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If you are considering a Building Automation
System to control your HVAC equipment to help lower your electric
consumption then you are on the right track. Depending on
the size of your company or facility, the answer to saving energy
may vary.
Option 1:
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You ask your employees to turn the equipment
off before they leave or just turn the temperatures back.
In most cases this only works for a short time.
Option
2:
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Electronic time clocks and programmable
thermostats can be added for small locations, where it is not
going to be a challenge to keep up with schedule or holiday
changes. Good products are available that we can install to
meet your needs.
If your company is large enough that you
would need to check with several departments to decide the
upcoming schedules, then the above options would be very time consuming
and unlikely to be effective without greater automation.
Option
3:
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Setting back temperatures and lighting
by the time of day for each area of your building.
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Using Automation to automatically adjust
temperature set points to lower peak demand charges during occupied
times.
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Taking control of all the other building
and office equipment that uses considerable energy when added
together.
We have installed and serviced many EMS systems
over the years and have dealt with the problems that show
up in the field when customers need a special program or function
to control equipment. You may want a system with the ability to
use custom programs.
Process
Control:
Very few systems are versatile enough
to expand beyond the usual environmental heating and cooling
control. Process control must be very reliable and cover a wide
range of applications and at the same time, offer a front-end system
that is user friendly but gives full access to the needed
parameters. Most of the systems that meet these requirements have
high up front costs as well.If you are in the research stage or
just looking at the possibilities for a project involving automation,
we would like to assist you.
Some Questions:
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Does the equipment have Sequential or
Interlock Requirements?
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If so, are they time related with verifications?
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Are there critical issues such
as emergency procedures?
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Does the equipment need alarm and take
action capability?
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Does the equipment have regular and override
scheduling needs?
The System:
Once you have the answers to these questions
you will find that choosing the right equipment will be more satisfying
and produce the end results you are looking for, (lower operating
costs and more control of your equipment.)
Using a smart control system is the
smart way to bring a greater return on your investment. Systems
that will make self-adjustments to the way they control, to
increase efficiency. Choose a system that can pull groups
of equipment together so they operate as one.
Example:
The system looks at all the temperatures
on the 5 floors, and checks to see how cold it is outside,
so it can determine what time it should start the Air handlers,
Pumps, Chiller or boiler. This assures that the space will be at
the correct temperature when the employees start there day.
A smart system should also be able
to add features to the example, such as:
The air handler can start first, then the
pumps, then after an adjustable amount of time the chiller can start
but only if the water flow has been confirmed and its not to cold
outside to have it running.
System
Features:
After you have researched and outlined your
building needs. The next step is to decide on the type of control
you want. Would a PC with user-friendly software And Ethernet LAN
connections be needed or just set point, schedule and other minor
changes to be performed on a local touch screen or both options
so your technicians can get control from your mechanical room,
while you have control from your office.
There are many types and configurations for
you to consider. As a Controls contractor, we want all our
customers to be happy with their control system.
Caution!
There are many Contractors that install what
ever they can convince the customer they need. Then both are unhappy
when they have to keep coming back. With Thousands of dollars
invested, it's the customer that ends up back at the drawing board,
trying to make it work every day.
We get many calls from unhappy building owners
that have systems that were improperly installed or programmed incorrectly,
In some cases, the programmers do not understand The sequence
of operation of the equipment they are programming and end up damaging
motors and compressors from improper use.
You can avoid some of the pitfalls
with research, consulting, contacting others that have the controls
your considering.
For More information or references
to help with your research,
Contact us
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