Wednesday, March 31, 2010

HVAC (Heating / Ventilation / Air Conditioning)

• Tune up the HVAC control system.
• Consider installing a building automation system (BAS) or energy management system (EMS) or restoring an out-of-service one.
• Balance the system to minimize flows and reduce blower/fan/pump power requirements.
• Eliminate or reduce reheat whenever possible.
• Use appropriate HVAC thermostat setback.
• Use morning pre-cooling in summer and pre-heating in winter (i.e. -- before electrical peak hours).
• Use building thermal lag to minimize HVAC equipment operating time.
• In winter during unoccupied periods, allow temperatures to fall as low as possible without freezing water lines or damaging stored materials.
• In summer during unoccupied periods, allow temperatures to rise as high as possible without
damaging stored materials.
• Improve control and utilization of outside air.
• Use air-to-air heat exchangers to reduce energy requirements for heating and cooling of outside air.
• Reduce HVAC system operating hours (e.g. -- night, weekend).
• Optimize ventilation.
• Ventilate only when necessary. To allow some areas to be shut down when unoccupied, install
dedicated HVAC systems on continuous loads (e.g. -- computer rooms).
• Provide dedicated outside air supply to kitchens, cleaning rooms, combustion equipment, etc. to
avoid excessive exhausting of conditioned air.
• Use evaporative cooling in dry climates.
• Reduce humidification or dehumidification during unoccupied periods.
• Use atomization rather than steam for humidification where possible.
• Clean HVAC unit coils periodically and comb mashed fins.
• Upgrade filter banks to reduce pressure drop and thus lower fan power requirements.
• Check HVAC filters on a schedule (at least monthly) and clean/change if appropriate.
• Check pneumatic controls air compressors for proper operation, cycling, and maintenance.
• Isolate air conditioned loading dock areas and cool storage areas using high-speed doors or clear
PVC strip curtains.
• Install ceiling fans to minimize thermal stratification in high-bay areas.
• Relocate air diffusers to optimum heights in areas with high ceilings.
• Consider reducing ceiling heights.
• Eliminate obstructions in front of radiators, baseboard heaters, etc.
• Check reflectors on infrared heaters for cleanliness and proper beam direction.
• Use professionally-designed industrial ventilation hoods for dust and vapor control.
• Use local infrared heat for personnel rather than heating the entire area.
• Use spot cooling and heating (e.g. -- use ceiling fans for personnel rather than cooling the entire
area).
• Purchase only high-efficiency models for HVAC window units.
• Put HVAC window units on timer control.
• Don't oversize cooling units. (Oversized units will "short cycle" which results in poor humidity
control.)

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