‘Out With The Old, In With The New’ Isn’t Always The Approach With Technical Equipment
By Clive MacKinnon, Director at ABM Technical Solutions.
With occupancy levels still not back to where they were pre-pandemic in premises such as workplaces, there is a clear need for facility managers to look at ways to lessen the financial pressure on their clients and alleviate some of the costs of running their facility.
One of the ways of doing that is by refurbishing existing technical equipment such as Heating, Ventilation and Air Conditioning (HVAC) systems, to avoid having to invest in new.
While the pandemic and rising energy costs has perhaps prompted more businesses to evaluate running costs, it’s fair to say the refurb trend has been growing for many years, and facilities management firms play a crucial part in the process.
One of the key advantages of having a dedicated, facilities team on site, is that they can implement a consistent, proactive maintenance programme for HVAC and other systems. Managing and checking equipment regularly will ensure it is always running as resourcefully as possible, which can pay dividends in terms of energy efficiency, and cost and time savings. The facilities team can tune in to your building’s machinery and analyse and understand the data it produces; enabling them to spot inefficiencies, prevent breakdowns and address any concerns early on, which can extend equipment life by several years.
Picking up faults and issues and resolving them before it’s gone beyond repair can be hugely beneficial to a company. Relying on reactive maintenance and waiting for a warning light to come on, or a component of the machine to fail, will result in greater ad-hoc costs than those who adopt a preventive, approach. In fact, according to some reports, being proactive with equipment maintenance can save up to 40% in costs when compared to working on a reactive approach.
In summary, here are four benefits for facility managers to consider when thinking about refurbishing over replacing:
- Cost: The average lifespan of a HVAC system is 15 to 20 years. An unmaintained HVAC system carries a risk of becoming inefficient after a few years. However, one that is well-treated and regularly maintained will likely last the entire life span.
- No removal: If we look at air con as an example: Refurbishment means companies can keep the external casing and replace the internal items with new energy efficient upgrades when required. Buying new means the old unit needs decommissioning. This needs to be carried out by a qualified, and experienced professional to make sure that the units are safely powered down and dismantled. They also need to be removed without damaging any of the building’s fixings such as the ceiling, where it is fitted.
- Energy saving: By installing the latest technology it can boost the energy efficiency of equipment. This benefits the environment and reduces the carbon emissions of each system, which can lead to significant savings without compromising performance.
- Government incentives: The push across the globe for businesses to be more environmentally-conscious and show a commitment to green initiatives means by showing you are making energy efficiencies you could be entitled incentives such as utility rebates or tax discounts.
