Design Engineers Do It For The Balancer.

[WAYNE3298]

I have been ask to balance an assisted living facility by a first rate HVAC contractor. The HVAC system has never done what it should do. It has at times worked as designed but if the engineers had designed it to please the TAB guy it would work the way it should. Most of you have probably guessed one of the biggest problems is migration of bad odors. There is no make-up air in the hallways. The halls have hard ceilings and no diffusers. The rooms are served by RTU'S that do have make-up air. Needless to say the room odors including piss are pushed into the halls and go anywhere in the building the pressure profile allows. The RTU'S have barometric dump dampers (static pressure not monitored) discharging into the ceiling plenum. The rooms have VVT'S and non-ducted returns. The only way to prevent odor migration is for the hall to be at a lower pressure than the rooms. It can be done with room toilet exhaust if the toilet exhaust is high enough. It isn't and the redesign should have included ERV'S.
This facility was designed and redesigned several years later with the result of not working again but not working in a different way.
If you design engineers are faced with this problem remember the balancer and do it for them and everyone will be a lot happier.

[heatingman]

That job sounds like a losing battle.


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[WAYNE3298]

They now understand that with the changes they are making now the building will be comfortable but there will be zero odor control. The contractor doing the work and myself have convinced them to install make-up units to pressurize the halls. If they follow through with that it should be a different building. They are saying the money for that will be available by the end of the summer.

[BBeerme]

Lower?

I have been ask to balance an assisted living facility by a first rate HVAC contractor. The HVAC system has never done what it should do. It has at times worked as designed but if the engineers had designed it to please the TAB guy it would work the way it should. Most of you have probably guessed one of the biggest problems is migration of bad odors. There is no make-up air in the hallways. The halls have hard ceilings and no diffusers. The rooms are served by RTU'S that do have make-up air. Needless to say the room odors including piss are pushed into the halls and go anywhere in the building the pressure profile allows. The RTU'S have barometric dump dampers (static pressure not monitored) discharging into the ceiling plenum. The rooms have VVT'S and non-ducted returns. The only way to prevent odor migration is for the hall to be at a lower pressure than the rooms. It can be done with room toilet exhaust if the toilet exhaust is high enough. It isn't and the redesign should have included ERV'S.
This facility was designed and redesigned several years later with the result of not working again but not working in a different way.
If you design engineers are faced with this problem remember the balancer and do it for them and everyone will be a lot happier.

[BBeerme]

Oh, that sounds better. Must have been a typo in the OP.

They now understand that with the changes they are making now the building will be comfortable but there will be zero odor control. The contractor doing the work and myself have convinced them to install make-up units to pressurize the halls. If they follow through with that it should be a different building. They are saying the money for that will be available by the end of the summer.

[WAYNE3298]

Good catch BBeerme. The halls have to be higher.