Air conditioning systems are going to be pushed to their absolute limits and beyond at the beginning of next week!
In the design of buildings with air conditioning, the heat gain calculations and the selection of main plant will have been based on an outside temperature of between 28°C to 35°C.
Cooling coils in air handling units will not meet set points as they will not have been sized and installed based on outside air temperatures upwards of 30°C.
Main plant will struggle with the external temperatures. Chillers have high temperature trip-out functions normally around 43°C.
There will be a knock-on effect for the rest of the components in the air conditioning system and the building internal temperatures are going to get hot!
Don’t worry though we’ve got some tips that will help:
- If you’ve got blinds in your building, roll them down to reduce heat gains.
- Consider setting your air conditioning, including ventilation, to run for a few hours each day over the weekend.
- Set the timeclock schedule to start earlier and finish later for each day.
- Raise the set points on fan coil units on unoccupied floors; or you can isolate every other fan coil unit.
- If your chilled water circuit pumps are running at a reduced speed, increase them by 10Hz.
- Make sure the coils on your external plant are well clear of debris.
- Keep a close eye on your BMS head-end and react to the data where you can.
- Make sure the boilers and heating pumps are not coming on – sounds ridiculous to say but you’d be surprised!
No doubt lots of people will work from home but at 35°C or more, working from home will not be easy and the office will be cooler.
If anyone has any other suggestions, please share in the comments below.
Good luck to all the Facilities Managers.