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There are several maintenance and refurbishment steps building owners can take to ensure ventilation systems are working at their optimum. John Grenville, managing director of ECEX, explains


that its cost is absurdly low compared with the cost of dealing with, say, a catastrophic air conditioning failure or broken-down air handling unit (AHU). And, of course, ventilation systems are more important than ever for obvious reasons. There are several steps building owners can


take to ensure ventilation systems are working at their optimum.


T Top-down commitment


oo many businesses see maintenance as a cost with no benefit. In fact, maintenance is one of the best activities a business can


undertake to protect its operation. Not only does it reduce the risk of expensive and disruptive breakdowns and improve reliability, but it can also make a significant contribution to the bottom line by ensuring HVAC equipment is energy efficient and therefore produces lower power bills and higher environmental performance. The argument in favour of ventilation maintenance is further strengthened by the fact


A CLEAN SWEEP


Dirty equipment is disproportionately responsible for HVAC equipment failures. Ensuring it is kept clean can be helped by technology such as ECEX Air Intake Screens – long lasting, weather-resistant filter mesh products which fix to external intakes on air handling units, chillers, and condensers. ECEX Air Intake Screens pre-filter outside air and to ‘catch’ detritus such as dust, pollen, and leaves. Used with air handling units, ECEX Air Intake Screens can increase the life of internal filters by up to 60%, while delivering measurable results in improved energy efficiency, reduced maintenance time and costs


Good HVAC maintenance begins with a commitment from the top of the organisation to develop a corporate policy on maintenance, repair and overhaul that is coherent, compelling, and clearly communicated. From here, an effective maintenance strategy


can be developed with the policies (aims) and strategies (the means for achieving the aims) sometimes combined into a single document. A maintenance policy is a written statement that defines the standards to which a building and its


services will be maintained. In other words, it is a set of actions that need to be applied during the life cycle of a system or piece of plant or equipment to maintain or restore it to defined operating conditions. The maintenance policy should align with the business’s sustainability objectives.


Corrective or preventative?


The maintenance strategy can contain one or a mix of the following types of maintenance – corrective, preventative, predictive and reliability-centred. Corrective maintenance involves restoring


defective equipment to a working condition as quickly as possible. Since it means fixing breakdowns it is, essentially, a ‘run to failure’ approach. It is reactive and unplanned because remedial work is carried out as and when equipment fails in operation. It will not deliver high performing HVAC equipment and is also expensive in the long term, leading to the depreciation of asset value.


Preventive maintenance is designed to ensure the best possible operation of equipment and avoid expensive unforeseen equipment failure or shutdowns. Unlike corrective maintenance, planned preventive maintenance (PPM) finds potential problems before they cause equipment to fail. Essentially, PPM – which includes tests,


measurements, adjustments, parts replacement, and cleaning performed specifically to preclude faults – is a two-part procedure: Ensure the plant is operating at its highest possible efficiency and maintain this performance.


Brand NEW Velocity range The Velocity cold water booster sets feature stainless steel multistage pumps mounted on a powder coated steel base plate.


The Velocity sets are controlled by our advanced variable speed control panel and different configurations are available offering maximum flow rates ranging from 4.4m3/h (75l/min) – 29m3/h (480l/min) per pump and maximum head pressures ranging from 1.0 – 16 bar.


8 November 2021 www.heatingandventilating.net


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