Latest Energy Saving Developments in Air-Conditioning that Plant Facility Managers Should Know
As a facility manager in an industrial plant, you play a significant role in the facility's efforts to keep energy costs low. The task is even more critical if the facility is looking to expand floor coverage. Since air-conditioning is a prerequisite of an industrial plant setting, making sure that energy required in running an HVAC system is a fraction of total energy usage is paramount. One way you can achieve energy efficiency objectives is by keeping up-to-date with current developments in the air-conditioning world. This article highlights the latest HVAC innovations that will ensure you meet a plant's energy usage goals.
Ice-Powered A/C Units -- Since basic HVAC units in industrial plants run 24 hours a day; hence, it is difficult to lower costs involved considerably. However, the development of an ice-powered A/C system will ensure that space is adequately conditioned with minimal effort from the units. The latest system works by freezing water in a big tank overnight which will be used to cool the facility the following day. Therefore, instead of the AC system drawing and cooling air from the outside, it will draw the cold air from the frozen water and direct it towards the intended space. The need to cool air first is eliminated thereby cutting energy costs considerably.
Movement-Sensitive HVAC -- As mentioned earlier, traditional air-conditioning systems used in industrial plants run continuously, irrespective of whether there are people in that space or not. The disadvantage of such operation is that cooling or heating open source leads to wastage and as a result, higher energy costs. However, the latest developments have come up with movement-sensitive air-conditioning units. As their names suggest, these units are only activated when there is movement around a space. For instance, if you leave your office, the air conditioning unit inside the room will go off. It will only be activated when someone enters the office. It is made possible by movement sensitive sensors fitted on the unit to detect the slightest movement in space.
Self Learning Thermostats -- Currently, most industrial plants have made progress by installing digital thermostats in their facilities. However, most of the gadgets cannot do without the facility manager's control, and while there is nothing wrong with this, there are moments when one might forget to make critical adjustments. Such mistakes often lead to marginal increase in energy costs which accumulate in the long run. Self-learning thermostats eliminate the problem since the device can pick up a facility's patterns and mimic them as accurately as possible.Therefore, you will not worry about forgetting to tune down cooling or heating overnight.
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