UPCOMING EVENTS
HVAC for Property & Facility Managers
Date
April 2nd, 2012
Overview
This course is designed to help property and facility managers gain a greater insight in the management of HVAC in their facilities. It familiarizes them with air conditioning principles, system components, functionality and operation. Attendees will learn basic refrigeration principles, the inter-relation of components of an air conditioning system, basics of heat and heating systems, pumps, zoning, air handlers, power distribution, fundamentals of controls and other pertinent information.
Objectives
-
Describe an air conditioning zone and the concepts used to determine zoning needs.
-
Identify the components and operation of a low-pressure hot water and a steam heating boiler and the associated heating coils, radiators, hot water converters and humidifiers connected to them.
-
Describe a basic refrigeration cycle, common refrigeration applications, chiller, water cooled condensers, cooling tower, and low-pressure centrifugal chiller.
-
Identify the factors that affect human comfort and their impact on building occupants.
-
Describe the strategies used to manage indoor air quality and list some of the common sources of contamination.
-
Describe a basic air conditioner air handler operation, including components, economizer cycle, control strategies and safety controls.
-
Describe the basic operation of various single and multiple zone air handlers, including some VAV system options that improve comfort.
-
Define basic air measurement terminology and describe the characteristics of various fans and of series and parallel piped pumps.
-
Define basic control terminology and describe the role of the unit, system and building management level of controls.
-
Describe the components and strategy used in developing a maintenance management system.
Audience
Property managers, facility managers, owners, and maintenance supervisors of buildings and HVAC systems.
Preventative Maintenance for Building Systems
Date
April 3rd, 2012
Overview
This course prepares attendees to start a preventive maintenance program or to better operate an existing program. It emphases the reliability centered maintenance approach of using a combination of several maintenance strategies to reduce total maintenance costs while still keeping the equipment running in top shape. It prepares attendees to better understand the preventive maintenance needs for building mechanical systems including: air handlers, low-pressure boilers, package and split air conditioners, chillers and cooling towers. Included are discussions on the use of operation logs, check sheets, procedure/process description sheets and other quality tools to improve the process and to make it easier.
Objectives
-
Describe how even a minimum scheduled maintenance program will be beneficial.
-
Describe the value of setting goals and of using value drivers and measuring deliverables to improve the performance of the maintenance operation.
-
Describe how to use the technical maintenance strategies of run-to-fail, preventive maintenance, predictive maintenance and proactive maintenance to the best advantage to reduce total maintenance costs while keeping equipment in top shape.
-
Describe the steps on how to establish a mechanized preventive maintenance program.
-
Describe how to use operating logs, check sheets and procedure description sheets to make it easier to assemble a PM program.
-
Describe how to establish a good commissioning process for new building systems.
-
Describe the details of the maintenance needs for motors, motor drives, bearings, gear-drives, centrifugal pumps, low-pressure steam and hot water boilers. cooling equipment, cooling towers, fans and air handlers.
-
Describe indoor air quality issues that need to be cared for when working on mechanical systems.
Audience
Facility operation personnel, technicians and management whose job responsibilities are associated with the maintenance of building systems.
Electrical Fundamentals for Buildings
Date
April 4th, 2012
Overview
This course will give the attendee a basic knowledge of voltage, current and resistance relationships as applied to relays, motor control circuits and other types of control circuits. It also covers troubleshooting and installation of lighting circuits including 3-way and 4-way switches. In addition, the course offers hands-on labs in which students participate in a variety of exercises including wiring a circuit to a circuit breaker panel and analyze the other circuits wired to the panel; draw, wire and power up a series and 2 parallel circuits having switches and lights; use a meter to measure the voltage on a thermocouple; wire a motor starter and determine the proper overload heater element size; and test a solenoid valve operation.
Objectives
-
Identify proper personal safety protection equipment for electrical maintenance and identify the treatment for electric shock.
-
Describe the proper use of hand tools used for electrical maintenance and identify proper care of double and single insulated tools, extension cords and lights.
-
Demonstrate the procedure for de-energizing, tagging and locking out power feeds and the procedure to close a tripped circuit breaker, replace a fuse and describe the operation of a ground fault interrupter.
-
Demonstrate the use of a voltmeter, ammeter, clamp-on ammeter, ohmmeter and electric consumption meter and identify which test instrument to use to locate troubles.
-
Describe, sketch, wire and troubleshoot single-pole, 3-way and 4-way switch circuits.
-
Describe the basic electrical concepts of current, voltage, resistance, electrical polarity, open, short, and excessive resistance and current and define and apply Ohm’s Law.
-
Demonstrate solving circuit problems and describe the basic relationships of voltage, current, and resistance in a series, parallel and series-parallel circuits.
-
Describe relationship of watts to amps and volts and apply the power and energy concepts to determine power consumption, operating cost and other practical problems.
-
Identify color coded resistors, capacitors, diodes, simple relays and control transformers and describe operating principles of a transformer and the affect varying load conditions will have on its circuit.
- Describe basic AC circuit principles.
Audience
Facility operation personnel, technicians, and management who are required to maintain electro-mechanical equipment or building lighting circuits.
Electrical Troubleshooting with Schematics
Date
April 5th & 6th, 2012 – This is a two day class
Overview
After an overview of electric terminology, the attendee will learn the operation of various electrical devices used in HVAC systems, and the procedures for troubleshooting them. It incorporates principles of relays and other switching mechanisms and covers the basic principles of reading schematic wiring diagrams. The attendee will become familiar with HVAC electrical devices and circuits and will be able to use this knowledge to troubleshoot electrical controls and electrical systems in order to repair them. This course has one lab exercise and several in which the instructor demonstrates troubles on commercial air conditioner/furnace system components and the students work in groups of 2 using a schematic to identify faulty electrical components.
After a review of electrical fundamental concepts, the attendee will learn the operation of various electrical components used in HVAC electrical systems, and the procedures for troubleshooting them. This course promotes the concept of troubleshooting and repair of systems using meters with schematics and wiring diagrams. Coverage includes types of circuits, over current protection devices, relays, contactors, motor starters, motors, transformers, capacitors, circuit boards, and circuit breaker panels. Advanced concepts covered include, ohms law, inductive and capacitive reactance’s affect on the circuit, use of HVAC symbols, use of meters for troubleshooting, various motor type operation and schematic reading.
The course has 2 lab exercises for the students to work in small groups to troubleshoot a single-phase and a 3-phase air conditioner schematics. Several other exercised are instructor demonstrated showing how to understand various levels of schematics, how to modify a line diagram to a schematic and how to make a schematic when none is available.
Audience
Owners, contractors, technicians, and facility operation personnel with an experienced knowledge of electrical fundamentals wishing to gain a better knowledge of electrical components and circuits and troubleshooting techniques used on HVAC systems.
Prerequisites
Electrical Fundamentals Knowledge.