Answers to your Questions
What's Performance Management?
What Can It Do?
Why Is It So Important?
Who Needs This? Can't the Equipment Manage Itself?
How Does It Help My Pumps?
How Can It Help My HVAC System?
If the Problem Is Human Interference... Can't We Just Tell People Not to Touch the Equipment?
What if my pumps are small? Will it still save me money?
How do I get started?
I have more questions. Who can I call?
What's Performance Management?
As HVAC systems and installations age performance efficiency frequently fades, or ‘drifts’ to the point that the HVAC system is not achieving the efficiency levels that were promised on installation. Performance management is a set of services available through Armstrong. Through a combination of software and service, or standalone software, Armstrong helps extend the ‘as commissioned’ operating efficiencies of HVAC equipment. By tracking operations, and providing messages to alert operators to any issues, Armstrong Performance Management services help building owners achieve and maintain optimal efficiencies for long-term cost savings.
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What Can It Do?
Performance Management saves you money. The two Performance Management services offered by Armstrong are ECO*Pulse and Pump Manager. Both are focused on maintaining energy efficiency. Pump Manager provides information on the operation and status of your HVAC pumps. ECO*Pulse performs a similar service, but at a systemwide level that includes chillers, cooling towers, fans and pumps. Performance Management provides information and alerts to help users maintain their equipment at peak efficiency for long-term cost savings.
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Why Is It So Important?
Performance Management is important because the cumulative costs of not managing the equipment are extraordinary, even in an average-sized building. Over time, inefficient pumps or HVAC systems can waste huge amounts of energy, and burn through your operating budget before you know it. Want to keep your building or facility or campus operating within a budget? You need to pay close attention to your HVAC equipment.
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Who Needs This? Can't the Equipment Manage Itself?
Performance Management is a smart operating practice for any facility manager or owner. HVAC equipment of any size or type can experience problems that impede or affect performance. System demands can change. Valves or filters can become clogged. Sensor accuracy can fade. Pump bearings can fail.
But the most frequent issue, and the one that’s most harmful to building efficiency, is operator error. Errors can happen during service and maintenance, when equipment settings are changed for safety reasons, but not properly re-set when the work is complete. Settings are also changed in response to tenant comfort complaints when operators try to alter HVAC output or address perceived issues.
No matter how sophisticated they are, equipment control systems don’t work when they’ve been turned off.
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How Does It Help My Pumps?
Performance Management helps operators and managers track performance and respond appropriately to small problems before they become big expensive problems. Pumps operate at a predictable efficiency levels, and they are generally optimized for efficient operation when they are commissioned. If pump efficiencies change it's usually not in a good direction, and it's usually a sign that there is an issue with the mechanics of the pump or the digital settings on the pump controller. Early notification of these kinds of issues can help you avoid extra costs for energy usage, and will help you maintain your pumps properly, so:
- They continue to operate for a long time, and
- You get full value for your investment in technology
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How Can It Help My HVAC System?
Having your pumps operate properly means all of the other components in HVAC system are properly fed with water or glycol. The pumps operate at the right pressure can provide the flow needed. No more and no less. Too much flow in your system can lead to changes in return temperatures and inefficient operation of heating and cooling components. Too little flow in your system can lead to damage of heating components and extended operating times for cooling components - both of which are unwanted outcomes.
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If the Problem Is Human Interference... Can't We Just Tell People Not to Touch the Equipment?
You'd like to think so… but the reality is that operators will adjustment system settings. Either because they're interested in learning the technology, or because they prefer to control the HVAC components more directly.
More than 50% of variable speed HVAC components, most of them capable of modulating speed and controlling output according to demand, are set to ‘In-Hand’ mode by operators and stay at that setting for weeks at a time.
Performance Management services from Armstrong can alert managers to changes in operating settings on pumps and other equipment, preventing inefficient operations and the inevitable added costs.
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What if my pumps are small? Will it still save me money?
Definitely! In absolute terms, the dollar amounts involved will be smaller, but on a percentage basis, the potential for degradation in efficiency, and the resulting cost is the same for smaller HVAC components. Even if the dollar amounts are smaller, the costs associated with operator errors are still real. And even if the pumps are small, the cost savings attached to Performance Management are too substantial to ignore.
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How do I get started?
Initiation of the Pump Manager service takes place through the warranty registration process for a Design Envelope pump. With your completed warranty registration, you are eligible for a free six-month trial of the base-level Pump Manager service.
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I have more questions. Who can I call?
If you’re interested, but have questions you need answered, please contact Armstrong via e-mail to info@armstrongfluidtechnology.com or call us at 416-755-2291
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