sometimes a project leaders feeling is that everyone’s intention is to up-sell the project; which will put it over budget. Unfortunately too often we find out after the project is complete that the owner was never made aware of the opportunity to substantially reduce operating cost for the life of the building. Sometimes the “old school” mentality kicks in and things get done “the way they’ve always been done”. Often times however it’s the perception that the owner can’t afford the latest and greatest.
 The ASHRAE 90.1 guidelines suggest that a permit should be held up if a project doesn’t meet the minimum efficiency requirements. I fully agree, with the ROI information and BIM technology available today the expected operating cost should be evaluated to protect the building owners, occupants and the environment.

In the world of lease agreements a shell is built complete with basic mechanical services and the tenant fits out the space. Here we see the vanilla building that is inexpensive to build but expensive to operate. Some property management company’s refused to come to terms with the fact that high expenses either hinder a tenant’s growth or forces them to relocate. Right now we are seeing companies move from one property to another just to lower the cost to lease and operate a facility. The space that can prove lower total cost per square foot gets the tenant. The mentality “I don’t care what it costs for electricity, the tenant pays that” are over. The smart property manager should welcome BIM and ASHRAE 90.1 to help attract tenants.

In the world of owner occupied buildings we often see the “it works this way let’s just update it”. Even when the information is clearly presented and accepted things still don’t always go the way of new technology. It’s hard to convince someone with even a 20 year old building that advances in technology make their systems obsolete. Some companies have a high level of trust and we’ve made great reductions in operating expenses. Unfortunately others seem to take the advice of someone that doesn’t have a broad perspective of the industry.

ModernControls has such a diverse customer base that we see many different aspects of a buildings life. From plan and spec BAS projects we see the latest from the engineering companies and equipment manufactures. From plan and spec certified balancing and building commissioning project we see the latest from the design and installation innovations. Servicing the mechanical systems in existing building for over 20 years we get to see what lasted and maintained efficiency at a reasonable expense. When you take the experience from those 3 things and incorporate them into design/build mechanical projects completed by some of the most talented people in the industry you get quality installation that stand the test of time.