Due to escalating energy costs over the past several years, supermarket chains are exploring new equipment designs to reduce their energy consumption. This article provides a detailed comparison of a typical supermarket refrigeration system designed with air-cooled condensers versus one with evaporative condensing.
Indoor air quality (IAQ) products such as germicidal ultraviolet (UV-C) lights, gas phase air purification, and photo catalytic oxidation (PCO) have given contractors a “one-two-three punch” to help customers battle allergens, pathogens, odors, and other pollutants commonly found inside residential and commercial buildings.
It is a difficult balance to save energy and money yet maintain a comfortable and healthy indoor air environment. A logical solution to controlling indoor air pollution is good ventilation coupled with indoor air quality (IAQ) monitoring using gas sensors. This can ensure healthy indoor air as well as a more efficient HVAC system.
With ongoing refrigeration system problems, and no replacement parts available for its old Beacon systems, the McDonald’s owner in Godfrey, Ill., looked to the ingenuity of its service company, R.E.C. Service Corp., for a solution.
Firespray International has provided an innovative lab exhaust ductwork system for the University of California, Berkeley’s (UC Berkeley) Helios Energy Research Facility, solving a complex construction challenge at the 113,000-square-foot building under construction in downtown Berkeley.
Sweating presents itself in an air distribution system as moisture that forms on the faces of lay-in diffusers and T-bar grids adjacent to those diffusers, where this moisture collects and drips into the areas below. While sweating may be a simple annoyance, it may also be potentially dangerous. Either way, it is a symptom of a larger problem.
Fleet management can be challenging for HVAC contractors, which often have a number of service vans and trucks with no dedicated staff to oversee them. Fortunately, new Internet-based software programs and tools make it much easier for contractors to access and update records and perform other fleet management tasks.
Patrick Baldwin-McCurdy fields daily indoor air temperature complaints from employees and students; however, Seattle University’s lead buildings control technician rarely hears HVAC complaints from the college’s new library addition featuring under floor air distribution (UFAD).
The 2011 Idea Show House, located in the Creekside Village community in Shelby Township, Mich., is a stylish 4,000-square-foot home that features innovative design and green, sustainable living. One of its primary green features is a geothermal heating and cooling system.
While it’s often viewed as “new” and lumped in with other plastics, polypropylene pipe has in fact been used around the world for nearly 40 years and is highly engineered — offering HVAC application benefits that many other plastics can’t. It also offers several advantages over metal HVAC pipe systems.