Fluid Cooler Replacement

The weekend of October 22 we completed a major equipment replacement in 24-hours, from 5:00 pm Friday to 5:00 pm Saturday. The prep time was three weeks to get ready for the water source loop upgrade. Two weeks for two technicians, one completing the electrical device installation and one completing the piping. The device assembly included upgrading to a variable speed drive for the blower and an electronic sump level control. The piping included reconfiguring the make-up water feed and installing flanges to match the existing piping. The last week was spent double checking the material and getting everyone on site ready for the shut down.

We used the building automation system to override the make-up air systems pre-treat coils and fans for the lab air handlers to maintain the water source loop temperature. We brought in our portable cooling units for the critical data rooms as a precaution but we didn’t need to bring them on line. We were able to maintain an acceptable loop temperature to keep all critical equipment on line.

We isolated the tower on Friday night, drained down the glycol from the fluid cooler and disconnected the piping and power. The crane arrived at 7:00 am Saturday and by 10:00 am the crane and old fluid cooler were leaving the site. By 3:00 pm all the water and electrical connections were complete and commissioning was underway. At 4:00 pm all water source systems were back on line and the building was functioning as normal.

The following week we returned to complete non-critical items like drain piping, heat trace and insulation. The variable speed drive was given a full commissioning as well as the upgraded controls system. The new cooling tower is expected run with a 25% reduction in operating cost. We also expect a reduced cost in maintenance with less wear and tear on the fan assembly with soft starts as opposed to across the line starts. The new tower also has a stainless steel basin for an extended life. The dampers have a four actuator set-up instead of the two actuators the original tower had. Another cost saving option was the factory installed bundle insulation package.

The installation went extremely well. We gave the site manager and owner’s representative constant e-mail updates from the site; including pictures of the progress as we passed each major milestone. A major amount of the field work was completed by a fourth year apprentice. I am proud to say I was his mentor when he was in eleventh grade at Hodgsen Vo-tech. He then was a co-op for ModernControls when he was in twelfth grade. He is an outstanding employee and in our opinion the type of person we want to represent our company. I like to take this opportunity to thank everyone involved with the project for making it a success.

Thank you for the kind words Mr. A

Case Study on Energy saving initiatives at Building A

Pursuant to Governor Markel’s Executive Order #18, we began a comprehensive effort to save energy at the Building A by centrally monitoring facility conditions, enacting temperature settings as directed, and employing advanced Building Automation System (BAS) control strategies. Ted Lambert from Modern Controls, Inc was co-opted for this effort, beginning in November, 2009 and mostly completed in June, 2010.

The results are as follows:
KWh reduction 16.3 %
Electrical Cost Savings $10,767.12
Gas usage reduction 19.9 %
Natural Gas Cost Savings $8,690.27
Total Cost Savings $19457.39

Labor and material costs to implement these improvements totaled about $15,000 to date. Spreadsheets on monthly electrical and gas usage from the Energy Star Portfolio Manager program are attached. Based on these figures, we anticipate that the percentage of energy saved with these improvements over an entire year, will meet or exceed the 30% energy reduction target.
Mr. A
Energy Manager
OMB/DFM

The Future of Refrigerants

Although summer isn't technically over most of us are ready to put it behind us. Of course it'll be with us for a long time considering the number of temperature records that were broken. Hopeful it won’t be the way things are from now on, otherwise we lose bragging rights. For those of you that read my last entry you know what a hard summer it was for technicians. Thankfully they all made it without any major injuries.

A few weeks ago I attended an ASHRAE seminar that had several good speakers that touched on a lot of big things coming our way. Some of which I’ve already touched on and a few that I certainly didn’t see coming. I would like to touch on one of the highlights and if you find it particularly interesting check out the ASHREA web site or the EPA’s web site for more information.

The big news is the HFC class of refrigerants was found to be contributing to global warming and the EPA is preparing a phase out timeline. The intention is to have a phase out similar to CFC and HCFC refrigerants. First the refrigerant manufactures will all fumble around with potential replacements. Second one of the big three equipment companies will select what it feels will be the best alternative. One of the other two will select a different refrigerant and the third will pick one of those two and put it in their equipment. The two out of three choice will win and all the little guys will fall in line behind the two. Then the government tax the HFC’s into exile. The year after the HFO sunset the EPA will determine the new refrigerant causes age spots on Baby Boomers and the whole process will begin over.

The potential replacements that are soon to go to the certification agencies are a class of refrigerants called HFO’s. DuPont has one through testing called R-1234yf and it’s very close to R-134a in performance and pressures. Unfortunately it has a slight flammability issue that may limit it to equipment with small quanities of refrigerant. There wasn’t a lot of information communicated about other potential replacements other than references to the type of problems that are slowing down the R & D process.

The EPA will add a new series of regulations to deal with the new refrigerants. We can expect this to come with regulation changes for the HFC refrigerants. We are potentially looking at recertification for technicians as well as tighter restrictions on documentation. As most people are aware the EPA is already stepping up its efforts and there have already been subtle changes. One example is calculating the percent of refrigerant lost and then added to any unrepaired system. You then take that percent times 12 (months) and that’s the calculated yearly loss rate used to determine the need for repairs. It keeps the onus of equipment violations with the owner who now faces $ 32,000.00 per day violations for things as simple as not keep the required records. Just what a cash strapped government agency needs. Think speed trap!

Stay alert for major changes in a short period of time. I expect the phase out of HFC’s to be more like CFC’s than HCFC’s.

Thank You

It’s been a while since my last entry and I have to say with good reason. It was a busy end to spring with days of rain giving way to record high temperatures. Not to mention the endless high humidity. What didn’t break in June and July seems to be holding up in August allowing our service technicians a chance to catch up on some much need rest. Modern’s service technicians have averaged 150 hours overtime with some as high as 300 hours. I felt a little odd thinking about writing my midnight blogs while they were still out working. Before we get back into the normal busy of our next season and hopefully the return to regular entries I would like to take this opportunity to thank them and their family.

First and foremost I’d like to thank the service technicians that make ModernControls a great company to do business with and a great place to work. The quality of the people that I work with is amazing. How they managed to keep going in such adverse conditions day after day with such a good attitude is a true measure of their character. When it’s a 100°F outside and your air conditioner isn’t working it is hard not to be impatient for your unit to get fixed. Most people never stop to think about what the guy on the roof is dealing with. His reward for getting you going is another dead unit to fix, usually one right after another until dark. That is if he’s fortunate enough not to be on call that night. Our customers have been very considerate and I’m sure very thankful. I just can’t imagine that’s of much conciliation to what they endured. I am truly proud of everyone.

Second and equally important is the families of the technicians. The wives who worry about their husbands driving home late at night after such exhausting days. Knowing their loved ones are far from home, in stressful situations, and with little time for communication with their family. The young children who only know Dad’s not home and the rest of the family that seems out of sorts because someone’s missing. It’s truly a sacrifice and on behalf of ModernControls I’d like to thank you.

Next I’d like to thank the rest of the staff at Modern for falling into the support role. When the technicians needed help everyone was there for them. Lending a hand isn’t easy when everyone has more to do because of the extreme weather but they did it. Making a call, picking something up, dropping something off or just checking in to make sure everything is OK.

On the worst weekend night of the summer we went from two technicians out working to ten in an hour. Two more were standing by willing to help and actually volunteered to be on call for the rest of the night to give the on call tech’s a break. One technician went to a site to help another technician complete a repair so he could get home a little sooner and a little safer.

ModernControls has had so many great accomplishments over the years; none have made me prouder than the service technicians this summer.

ASHRAE Standard 90.1

My intention is to familiarize people like me who are just starting to acquire knowledge about the ASHRAE Standard 90.1. Most of these items are done as part of the Plan & Spec and Design Build process; now they’re requirements. I strongly recommend that everyone in the HVAC Industry goes on the ASHRAE web site http://www.ashrae.org/technology/page/548 and clicks on the link for Standard 90.1. When the book opens click on the “page” button at the bottom and go to page 30. Page 30 through 55 deals with the mechanical systems minimum standards. The information is well organized and points us in the right direction for operating cost reduction strategies. If you’re a property owner, manager or facility engineer this is a small glimpse into big changes coming your way. Standard 90.1 mainly specifies building construction that will reduce the energy consumption of the mechanical systems.

6.1) this section spells out the general guidelines for compliance of new buildings, additions to an existing building, (unless the addition is served by existing systems) and alterations to existing systems. Direct replacement equipment and components including HVAC, A/C, economizer, duct and piping shall comply with sections 6.2 through 6.8. Exceptions found in section 6.1 include alterations that will not increase power consumption and replacement or alterations that require extensive revisions. Changing refrigerants, relocation of existing equipment or where there is insufficient space for modifications to duct and pipe are also exempt.

6.2) this section is used to determine if compliance is required for a project. This section offers two options moving forward, one is the simplified approach which will follow section 6.3. Section 6.3 would be the option of choice for upgrades and direct unit replacements for small existing buildings. The other is to follow section 6.4 which offers more options. 6.4 would be the option of choice for new construction or additions to the existing building.

6.3) this section begins with building specifics which are one and two story buildings with less than 25,000 ft². Each system must meet all the criteria. Basically a split system or package unit with a heat section and a DX cooling that is either an air cooled condenser or evaporative condensers that complies with section 6.8. The units will need an economizer and barometric relief that both comply with section 6.4. The equipment will need the controls specified in section 6.5. Basically to take the simplified approach you need meet the requirements of section 6.3, 6.5 and 6.8. There are 15 specific criteria in section 6.3 that need to be met as well as table 6.3.2 that can be used to minimize or eliminate the economizer. If all aspects of the building and equipment are met you can go straight to section 6.7 which is the submittal process. If all the criteria are not met you must follow the guidelines in section 6.4.

6.4) this section gives the system selection engineer or salesperson direction as to what rules apply to the proposed system. This section would be best described as the basis for design and equipment selection, if you have equipment type X; then you must meet conditions A, B, and C. It would work well as a question and answers program in a load calculation/equipment selection software package. This is the must read section of the standard 90.1 for everyone in the HVAC industry. It is 4 pages of material that will be used to ensure that the project will meet code in the near future.

6.5) this section details the specifications for heating/cooling changeover, economizer operation and building systems integration. The requirements that need to be met are VFD settings and minimums for fan motors and hydronic pumps. Others include the changeover deadband set points and decreased airflow set points. Section 6.5 also deals with the specific operation and set points of the system during heating, cooling, and dehumidification. It establishes the guidelines for exhaust air energy recovery, kitchen exhaust, and fume hood exhaust.

6.7) this section organizes the documentation requirements for the project submittals. The intention here is to make sure everyone associated with the project gets the documents that show that the mechanical requirements are met. Most of these are standard items that are commonly requested. The expanded information will now include listing a service provider, preventive maintenance schedules, and certified building commissioning.

6.8) this is the last mechanical equipment section and it’s the tables that organize the minimum efficiency requirements, standard ratings and operating conditions. It is clearly laid out and easy to follow by system type. For new equipment installations it will be easy since the equipment manufactures’ will be required to meet the minimum standards. For upgrade and modification work it will be a matter of documenting the existing equipment.

A Word of Caution;

A few weeks ago I wrote how inverter duty, variable flow systems are sure to change industry. There is an ASHRAE standard to show how low the operating cost is compared to other types of systems. We are seeing an increase in the number of these systems specified by engineers and installed by mechanical contractors. What remains to be seen is adequate installation support, adequate start-up support and the resolution of service problems. I’d like to detail a few of my experiences to help convey my concern with the installation of variable refrigerant flow systems.

1) Job # 1 – a service customer came to us looking for help with a system that was installed by a reputable area contractor. The warranty had expired and contractor was no longer willing to service the system that had never functioned properly. The system was specified by an engineer and installed with the construction of an addition. ModernControls contacted the manufacture and talked to the same factory technical support person that helped the last contractor. The manufacture sent us many parts over the course of the next few months in an attempt to resolve the issue. None of which worked. The customer however having to pay all the labor was not happy. Then the technical support person stopped returning calls. I spoke to other factory representatives; all said they would have to speak to the original guy because he was in charge of the department. No one ever called back. When my customer got frustrated I turned over all the information, including dates and names of who I had spoken to. He got the same lack of response. There were 2 systems installed to service the same area, he shut down the system that never worked and has been dealing with inadequate heating and cooling on degree days since day one.

2) Job # 2 – a mechanical contractor was installing three variable refrigerant flow systems in a large building renovation project. ModernControls was the control contractor for the project and our scope of work was to integrate the three systems with the Johnson Controls building automation system. This part of the project went well. The local sales representative asked ModernControls to perform start-up of the systems. The representative said that they would give us full support so we could get familiar with their product and the hope was that we’d sell them to our customers. It took twice as long to perform start-up as they said it would, the contractor made piping mistakes that needed to be sorted out and then corrected. The instructions have the pictures together in one spot and then you find the corresponding instructions in your language in another part. After following the series of instructions and seeing the mistakes that were made it was pretty easy to see how things went wrong. That however was not the only problem. The manufacture representative told us that he would have one of his “start-up guys” meet our technician on the job the first day. What we got was a call 3 hours after we arrived from a technician who had “been around a few” but really wasn’t that familiar so he didn’t come out. Two days later we came up with the right way to do things, a third day was spent on site to pass the information on to the actual installer so he could make the changes. Fortunately on start-up everything appeared to work correctly, had it not we would have spent more time scratching our head because the product sales representative didn’t have expertise to help us with start-up let alone troubleshooting problems.

3) Job # 3 – Which will take us back to Job # 1 briefly. The sales representative for the product from job # 1 showed up in my office with sales literature. I refused to take it and told him about my experience with the product. He said he could get me factory assistance to help correct Job # 1 which is now almost 3 years old resolved. I told him I would talk to the customer but informed him that he has requested prices to remove both systems from their site. If the factory would assume the responsibility for all cost we could approach the subject with the customer. The following day, like on queue a job turned up with the same product. One of my service customers had a renovation project completed with a large variable flow system. The call I received was like this “the customer had a service call for a new unit in the fitness area that need to be reset every time they used the room since start-up. They wanted us to take care of the problem now that the warranty was over.” I assumed it was a single cassette ductless split. When the tech called and told me what he was looking at and that he need technical support I passed on the product representative’s name as someone to call for support. The next morning I came in to find our parts person putting together a 500 page booklet that had been e-mailed to the technician. Their idea of technical support was a 500 page book. When I called to ask the product representative if that was his idea of good product support he told me that “the guy” wasn’t available for 3-weeks and if I sent my technicians (22 mind you) away for a 3-day class they would know how to work on the system without help. The technician that was on site has over 20 years of commercial and industrial HVAC experience.

I am sure that there is a leaning curb associated with every new technology but this one seems like it’s going to cause a lot of discomfort. Back in February I expressed my opinion that the package units with the inverter duty compressors would help us gain a better understanding of how these systems operate and what to expect under different conditions. This is one service aspect that we need to address so that we can train technicians on the common functions of the different manufactures’ systems. The next thing is how to install the systems in such a way as to allow malfunctioning systems to remain on line while making repairs. A simple refrigerant leak or failed metering device can take an entire system down for repairs. The installation of valves and access fittings, plus keeping all piping accessible can suddenly make the installation not so cost effective.