Check out the March issue of ES with the cover story: High-Rise Overhaul, and features: Selecting & Installing Fire And Smoke Dampers To Ensure Code Compliance; Energy Optimization In Existing Buildings; and The Skinny On Reactors For VFDs.
125 South Wacker, a 31-story Chicago high-rise that is halfway through a five-year master plan, represents a massive undertaking both in volume and scope of equip-ment.
More than ever, existing buildings are the key to future efficiency gains. And yet, better equipment isn’t everything. The knowledge and behaviors of both occupants and operations staff play critical roles, perhaps greater than you realize. An integrated team approach, smart training, and the Hawthorne Effect are but three factors contributing to your next retrofit’s ultimate fate.
The dizzying array of circumstances, conditional possibilities, and equipment facing today’s HVAC designer is a lot to take in at the beginning of such a critical task.
Last month’s column (February 2015) addressed the potential situation where the design engineers specify a change to a system which has already passed its commissioning functional performance test.
Commercial buildings receive the bulk of attention in this issue, but I saw an interesting headline the other day and thought it was worth exploring a little more.
Back around 2002, I came up with this idea based on a perceived need to have commissioning software available for me to write functional performance test (FPT) documents.
Boston’s New Waterfront initiative has created an influx of business and new housing where sea meets land. Boston’s revitalized Seaport District now sports a harbor walk that meanders through shops, fine restaurants, and upscale neighborhoods.