I’ve had this concept in my head for several years now, but the biggest obstacle has been to find a programmer I could hire who could turn my ATC/FPT vision into reality. Anyone who knows me knows that I want the design engineer to begin an HVAC project by creating system flow diagrams in sync with the sequence of operation. I don’t really care at the start of a job whether the central AHU is 18,300 cfm or 24,200 cfm. I don’t care if the chilled water or hot water system is 475 gpm or 755 gpm. I want to know how the system will function, how it will meet the design intent, and how this will satisfy the client’s HVAC needs. Creating a flow diagram and writing the ATC sequence of operation is the cornerstone to good, responsible engineering. So, my ATC/FPT concept had to start with the ability to create a system flow diagram using Visio Microsoft® software as the platform for system flow diagram software.
Next, I wanted to eliminate the 20 th century engineering culture of writing a limited sequence of operation and replace it with a 21 st century mode-by-mode of ATC/FPT format. Using the Commissioning 1-2-3 ™ process I developed several years ago, I had the programmer imbed the Cx-3 FPT Excel ® document into this ATC/FPT vision to reality software.