The past year has shone a spotlight on HVAC in relation to indoor air quality and energy efficiency. As the world spends more time indoors, consumer demand for cleaner air and greener cooling has increased, and so has the demand for specialist AC preventative maintenance, cleaning and sanitation services.
While HVAC maintenance has traditionally been categorised under the catch-all umbrella of building maintenance contracts – it has now finally earned its place as a maintenance speciality field in its own right. And with good reason.
From Preventative to Predictive
Cooling technology is becoming more advanced and intuitive every year. With smart sensors, we are seeing cloud stored data and toolkits, which allow us to pre-empt problems, monitor compressor capacities and identify part replacement issues, even before any operational impact. This deluge of data points is good news for building owners, and contractors, as it allows us to learn from and interpret this data to create optimal systems for building management staff and homeowners alike. Gone are the days when we wait for an AC to fail before it is fixed. IoT and IP protocol means predictive maintenance is now a reality, allowing real-time monitoring of equipment to optimise energy efficiency and operating costs.
We have seen the benefits of this in Taqeef’s 4-year maintenance contract period of the Dalma Mall Chiller plant – technology we installed and have maintained since. Plant efficiencies have remained consistent at 10% above the KPI, while plant availability has outperformed its KPI, maintaining a 99.8% 4-year average. This is proof of the exceptional benefits of professional HVAC maintenance.
Cleaning and Sanitation
‘Healthy buildings’ is a buzz phrase for 2020/21 as we all look to the impact of air quality and ventilation. Professional cleaning and sanitation of cooling systems is an essential tool for making our spaces healthier, and yet it is a discipline that, to-date, has been largely overlooked. Coil congestion, mould build-up, dust, dirt, debris and filter contamination all contribute to indoor air pollution, noise and inefficiency. But they are not routinely addressed by AC maintenance contracts. So, we anticipate the demand for regular cleaning and maintenance of HVAC technology is set to increase as people become more reliant on (and aware of) the impact AC has on quality of life and electricity consumption. A well-serviced unit is a more efficient and a more effective one, so Taqeef has just launched a new Annual AC Service Product (Cool Protect) to capitalise on this demand. Much like a car service, we believe authorised HVAC servicing will become the norm – as consumers, contractors and building owners look to protect their investment by ensuring their technology runs efficiently, while reducing energy bills and promoting a healthy living and working space. For us, this should include deep cleaning of indoor and outdoor units, along with ducting, noise and ventilation checks as a minimum.
A cleaner, greener future
Behavioural change and consumer demand is what paves the way for the future, and it is good to see that expectations relating to HVAC are rising. In a region where AC is synonymous with quality of life, the future looks healthier, greener, cleaner and more reliable than ever before.