As Seen On: usgbc.org December 04, 2019

Did you know that it’s possible to save up to 40 cents per square foot, while reducing the timeline to reach your sustainability goals by a third?

There are few building systems that can have such a dramatic impact on tenant productivity, quality of life, operating efficiency and business sustainability as the HVAC system. Performance drift in HVAC systems is a common issue that leads to wasted energy and increase in greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions. According to the International Energy Agency, the construction and operation of buildings is responsible for over 39% of energy-related GHG emissions, a large part of which can be attributed to inefficient HVAC technologies.

The majority of building owners and operators are unaware of this efficiency drift, largely because of a lack of transparent, actionable information from their HVAC systems.

Some industry leaders are working to address this issue. Armstrong Fluid Technology, for example, is committed to sustainability and revolutionizing HVAC technology to help building operators save energy, minimize environmental footprint and improve occupant comfort and productivity.

With Armstrong’s Design Envelope technology, pumps draw only the power required to meet the immediate demands of the building at any given time. This provides high efficiency under part-load conditions, ensuring that a building’s pumping system consumes as little energy as possible. This stands in sharp contrast to traditional methods, in which size pumps for maximum efficiency at the fullest load of a particular building. Since most HVAC systems operate at less than 60% capacity most of the time, this performance mismatch makes the traditional approach to system design highly inefficient.

Armstrong has implemented projects that have provided savings in excess of 80% of pump energy with the adoption of Design Envelope technology and properly sized equipment. In addition, since tenant comfort largely depends on flow accuracy and reliable performance, Armstrong’s Active Performance Management services provide operating data and insights to help address potential issues before tenants even notice.

Furthermore, traditional HVAC energy upgrades tend to rely on the original design parameters instead of actual flow data. Even the most efficient equipment can still be oversized and operate outside its design conditions most of the time. Armstrong’s road map approach can prevent this oversizing by first collecting real flow data from the pump, which can then inform optimization efforts and further upgrades in the system.

As a business considers its journey to sustainability while weighing the benefits of occupant comfort and cost savings, it’s critical to understand what technology is available to provide transparent access to real-time HVAC performance data. The Armstrong Design Envelope technology is just one example of how innovation is transforming the building industry.