Tag: HVAC

Committed to You: A Customer-Centered Focus

Posted on by Lindsey Burbee

Customer Service Excellence is not only our responsibility, it is the cornerstone of our values at Melink. Since 1987, we have made a conscious effort to make the customer our sole focus each and every day, working to create the absolute best customer experience possible.

This year, in an effort to provide a greater experience for our Test & Balance customers, we restructured our internal account teams. Our decision to revamp our customer service team’s layout was in response to our ever-growing business, and the continually changing nature of what it means to provide a first-class experience. We choose not to be complacent, but rather question daily whether we are utilizing the most efficient customer service tactics in executing our goals and serving customer’s needs.

The new teams are made up of a dynamic group of skillsets to ensure a well-rounded support system, with the customer as the center focus. There is an Account Manager that acts as the point-person in daily communications; an Account Coordinator or Specialist who works directly with customer site contacts to effectively and efficiently schedule our National Network; and an Account Engineer offering specialized technical support for their team’s customers.

We even restructured our office space and customized our email system to provide a more cohesive and resourceful team environment. By rearranging our internal office space, our team members can better communicate proactively and at the speed of business. By providing account-specific email addresses, our customers have the comfort of knowing they are communicating directly with a dedicated team focused on their needs. By scheduling our National Network more effectively, we increase productivity and meet our customer’s needs in a timely and efficient manner.

To most, our Test & Balance division is known for providing first-class HVAC services. We go beyond what others in the industry do. We offer more than just a balance – a hands-on support system providing a full customer service experience from order to invoice!

A Balancing Act: Air Balance is an important part of HVAC maintenance

Posted on by Lindsey Burbee

When it comes to HVAC, no news is good news for restaurant facility managers. When you start hearing chatter about the building being hot and humid, drafty, smoky or uncomfortable, you know a problem has already taken root. It’s like a piano being out of tune. In addition to unhappy customers and employees, comfort issues are indicators of energy inefficiency within a system and air balance issues. So, what can facility managers do to prevent comfort and energy threats?

Identifying Common Problems

“Facility managers need to be trained on air balance and push it to their service contractors,” recommends Jeff Dover, resource manager at RFMA.

A good place to start is to gain a foundational understanding of building pressure and common HVAC deficiencies along with following seven easy steps to bring your restaurant back into tune. Most importantly, learn how to look for negative building pressure. Remember, the goal is to stay slightly positive in building pressure.

There are three methods to identify negative building pressure. The first and most reactive method is to monitor signals that your building is negative. These signs are hot/cold spots, entry doors that are hard to open, poor smoke capture, humidity, condensation dripping from diffusers and drafts.
Second, you can measure the building pressure yourself or with the help of your service contractor by using a pressure reading tool such as an anemometer to get a ballpark pressure reading. The third and most accurate method is to hire an air balance firm to check the facility’s building balance once a year. If comfort-related issues or a negative building pressure reading are observed, then an air balance needs to be scheduled.

Investigating the Cause

What causes a building to become negative or unbalanced? The usual offenders are equipment deficiencies, improper preventative maintenance programs, and adjustment errors such as kitchen staff fiddling with thermostats or service contractors opening or closing dampers.

 Here are 10 example deficiencies you or your service contractors should be on the lookout for:
  1. Exhaust fans in poor condition
  1. Supply air leaking above ceiling
  1. OA dampers improperly installed
  1. Exhaust fans not sealed to curb or hinged correctly
  1. Dirty compartment/coil in the RTU
  1. Tops of diffuser not insulated
  1. Filters improperly sized for hoods
  1. MUA not operating properly
  1. Dirty indoor/outdoor filters
  1. Worn/broken belts

Achieving Air Balance in HVAC

Once you’re ready to bring a facility back into tune, there are seven easy steps to complete. These steps may be completed by the facility manager alone, but are more likely in partnership with a service contractor. To get started, pull out the facility’s previous balance report to use as a base line for data.

One Principal Engineer at a hamburger fast food chain overseeing thousands of locations explains how her team uses the air balance report to get started with troubleshooting comfort issues.

“The reports really are my first line of defense when someone says ‘Hey, my store is cold/hot/humid,’ she points out. “The first thing I do is pull out the TAB report and see what it says. I look at the punch list and ask was anything wrong? Not fixed? It helps when I have to remotely assess or diagnose problems.”

7 Steps to HVAC Balance

Whether the previous air balance report has been reviewed or not, proceed to the following steps:

  1. Ask the onsite restaurant managers what the complaints are from employees and customers.
  1. Turn on all HVAC equipment.
    • Verify thermostats are set to “FAN ON”
  1. Check building pressure with the flame test in different areas around the restaurant (Figure 3)
  1. Observe smoke capture
    • Is the hood in the correct overhang position?
    • Are there drafts along the cook line?
  1. Check for common comfort issues (hot/cold spots, entry doors that are hard to open, poor smoke capture, humidity, condensation dripping from diffusers and drafts).
  1. Inspect the equipment.
    • Are the filters clean?
    • Are the belts in good condition?
    • Are the exhaust fan wheels clean?
  1. Determine an intervention plan.
    • If some preventative maintenance actions and/or repairs need to happen, start with the service contractor.
    • If equipment is inoperable, have it repaired or replaced.
    1. If the preventative maintenance actions are in order and the problems persist, call in a certified air balance company that has experience with restaurants like yours.
Facility managers need to trust that their service contractors will notify them of airflow-related issues. Those technicians are out on the roofs and looking at the HVAC system components more than anyone else. If the restaurant has negative pressure or other out-of-tune symptoms, the service contractor needs to inform the facility manager right away. After all, you want your customers and employees to continue singing your praises. 
Air Balance in HVAC

Air Balance Basics for Existing Facilities

Posted on by Lindsey Burbee

We understand the concept of the “band-aid approach” whereby you find a quick cover-up to a problem without actually investigating the root of the it.  This concept applies frequently to Facility Managers or Building Owners wrestling with HVAC emergencies being caused by negative building pressure. They tackle issues such as condensation, hot/cold spots, humidity, odor, and difficult to open doors with “band-aids”. These “band-aids” are in the form of increased air conditioning, dehumidifiers, wet floor caution signs, door mechanisms, air fresheners, apologizing to patrons, comping customers’ bills, and so on.  This is understandable when you’re managing 80+ facilities, all with problems that stretch far beyond just HVAC.  However, it comes with a cost of spending a lot of time, money, energy, and reputation just to have the issues continuing to come back.  While balanced airflow is not a tangible product, the consequences of an unbalanced building are very perceptible.

Facility Managers are ready to de-mystify their HVAC issues by understanding the root causes.  Use the air balance basics below to recognize when an issue is airflow related.

What does it mean to have a balanced airflow?

Think of financial statements with income listed in one column and expenses in the other.  Much like a budget, you want incoming cash coming to be equal to or greater than cash going out. You typically want the air going into a building to be slightly greater than the air going out.  Similarly, think of a balanced scale.  In the graphic below, air is being drawn out of the building by exhaust fans at a rate of 4000 CFM (cubic feet per minute). This is to remove heat and smoke from kitchen cooking appliances and foul air from the restrooms. Air is also being introduced into the building through an outside air fan, at a rate of 4500 CFM. This is to provide fresh breathing air for the occupants and to replace the exhausted air.  The result is a slightly positive building pressure of 500 CFM (4500 – 4000 = 500), which signifies a balanced airflow.  Conversely, if air coming into the building is slightly less than the air leaving the building, then you have a negative building pressure, which is the frequent culprit of many HVAC problems.

Which brings us to a crucial pairing to the air balance concept.  That is if balanced airflow is peanut butter, then a performance test is the jelly.

What is an air test & balance service?
 

Air balance testing is the process of measuring HVAC airflow performance.  Once tested, the systems are then adjusted, or balanced, so the air brought into a building is slightly greater than the air being pulled out of the building.  The benefit for testing and balancing being a combined service is explained by Rob Falke, President of the National Comfort Institute, “This [positive] pressure condition can be designed, but to be sure it actually happens requires air diagnostic testing.  However, it’s hard to say how great the positive pressure reading in the building will be. It depends on how tight (or leaky) the envelope of the building is, and what other pressure generating forces exist, including the wind, appliances, exhaust fans, and the stack effect of the building.”  The result is a comfortable, healthy indoor environment with an HVAC system that is optimized to perform efficiently.

 Sources:

  • Digital image. Air Concepts LLC. N.p., n.d. Web.  Nov 25, 2015.
  • Falke, Rob. “How to Measure Building Pressures.” Contracting Business, 1 May 2006. Web. 25 Nov. 2015.

Talking to Kitchen Staff About Restaurant Air Balance

Posted on by Lindsey Burbee

Restaurant Air Balance: Avoiding Costly HVAC Issues

Regarding restaurant air balance, negative building pressure costs restaurant facility managers thousands of dollars every year. Uncomfortable kitchen staff — as well-intentioned as they may be — often unknowingly contribute to a facility’s air circulation becoming unbalanced. Hot and bothered, they may adjust thermostats or HVAC components in an attempt to make their workspace more comfortable. The issue is that most kitchen staff aren’t aware of how sensitive a balanced HVAC system can be. Even minor adjustments can throw the system into inefficient operation, driving up energy costs and making the entire operation much more expensive.

During your next site visit or conversation with on-site managers, restaurant facility managers should take a moment to explain the basics of air balance to kitchen staff.

Here are some key points to cover:

1. HVAC equipment works as one system.

What happens in the kitchen directly affects the dining areas, and vice versa. Any changes made in one area impact the comfort, efficiency, and air circulation throughout the entire building.

2. Understand basic building pressure.

  • Building pressure plays a major role in customer comfort, kitchen hood smoke capture, condensation, energy savings, door function, insect control, and more.

  • Kitchen airflow is the largest contributing factor to overall building pressure.

  • High-velocity airflow near kitchen hoods (such as from portable fans) can interfere with the hoods’ ability to capture and exhaust smoke and heat effectively.

3. Keep grease filters clean and well-maintained.

  • Grease filters must be cleaned regularly to protect the exhaust ductwork, fans, and rooftop discharge areas.

  • Clogged filters reduce exhaust performance, create poor air quality, and lead to costly repairs.

  • Damaged filters should be replaced immediately.

Hiring an experienced and professional TAB firm to perform a test and balance on your HVAC system periodically can provide confidence that your air balance systems are operating properly. This ensures that your kitchen staff works in a comfortable environment and your customers have an enjoyable dining experience.

Using An Air Balance Report for HVAC Upkeep

Posted on by Lindsey Burbee

There is much hype these days in the facilities management industry about the importance of preventative maintenance, especially for critically important HVAC systems. In our experience,  we are often urgently called out to a facility because the site’s HVAC hasn’t been well maintained. While we’re happy to help, we also want to share insights so you don’t have preventable crises.

In a recent FER magazine article  – Realizing ROI on Planned Maintenance – author Michael Sherer quotes David Pogach, LEED GA, Longhorn Steakhouse Facilities Manager, as saying:

“We look at planned maintenance as a way of making sure equipment lasts its expected life cycle. … We know these programs work. They save money, so for us it’s not a debate of whether to spend the money now or later. We maintain our equipment.

“Planned maintenance makes the most sense for equipment that in-house staff doesn’t have the expertise or time to maintain. Most operators who have programs in place start with HVAC because putting people on the roof is a liability issue, and most foodservice employees don’t have the expertise to service HVAC systems.”

Following are ways you can use your air balance report to help start a new preventative maintenance program or audit the effectiveness of an existing one:

1)    In your report, you’ll have a list of deficiencies and recommendations for optimal operation (figure 1). First and foremost, you should schedule completion of these tasks as part of your quarterly or semi-annual preventative maintenance program.

 

2)   Another great use of a test and balance report is using the unit inspection checklists to see what should be monitored by your HVAC contractor (figure 2).

figure 2
Rooftop inspection checklist

 

3)   The report will also include unit3)  A third way to make the most of your air balance report is to use the HVAC system layout drawings to locate and inventory all equipment that needs to be maintained (figure 3). Please note that not all test and balance contractors provide this. manufacturers, model numbers, serial numbers, pulley sizes, belts sizes, motor horsepower ratings, and a large amount of other useful data which would aid in the implementation or upkeep of any preventative maintenance program.

figure 3
Building and rooftop layout

 4)   Finally, make sure your preventative maintenance programs include all of the items below. Omitting regular service on these is a leading causes of problem stores.

  • Change belts when damaged and verify proper belt tension
  • Replace filters quarterly
  • Clean outside air filters
  • Clean kitchen hood filters
  • Clean fan blower wheels
  • Clean grease traps
  • Clean evaporator and condenser coils
  • Verify thermostat settings are correct and someone onsite is trained how to adjust programming

Additional Reading

1. Realizing ROI On Planned Maintenance, Foodservice Equipment Reports Magazine, Michael Sherer, Aug 3, 2015

2. How To Read A T&B Report,  Fresh Air Blog, Derick Ramos, Aug 27, 2015

3. Planned HVAC Maintenance Adds Up to Big Savings for Retailers, Energy Manager Today, Karen Henry, May 11, 2015

How to implement air balance data in 5 easy steps

Posted on by Lindsey Burbee

The goal of a good facility manager is to balance the customer’s brand experience with the company’s budget allocation and facility lifetime. The goal of a good air balancer is to objectively
restore the facility’s HVAC health. The air balance report is the bridge between the two parties’ goals. Once the balance report is in your hands, we suggest the following steps to enable you to take facility management from good to great:

1. Take time to go through the report and see what problems were uncovered as well as proposed solutions.

2. Prioritize the list. Use specific criteria to determine which tasks you’ll tackle and in what order. You might start with facility goals, severity, effect on occupant comfort, effect on efficiency, budget and estimated interruption to business. This would also be a good time to consult a trusted colleague on his or her opinion. If design prints were provided, you will find punch list items of discrepancies with those prints. Punch list items are typically the most urgent. In addition to punch list items or in the absence of design prints, many air balance contractors will provide recommendations. These are a combination of urgent items and best practices. If you want the best-run stores in your market, you’ll schedule execution of all the recommendations. If you’re constrained by budget, you might pick and choose the most important.

2 examples of urgent recommendations:

  • Mold inside the rooftop units. Get those puppies cleaned ASAP!
  • Leaks in the rooftop units. Not taking care of the leaks immediately will waste your money in patching membrane and/or replacing ductwork.

3. Use the report to evaluate whether your mechanical contractor or maintenance contractor is fulfilling your expectations. We often find facility managers using air balance reports to audit performance of HVAC management.

4. Assign the punch list items and/or recommendations to your qualified mechanical contractor.

5.  Tie up loose ends by having the air balance contractor revisit your site within 30 or 60 days to verify the assignments were completed. Do not assume the fixes will be made just by
passing it off to a maintenance contractor. At the very least, inspect completion yourself. If things weren’t fixed, that voids the entire effort and wastes your hard-earned dollars. Further, you’ll keep experiencing the problems.

Note: If your tasks include replacing equipment or major layout changes, you’ll need a balancer to tune the HVAC system to near design airflow so you can maintain a healthy building.

If there’s only one step you take away from this article, it needs to be No. 5. This advice is most often overlooked but distinguishes good facility managers from great ones.

What to know about choosing an air balance contractor

Posted on by Lindsey Burbee

Due to the skill level required and equipment needed, facility managers and mechanical contractors hire professional test and balance contractors to bring buildings into balance at the end of construction, remodels, rebalances for existing buildings and equipment changes. When HVAC equipment is installed and started up, it may not function according to design specification and eventually will delineate from proper operation if not corrected. 

Facility managers and mechanical contractors also bring in TAB contractors to investigate HVAC comfort problems. Are you aware that most HVAC problems stem from poorly maintained HVAC equipment or performance assumptions?

Selecting a balancing firm can be tricky business, but it doesn’t need to be. Following are criteria for choosing a balancing contractor, based on our experience during the past 30 years. We hope our perspective will serve you.

  • Use a certified firm
  • There are two main certification organizations:
  • Look for thoroughness. Like any service, you want to be sure your vendor is concerned about the details.
  • Look for integrity. Since most of the value of an air balance is invisible, you need a vendor you can trust.
  • Experience with your industry. HVAC systems differ among restaurants, retail stores, hotels and hospitals. Make sure your balancing partner is familiar with your type of facility needs.
  • Maintain objectivity. Have a third party firm balance your HVAC system to prevent shortcuts and misreporting.
  • Hire directly. Avoid conflicts of interest by hiring the balance partner yourself.
 Air balance report necessities
  1. Air flow measurements and adjustments
  2. Punch list with images
  • Punch list items refer to discrepancies with the design prints. For example, the prints might show there is a diffuser in the rest room, but the facility does not have it.
  • HVAC equipment data
    • Make, model, serial number, fan/motor data, voltage, belt size, equipment condition, amperage, pulley size, etc.
  • Building pressurization
    • Reading of the balanced building pressure

The above list includes the basic deliverables you should expect from an air balance report. You can read our article  How to read a Melink Test & Balance Report for a visual example of an air balance report.

To prepare for the service, a balancing firm will request the design prints of the facility and inspect any previous balance reports. In many cases with existing buildings, prints and reports are unavailable. If that happens, the air balance technician will have to work from best practice measurements. This is one of many situations where having an experienced and certified balancer is an asset because of the knowledge required to do this well.

Once onsite, the balance technician will briefly talk to your management staff and ask about any HVAC-related issues they are experiencing. A common complaint of restaurant facilities is a hot kitchen, which can be indicative of a rooftop unit with dirty blower wheels or filters, as well as loose belts on a failed compressor. These complaints give the balance technician an idea of where to begin.

Next, the balancer will spend time inspecting and measuring the equipment on the roof. He or she will record RPMs and amps, check exhaust fans and look for basic adjustments. Then the balancer will go back inside to check building pressure and take measurements of the airflow. All of this data will tell the technician what he or she needs to do. After more adjusting, such as dampers or RTU belt tightness, and measuring the effects, the technician will bring the HVAC ecosystem back to design standard.

At that point, pressures and measurements are then documented in a report. In the case of a Melink balance, the technician will also check thermostats and train staff on the proper settings, if requested by the manager. Findings will be explained to the manager as well. Finally, the facility manager or project manager will receive the report after it has gone through quality inspection.

ADDITIONAL READING:
Sources:
  • DuChane, Greg. “Optimizing Air Balance Report Data.” Trane Tracks (Apr.2015): n. pag. Trane. Web.
  • “NEBB.” International Certification, High Performance Building Systems. N.p., n.d. Web. Sept.1, 2015.
  • Prager, Ron. “Demystifying HVAC: Why Test and Balance?” (n.d.): n. pag. Web. Sept. 1, 2015. 

3 Steps to Troubleshooting Your Facility’s HVAC With Onsite Staff

Posted on by Lindsey Burbee

HVAC Troubleshooting

Have you identified that your facility is experiencing a potential air balance problem?  You might be experiencing hard to open doors, uncomfortable temperatures, poor smoke capture, odors, drafty areas, or any combination of the other common sick building symptoms.  The inevitable question now is, “Who can resolve this best?” Bringing in your facility’s mechanical contractor may be your first instinct but troubleshooting with your onsite managers is actually the best place to start. Work through the following questions with your facility’s day-to-day manager:  

1.  Is the equipment running?

As basic as this may come across, it is absolutely crucial to check if all HVAC equipment is operating. Check grilles to see if air is being blown out or sucked in. Check roof equipment, can you hear the fans from the RTU, MUA, or EF units spinning? Have the manager record and communicate findings.

2. Check the Thermostats

Navigate to the wall mounted thermostats and ensure they have the proper set points. Often, a thermostat is installed and connected to the system and then left alone. When this occurs the thermostat is left at factory settings which is often set at a random temperature. Your staff can follow the directions on this thermostat to program it for the desired temperatures.  As well, check the thermostats for “Fan ON.”

Thermostat

3.  Check the Circuit Breakers

Check indoor and outdoor circuit breakers. Observe tripped or “Off” breakers. DO NOT flip the breaker on. If tripped or left off, there’s likely a reason for it and you don’t want to risk frying the electrical systems. We recommend calling an electrician for this type of deficiency.

 

Armed with your findings from these simple tests, you can save some money with a Do-It-Yourself fix.  It’s possible that the journey back to a healthy building ends here.  But if the problem persists, it’s time for the level of technical know-how. Call the mechanical contractor. With your observations to these preliminary steps above, you can approach your mechanical contractor with information that will help them to better understand your situation and get you closer to achieving a healthy building.

The #1 Air Balance Bummer: Negative Building Pressure

Posted on by Lindsey Burbee

What’s the first thing you experience when you arrive at a restaurant? You might say the delicious aromas, lighting, and possibly the smiling hostess asking how many are in your party. But the very first thing anyone experiences is the door. How many times have you found yourself struggling to open the darned restaurant door? You pull the handle, but it won’t budge. You try the other handle, to no avail. You think, “There’s no way this is locked, it’s the middle of the lunch rush and I can see people inside.” With all your strength, you finally crack it open and squeeze through. You might feel a large draft on your back and then, finally, slam! Woman pulling on door

 If this common door problem has happened to you, how many times do you think it has happened to customers entering one of your restaurants? While your first hypothesis may be that it is a door hinge problem, it is actually part of a larger problem: negative building pressure. And that is just one symptom of a sick building.

 Sick Building Syndrome is a serious situation restaurant facility managers and owners cannot afford to take lightly.

Check out these three must-know tips:

  1. Know what to look for. This simple illustration shows the most common problems related to HVAC air balance, which cause sick building syndrome.  Educate your teams as well.

Unbalanced HVAC system problem graphic

  1. Assign someone at each restaurant location – the store manager or maybe a shift leader – to watch for these sick building symptoms. Give them a process for reporting these problems so you have a record of the issues.  View our Sick Building Syndrome white paper and distribute to your teams for diagnosing comfort problems.
  1. Don’t just take it from us, read more on this important topic from expert Rob Falke, How to Measure Building Pressures, published on ContractingBusiness.com, an online industry publication.