Begin With the End in Mind

One of the main ideologies or themes that is ever-present when I am working with clients is planning.  Planning is the foundation of progress and achieving operational and financial goals.  Merriam Webster defines a plan as a "method for achieving an end." For a plan to be effective, it must include looking into the future, or the end, and preparing for what may be encountered or decisions that will need to be made.  If you are making a plan to take the vacation of a lifetime, you need to know what that looks like so that you can save money, book lodging, travel, or getting a lay of the land.  If your plan is to get in shape, you need to have a visual of what that is so that you select a workout and diet regimen that will allow you to achieve the goal.  Without visualizing or understanding you want the future to look like, you will not be doing the things needed today to step off of the plane for that vacation or to see yourself transformed.

In the realm of HVAC systems, the "future" is the visual of a crane replacing a rooftop unit.  Meaning, the things we do are to extend the equipment replacement date as far into the future as we can AND prepare for the day that it does.  Both of these are exceptionally vital to the long-term planning of any organization with responsibility of their facility's HVAC equipment.  This equipment, like any piece of mechanical equipment, does not last forever-and it should not be pushed past it's useful life.  Let's look at a loosely-similar analogy, of an old car that has been have recurring issues of shutting off randomly.  You may have some sentimental emotions of the car, so you get it repaired once, maybe twice, but it is continuing to happen.  Luckily it has not happened to shut off while driving down the interstate...yet.  By this point, many of us will look at replacing that car with a new one before we hurt ourselves, someone else, or our wallets. An HVAC unit that is in operation past its useful life, can result in some of the same consequences.  Poor indoor air qualify (IAQ), decreased comfort conditions, and increasing repair costs are all potential issues caused by an old unit. 

The American Society of Heating, Refrigeration, and Air Conditioning Engineers have conducted a great deal of research that has produced helpful data on the service life of HVAC equipment.  I have supplied this information here for you to give you an idea of how long, on average, this equipment is expected to last.  Does this mean you must replace every unit you have that is over the listed age? Absolutely not, this should be used as a point of reference and education.  I have seen quite a few units around town that have far surpassed this life expectancy.  However, going too far past a unit's life expectancy can result in a reactive decision once that unit goes down, not to mention dealing with poorly operating equipment.  This information should be used to plan budgets, determine future capital expenditures, and to develop a plan so that you are not caught in a reactive state.

There are some things that can be done to extend the life of the equipment, and I will give you a hint to what that is: It's everything that I write about on this blog!  My entire job is developed around extended the life of the equipment and to help it operate more efficiently in the process.

Now, as promised, here is a chart giving  you the Life Expectancy of the equipment that you may have at your facility.

 

 

 

On an unrelated, but very important, note: There are a few more days of Restaurant Week in Richmond left! Go experience the great restaurants we have in the city, and support local business at the same time!

 

-Luke