What happens is the ac unit is working overtime to cool in this Texas heat and that takes a toll on your system. Fans and blowers run constantly and all the moving parts are working harder. That's why so many units fail in the summer, the worst time possible for the consumer. It's no different in a commercial building. However, commercial units are so much larger in size and capacity and have so many more moving parts that they too are a challenge to cool in extreme heat.
Our church is 200,000sf + of old buildings with antiquated systems that are not as efficient as new units today. In addition, old buildings are not insulated like today's buildings. Plus, large spaces take longer to cool and may have multiple units cooling the same room. That all adds up to a huge challenge to keep everything running and cooling properly. In our church you don't just walk up to the thermostat and add cooling, there is another component running the system.
The word I use for our HVAC systems is quirky! strange, weird, out of the ordinary, not usual, peculiar, odd. At CABC, there are no air vents in the hallways or restrooms and most light switches are behind the door. Really?
Another big challenge is control. We have spaces that have multiple triggers to even start the cooling. For example, to turn on the air or heat in the sanctuary there are multiple thermostats on the wall in the room for each unit, a timer on the third floor, and a water flow control box on the third floor with breakers for each unit somewhere and a power disconnect on the roof next to the unit. On the third floor there is a block of rooms where the thermostat is located on the fourth floor in a classroom. For the Fellowship Hall the chiller control stat that sends water for that area is located on the fourth floor in a closet. Go figure!
The other huge challenge is knowing what unit services what room or rooms, where the thermostat is located, and where the blower is located. One unit can run a block of rooms or just a single room but knowing what runs what is crucial in pinpointing the unit to check.
In March 2015, CABC met with a Christian company that is dedicated to saving churches money on energy in order to put the savings back into ministry. The company is called Ideal Impact and after presenting the plan to the Building and Grounds Committee, we contracted with them for the next four years. Within the last 4 months, they have provided us with a complete set of zoning maps for each unit, replaced all the thermostats with WI-FI stats, and gave us a complete listing of each unit and its size and description. That is just the beginning!
The key is control. In the past we have not been able to adequately control what we have nor did we know what unit ran what room. We had an idea but nothing documented. As of today we have 25 of the 37 stats on wi-fi for us to control remotely if needed.
The second key is scheduling. A few months ago we added new software for our calendaring and room reservations that will allow us to import a calendar into another software that will tell us what stat to schedule and when. That is a huge deal in energy saving! When this system is fully functional, we will be able to schedule all our events, import them to Ideal Scheduler, then schedule the HVAC via the internet. In three quick steps we will have better control!
Where are we today and what are we doing to fix the problem?
In the middle of this exciting transition, we discovered HVAC units that did not work or did not work properly and we have been repairing or replacing these units. To complicate things, this project was in the works when the heat kicked in and temps are in the hundreds outside. As stated before, all the units are working overtime and many have failed. We are still in training and coaching with the new thermostat scheduling learning the new system and procedures. We should complete that by the middle of September. We are still repairing and replacing units that have issues as fast as we can get the vendors scheduled.
Will this fix all our HVAC problems?
No. Many units called fan/coil units that are in classrooms along the base of the wall are discontinued and we cant find parts for them and they are very expensive to replace. We can't change the zoning of our current system so some areas get lots of cooling and some get little. We are using all our available resources to be the best we can with what we have now.
Thank you so much for your patience and support as we transition to these new systems of control and save energy.
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