Hank’s Plumbing of Calgary, Alberta, Canada, replaced paper forms with mobile software from Flowfinity Wireless Inc., Vancouver, British Columbia, on its field technicians’ smartphones to gain significantly improved management of time and materials.

The problem of dirt collecting around ceiling diffusers has been a concern in the air distribution industry for a long time. Some people have asked about this dirt and the impact on indoor air quality (IAQ).

The desiccant-enhanced evaporative (DEVAP) air conditioner — developed by the National Renewable Energy Laboratory (NREL), AIL Research, and Synapse Product Development LLC — combines desiccant-based dehumidification with indirect evaporative cooling to reduce cooling energy use by as much as 81 percent.

The first two parts of this series dealt with the use of cast iron components in refrigeration equipment. This last part will focus on the construction of such components.

In the first part of this three-part series, we talked about the effect cold shortness has on the use of cast iron in refrigeration equipment. Now we will look at porosity and abrasion resistance.

Reducing refrigerant in direct expansion (DX) HVAC system designs is a trend both contractors and consulting engineers are using to distance themselves from the competition. While refrigerant reduction has been fairly common in conventional air conditioning, it’s only now emerging in the category of indoor pool (natatorium) dehumidification.

There is a large body of publications regarding uses of cast iron. But very few of them are concerned with the use of cast iron in refrigeration equipment, and even less with the behavior of such materials at low temperatures.

Hospitals use a lot of energy to save lives. To find ways to cut the energy intensity of large hospitals as well as schools and retail buildings by half, DOE’s Commercial Buildings Program and its National Renewable Energy Laboratory (NREL) are working together with ASHRAE and other members of the building industry.

A very common complaint about duct testing is that the covers get blown off the registers. Most code language leaves the choice of pressurizing or depressurizing up to the tester, but experience has shown that the positive pressure made sealing registers much more difficult, and could triple the time to perform a test.

Using a vibration tester can enable technicians with no training in vibration measurement and analysis to test pumps, motors, compressors, and other HVAC equipment and get both diagnoses and recommendations for required action on the spot within just a few minutes.