I remember our school installing a fancy new zone system on the steam radiators for the high school. The cold rooms weren’t any warmer and the hot rooms still had to open windows, but at least we had windows. Building automation only works when there is a good system in the building to begin with.
Building automation only works when it is installed correctly. If the cold rooms are still cold and the hot rooms are still hot, that doesn’t sound like it’s the case. While the existing system puts certain physical limitations on the outcome, few systems are so badly-done that a proper automation system cannot provide significant performance increases.
Modulating outdoor air dampers for free cooling is a foreign concept to some people.
Should be part of the automation system.
Ironically, we have been replacing a lot of A/C equipment on schools that already had A/C, but the really old buildings go without.
Your tax dollars at work. Replacing old systems with new ones gets you Federal (and sometimes State) money. Adding A/C to a building that does not currently have it, doesn’t.
Joe
