How many pieces of equipment can you watch at once during functional testing of HVAC equipment? The truthful answer is just ONE. Multitasking doesn’t exist. It’s impossible to simultaneously perform multiple tasks at once. Instead, our brain constantly switches between tasks, to the detriment of productivity (see more on multitasking here).
Ok sure, we can override a few systems at once and take turns looking at the BAS graphics for each, but you still only see and process one set of data at a time, often for just a short period of time. This has downsides.
Alternatively, you could deliberately focus on one piece of equipment at a time, as is common in critical facilities, but labor hours skyrocket.
Commissioning guidelines support the idea of striking a balance between the owner’s budget and project requirements, so there are many ways to optimize your scope. Many projects even utilize “sampling”. On high-volume equipment like terminal equipment (VAV’s, FPU’s, FCU’s, etc), it is common to set a sample size at 20-30% of repetitive equipment.
Multitasking still comes into play. Many providers will break this sample of equipment into even smaller groups, for batch testing, thus diluting their attention even further. Naturally, many real problems will instead be discovered later by the owner’s operations team, or worse, rent-paying tenants.
With modern HVAC analytics technology, you can have a computer test EVERYTHING for you, at a fraction of the cost – Connected Cx! Make it run active test scripts (i.e., deliberate BAS overrides) at night or on the weekend, staying out of the way of contractors still feverishly working during the day (OR new occupants having already moved in!). Independently collect trend data on everything 24/7 during the testing and close-out phase of your project. Tell the computer what to flag for review, so that you can focus your expertise ($$$) on things that require your attention.
Construction Realities Make Testing Even Harder
Is the HVAC control system accessible during the functional testing phase of commissioning? Are the graphics ready? Is trend collection and storage in place? The answer to these questions should be YES!
The unfortunate reality is that many things are going on at once in any construction project. Commissioning providers are often under pressure to begin testing HVAC equipment prior to the BAS being ready or accessible. Internet to the site may not be connected yet. The owner’s networking scope may be on a different schedule (really!?!?). All these things make it harder to verify proper equipment operation, but the show must go on.
Connected Cx solves these problems by establishing a secure remote connection to the BAS network utilizing an independent data collection and analytics platform, one that is under the direct control of the commissioning provider.
OTTO Can Hook You Up with Connected Cx
Plug a cellular-enabled OTTO gateway into the BAS network (no on-site internet required) and get as much or as little trend data as you want, as much or as little automated testing, as much or as little fault detection, on anything connected to the BAS.
How Much Does It Cost?
Start with turn-key trend data collection, cloud storage and visualization of HVAC data points for just a penny a day! Automatically test terminal units for as low as $16 each, including re-testing!
That’s less than 10 minutes of your billable rate, to run a terminal unit through a robust and deliberate 6+ hour test protocol.