Joanna Turpin is a Senior Editor at The ACHR NEWS. She can be contacted at 248-786-1707 or joannaturpin@achrnews.com. Joanna has been with BNP Media since 1991, first heading up the company’s technical book division before moving over to The ACHR NEWS, where she frequently writes about refrigerants and commercial refrigeration. She obtained her bachelor’s degree in English from the University of Washington and worked on her master’s degree in technical communication at Eastern Michigan University.
There is no question there are some chilly months ahead, and homeowners will expect their expensive condensing furnaces to operate without fail, even on the coldest days.
Administrators are now looking to their BAS to identify opportunities to reduce energy consumption as well as increase patient safety and satisfaction.
While traditional hospital HVAC systems often consist of chillers and boilers, other types of equipment are becoming more widely accepted in the health care market, including variable refrigerant flow (VRF) systems, air curtains, and geothermal heat pumps.
According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), health care-associated infections (HAIs) are a major cause of morbidity and mortality in the U.S.
Even though IR heating technology has been around a long time, the demand is increasing in certain markets, which is creating opportunities for contractors who install and service IR systems.
As demand for HVAC professionals grows, many remain hopeful existing apprenticeship programs will be able to attract new recruits, and that new training models may entice the next generation to enter the HVAC industry.
Replacing older RTUs can be expensive, so the answer may be for contractors to retrofit these units with advanced controls that can help save energy costs as well as improve comfort.
All homeowners want to save money on their energy bills, which is why they are often intrigued by gadgets, additives, and one-off products that claim to offer significant methods to cutting energy usage. But HVAC professionals warn that, in many cases, these products do nothing more than separate homeowners from their hard-earned money.
While contractors may not yet feel the effects of these changes, they will in the future, which is why they should familiarize themselves with the new version of Standard 62.2.