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HVAC & Educational
Facilities Part 3
The Comfort Zone
July 2001
by Maury Tiernan |
The same air comfort issues arise in every educational facility across the
country at one time or another, regardless of what type of HVAC system you
have, or what your climate is like
The Comfort Zone column, written for this mobile/modular industry magazine,
deals with the challenges related to HVAC systems in all commercial factory
built structures. This is the third and last of three articles focused on
issues that arise involving HVAC systems in educational facilities. This
discussion will pertain to site-built as well as commercial factory-built
schools.
Part 1 focused on the importance of "ventilation" and its value as the cheapest
"first-remedy" for IAQ Complaints. While maintaining a proper 15 CFM per person
intake and exhaust ventilation during occupied times is not the only answer to
IAQ problems, it is easily manageable and within your control.
Part 2 of 3 addressed the "human element" and the cause/effect relationship
between people and the HVAC systems in our educational facilities. Creating
that "comfortable" and safe indoor learning environment for students and
teachers starts way before the students arrive for class and involves many
people.
Now, Part 3 will address the importance and value of the "bid specification,"
which brings us right back to where we started, tackling the common HVAC
challenges discussed in Part 1.
Everyone from the school facility personnel and project managers to estimators
and contractors all hang their hats on the bid specifications. When the project
is put out for bid, we develop the price from the specifications. At the
drafting stage, the Engineering Department looks to the bid specifications.
During construction, if questions arise, the contractors find their answers in
the bid specifications. If problems arise after construction, we go to the bid
specifications. I think you get the point. It all starts at the bid
specifications. So why then, are some of them so poorly written?
Having worked as many as 3-4 school bids a day, I've had the opportunity to see
many very well written and many poorly written bid specifications. You may see
more than that. When the bid documents are dropped off, and you see that they
are 3" thick with another _" of plans attached, your eyes roll back in your
head. Especially when you invest your time to read those 3" of specifications
and realize that they are nothing more than a boilerplate set copied from some
architect's or mechanical engineer's reference library. Few if any changes have
been made from boilerplate for the specific needs of the project or location.
The details you need are not there.
Some school districts may require that a full and complete bid spec be written
for a major new school. For the most part, the bid spec will work well on that
project. To save money or time in the future, the facility director may use the
exact same bid specs on a different school site, or even take them to a
different district and reuse them. This practice saves time and money, but does
not allow for appropriate upgrading of the specs/plans.
Now on the other end of the scale, some school districts may use the one-page
and one-line HVAC bid specification that holds you responsible for anything
that will ever go wrong with anything in the building for ever and ever. We
like the one-page for its timeliness, but not for how it is written. The
simplicity comes at a cost; it sets the stage for problems to develop later on.
Another oddity of the one-line HVAC bid spec is apparent when contrasted with
the detail in another portion of the specs. In this day of computers and
information technology, we can find page upon page of exact product call out,
location, and installation requirements for computer cables. The same is true
for plumbing and lighting fixtures. Those specification sections do not involve
IAQ, mold, noise, or air filtration/purification. These are addressed in the
details of the HVAC specifications. Why can't we find just as much appropriate
detailed information to use for these HVAC issues?
The real point here is that few districts spend the time and energy that is
necessary to really develop a good set of HVAC bid specifications. The only
place to address any HVAC-related challenges, or any other facility issues on
your new buildings, is in the bid specification.
New challenges arise regularly in all areas of facilities. Changing code and
energy requirements require bid specification updating. New product offering
requires bid document updating. Newly identified mold and IAQ issues require
bid specification updating and on, and on, it goes.
Is it a lot of trouble to constantly massage the bid documents? Yes, it takes a
great amount of effort and discipline. However, if we choose not to invest the
energy up front, dealing with the resulting problems after the fact is also
time consuming. Every minute you invest in your bid specifications on the front
end will yield seven minutes of time after the fact. Think of what you can do
with that recuperated time, not to mention the stress associated with "heat of
the battle" problem solving.
Let's consider one more way we might cut corners, hoping to save time, effort
and resources getting bid specs together. Imagine you're with a small district
bordered by a large school district. You copy their bid spec because they must
know what they're doing, right? No so! As a large district they have their own
unique challenges to deal with. Those challenges are not the same as yours.
Just to mention a few differences, your facility cleaning and maintenance
practices are not the same as theirs. You may have more stand-alone buildings
versus their large multi-zone HVAC systems.
Each school district is unique, and has unique HVAC issues related with its
needs, wants, and maintenance capabilities. So how could the one-size-fits-all
bid specification be right for your project?
The responsibilities for developing and updating bid specifications lie with the
district facility and maintenance directors. They solicit input from district
staff, mechanical engineers, architects, and vendors who provide current
information addressing project challenges, products, installations, and scopes
of work. The better the bid specs are written, the better the end product will
be, and we'll see fewer associated problems arise later.
IF WE CONTINUE TO DO WHAT WE HAVE BEEN DOING, WE WILL CONTINUE TO GET WHAT WE
GOT.
Until the next time we meet, get what you want in . . . The Comfort Zone.
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