The Texas Experience

 Once again it has been many months since I have posted anything. Since then we have obviously been dealing with the pandemic as well as learning the impact of a weak cybersecurity policy. Although I could probably write a novel regarding the cybersecurity issue there are many more expert people on that topic.

Today I want to go back to the original purpose of this blog that was to capture and share some random thoughts related to the industry.

One of the latest events that started the wheels turning in my head again was the partial shutdown of the Texas electrical grid. Again there are experts in grid design and operation who can, and have, discussed this event in great technical detail. There has also been the, now expected, political finger pointing and partisan debates. But I wanted to share some of those random thoughts about what this "localized" event might teach us.

Many engineers, especially those involved in critical HVAC infrastructure, are already aware of the fragile nature of the electrical grid in many parts of the US. At Mestex we provide systems to many different types of applications where a power outage could have a costly impact. Preparing for those potential failures was usually someone else's problem. The electrical engineers and suppliers of standby power systems were intended to handle the "short" periods without electrical power. Although we researched ways to integrate backup operation into our equipment the results would have proven too expensive to be marketable. What Mestex has continued to focus on is applying systems that try to utilize "site resources" efficiently in order to reduce the demands on the backup systems.

Looking at a broader picture we have seen the global trend toward "electrification". The goal, it seems, is to reduce greenhouse gases and other atmospheric pollutants that contribute to climate change. While some are still skeptical about climate change it has reached the point of a consensus among scientists around the world. Many countries and large corporations are on board with taking steps to mitigate their impact. Electrification is intended to move the source of pollutants away from the "site" where power is used to the "source" where power is generated. In theory this would allow better control of contaminants at a single point instead of at hundreds or thousands of "site" points. This would also facilitate the use of alternative energy sources such as wind generators that would be difficult to implement at the "site" level. So we have a relative rush to requiring electrical vehicles, electric residential heating systems, and even electric commercial/industrial heating.

At the same time that electrification is moving forward in areas that the average person can see there is a convergence of our ever increasing digital life with our daily power consuming life. Data centers are being built and turned on almost daily around the world. To the average person this is great as it means they are always connected no matter where they go. This also helps the electrification effort by providing the opportunity for sophisticated remote traffic management, demand control power distribution, and "smart" home appliances. But the electrical power consumed by data centers is almost mind blowing to the average person. A single, moderately efficient, small data center can consume as much electrical power as five thousand homes. Clusters of large data centers (as is common due to scale and locale) can draw enough electrical power to support entire towns or even entire less populated countries.

When these data centers or data center clusters are inserted into an already fragile electrical grid they add a strain factor that was not anticipated when the power station was designed 20 or 30 years ago. Data centers can be designed, built, and activated in months versus power stations that require years to complete. It is inevitable that a mismatch of power supply and power demand will occur.

It seems to me that part of what the Texas experience showed us is, first, electric power is critical to basic life support facilities such as water and sanitation. My second thought is that as much thought and research should be put into the development of highly efficient, "clean", "site" energy systems as into the electrification idea. Off-loading the grid with effective "site" solutions could help with the balance of supply and demand on the grid. Many large companies have already taken steps with solar arrays over their parking lots, small-scale wind generators on site, or private co-generation plants. In most cases though these are extremely expensive solutions. Their implementations have been driven as much by corporate "green" initiatives as anything.

Companies should also not lose sight of current technologies that are still viable "site" solutions and counterbalances to grid overloads. Although Mestex has transformed itself over the last few years into generating more revenue from cooling solutions than from their traditional natural gas heating solutions most people still consider the company to be a gas heating company. In applications that require large amounts of outside air, or that simply move huge amounts of air that must be heated, a modern and efficient natural gas heating system is a much more "climate friendly" "site" solution than an equivalent electric heat "source" solution. Mestex can provide such systems based on their decades of manufacturing such systems and research into optimized digital control of such systems. 

 Engineers and companies can meet their goals of responsible environmental stewardship by keeping in mind the contribution of "site" solutions as they also work to meet the transition to greater electrification.

External Events and Human Error

I guess you can tell that time really does fly by as you get older when you look back at the last time you posted to your blog and see that it was 2 years ago!  That is absolutely crazy but true!

The title of this blog has always been "Mike's Random Thoughts" because it gives me the room to post any variety of thoughts or comments.  Those thoughts probably seem to come from left field at times and here comes another.

I am a big fan of Formula One racing.  This past weekend I was watching the race at Silverstone in England and a couple of things struck me.  First is the randomness of external events and second is how easily a multimillion dollar investment can fall victim to human error.

The pole sitter for the race, Valtteri Bottas, was sitting in first place and defending his position against his teammate, Lewis Hamilton.  His race seemed completely under control and a decision was made by team management to bring Valtteri into the pits for a routine tire change.  On a well run team this takes less than 3.5 seconds so little risk to his lead was imagined.  Bottas rejoined the race in perfect position to continue on for the win while his teammate continued to circle around on tires that were getting worse and worse.  And then...an external event intervened and took that win away.  One of the Alfa Romeo cars locked its brakes and slid off the track forcing a "safety car" event.  Cars that had not changed tires yet basically got a "free" pit stop.  Lewis Hamilton took his "free" pit stop and never looked back.

So the observation from this first random thought is that you can have the best strategy for winning and the smartest management team in your race and watch it all evaporate because of something outside of your control.  In our business of providing natural gas powered cooling systems to indoor agriculture facilities we often run across customers who have a great growth strategy and strong management but who run into external issues that derail their plans.  If the local electric utility limits the available power to the site you have selected (or charges huge dollars to provide the service) then the whole plan could blow up.  Sometimes it is not possible to have a backup plan...like in the case of Bottas….but your management team needs to be ready to minimize the damage quickly by considering and implementing alternative ideas.  Bottas ended up finishing second because of quick thinking on the part of management that minimized the number of places he lost in the race...your team needs to be ready to do the same thing.

The second observation from the race involves Ferrari...one of the most famous names in motor racing.  Ferrari, like Mercedes and other top Formula One teams, has a racing budget that is measured in the hundreds of millions of dollars.  Hundreds of engineers are employed to design the cars and then monitor and diagnose hundreds of sensors on the cars in real time during a race.  It is a little like launching the Space Shuttle every two weeks.  In spite of this massive investment in machinery and engineering talent sometimes things go very wrong.  At Silverstone that something was simply human error.  Ferrari's number one driver had just been past by a key rival as they were entering a tight turn on the track.  A split second loss of concentration and the Ferrari crashed into the rear of the rival's car sending them both flying off the track.  In milliseconds a multimillion dollar investment was lost to human error.

One of our other key market areas is providing cooling to data centers.  At a recent event I heard that building a data center costs about 7 million dollars per megawatt of processing power.  This is a huge investment and our cooling systems are a relatively small part of that investment.  But....human error can bring that entire investment grinding to a halt.  Changing a single line of code in the controls for the HVAC equipment can cause the essential cooling systems to fail to perform.  As a company we have been writing our own code for the critical operation sequences of our equipment based on our years of experience manufacturing such systems.  However, we are frequently asked to provide control sequences that are defined by the data center owner.  In a fairly recent case we were told to change a line of code in a control sequence by a less experienced customer engineer.  As a result a changeover from one cooling mode to another did not occur as that person anticipated and the data center temperatures spiked.  While not as overt or obvious as running into another car at 100 mph the result of both human errors was extremely expensive.

Unforeseen events or human error....either can upset the best laid plans but making quick and experienced decisions...guided by people or companies with years in the business can mitigate the impact of those problems.

Helping to Solve Future Demands for Food

Well...it has been a long, long time since I have posted anything on the blog.  Time flies by at times and it is easy to lose track of the months since the last posting.  However, I am back :-) and will become more diligent in sharing my thoughts with you.

In the last couple of months I have participated in two unique meetings organized by "the Vertical Exchange" folks.  One of the meetings focused on the food industry and the other focused on design/build contractors.  Mestex is  such a diverse division of Mestek that we have solutions for projects in both of those segments...among many others.  There was an overlap between those two markets that might not, at first, seem obvious.

Increasing population densities in many parts of the world combined with changing climates is beginning to impact the ability of food companies to grow quality produce in the volumes needed.  There is also the specialized "boutique" grower who supports the "farm to table" concept in urban environments.  A solution to these scenarios that is emerging is the world of "indoor agriculture".  This goes well beyond traditional greenhouse facilities.  Indoor farms use sophisticated lighting, watering, and nutrient systems to grow produce 24/7/365 in controlled environments.  These facilities can be single story purpose built buildings, multi-story repurposed commercial buildings, or even "modular" buildings similar to modular data centers.  With the exception of the modular solutions all of these projects require the talents of design/build contractors for proper execution.  Even the modular solutions that are "factory built" still require qualified on-site contracting for completion of the project.

From a mechanical design point of view these facilities can be quite challenging.  In order to create an artificial environment for growing plants the power demands of the lights used to create an "artificial sun" will create very high thermal loads.  The watering and transpiration of the plants creates high latent loads on the HVAC equipment.  Providing the necessary CO2 without creating a hazard for employees is also important and, finally, preventing the introduction of pests and unwanted biological hazards requires very high levels of filtration.

In short....the HVAC systems must be able to handle very high sensible loads, very high latent loads, very high filter densities, and include controls that can flush a grow space quickly and efficiently...preferably all in one package!  No small task.

Mestex has had decades of experience providing equipment to the food industry and to design/build contractors.  We are leveraging that experience to develop solutions to the problem of indoor agriculture.  One of the first areas where we are working is in the world of cannabis growing.  This market is unique in that the revenue stream and profits are large enough to justify development of an advanced HVAC solution that accomplishes all of the needed functions in a single package.  The lessons learned in that market will transfer to more cost sensitive indoor agriculture products that can help meet the demands of those markets as well.

For more information about some of the work being done by Mestex you can refer to a couple of articles that were published by Business News Publishing for the 2016 Mechanical Exchange.  This link (http://eblast.bnpmedia.com/News/MXC_0916/MXC.html) will take you to the eblast site where you can open the entire Air Conditioning News supplement.

"We Have A Failure To Communicate"

For the last 15 years the Mestex division of Mestek has been building direct digital controls ("DDC") into our equipment.  We started with some pretty simple control programs on some of our more basic units.  Even these simple programs allowed the equipment to operate more effectively...controlling temperature more closely, controlling energy consumption better, and giving users more options for scheduling their system operation.

The core functions of our control systems have not changed much over the years but the features that have been added, and are continuing to be added, to improve the information available from our equipment are almost mind-boggling. 

Take the relatively simple technology of evaporative cooling.  The Mestex Aztec indirect-direct evaporative cooling unit comes standard with a DDC control package that constantly monitors outside air conditions, unit supply air conditions, unit water quality, and cooled space conditions in order to control temperature, pressure, and humidity in the space.  But that is only part of the story.

While collecting all of the data we just described and deciding how to control the unit functions the DDC processor is also collecting, and making available, a wealth of other information.  The unit can provide real time electrical power consumption and demand, real time water consumption, and constantly updated information about the operating mode of the equipment (operating hours in full economizer mode, operating hours in full recirculation mode, and operating hours in mixed mode).  The unit is also accumulating and can display daily, monthly, and annual power and water use data.

This is obviously some pretty sophisticated information from a relatively simple machine.  The same algorithms used in this unit can be applied to most of the other Mestex products and provide a wealth of management information to end users.  The larger the end user organization and the more units deployed, the more valuable this information becomes. 

But...the information is only valuable if management can actually see it.  As more and more of our equipment installations are tied to building automation or building information systems we are encountering more and more interface issues.  The issues are not matters of communication protocols since our DDC packages are designed to speak virtually every communication language but issues of human communication protocols.

What we have found in many cases is that the information, and the interface to the equipment, is turned over to an IT person who is unfamiliar with HVAC equipment.  That person is probably also very concerned about network security and has probably created firewalls that make implementation challenging.  The HVAC equipment might be working perfectly but the person on the other end who is looking at data that he does not understand will frequently interpret that the equipment is not performing as required.

So, as is often the case in life, training and communication become essential to success.  As an HVAC company we usually expect the IT person to "simply understand".  I think, however, that we should work hard to learn about networking and IT issues so that we can at least speak the same language as the person on the other end of our equipment.

Mestex and the National Science Foundation Advisors Meet in Dallas

Although it has been far too long since I have posted to this blog due to my travel schedule I have some news to share.

Over the last few days (Oct. 1 & 2) we have been participating in the Industry Advisory Board ("IAB") meeting of the NSF-I/UCRC ES2 ("National Science Foundation-Industry/University Cooperative Research Centers Energy Smart Electronic Systems") research consortium.  That mouthful of letters represents a group of universities and companies whose expressed goal is to reduce the energy consumption of data centers by 20-35%.

The consortium is currently working on fourteen research projects and Mestex serves as an advisor ("mentor") on three of those projects.  Two of the projects that Mestex is mentoring cover research on evaporative and fresh air cooling of data centers and a second project on contaminants in data centers that use fresh air cooling.  As you might guess, the project on evaporative and fresh air cooling offers the greatest opportunity for the consortium to reach the stated goals.  In order to support that research, Mestex has installed a small data pod at it's facility in Dallas and is cooling that data pod with a commercially available Aztec ASC-5 unit.  The ASC-5 has built-in DDC controls that facilitate the use of multiple temperature and humidity sensors for control without any special modifications.  The controls also include a provision for pressure sensing control and that is also implemented in this case.

In addition to the data that is presented by the standard Aztec DDC controls there are additional thermocouples and sensors installed that are streaming data to researchers at the University of Texas at Arlington.

One of the most critical considerations that prevents many data center operators from reducing their energy consumption by huge amounts is the reluctance to introduce outside air to the facility.  The second Mestex project is focused on that research and we were fortunate to have the input of one of the world's experts on contamination control provide test coupons and laboratory analysis of the results.  Dr. Prabjit "PJ" Singh, of IBM, provides guidance and analysis to companies around the world and is a major source of information for the ASHRAE TC 9.9 committee on data center cooling.  Dr. Singh, Dr. Dereje Agonafer from the University of Texas at Arlington, and several members of the NSF IAB toured the Mestex facility at the conclusion of the meetings this week. 

Drs. Singh and Agonafer are shown here learning about the technology behind the patented "Digital High Turndown Burner" that was developed at Mestex.  Jim Jagers, Mestex Sales Manager,  conducted the tour and provided a "deep dive" into how this unique technology works before the group proceeded to the research data pod for additional discussions.

NEWS RELEASE

New data center construction expected to boom as demand triples

 

Mestex Open Access Project helps data center operators plan for “build as you grow” expansion

 

DALLAS, April 28, 2014 – The digital revolution is sapping the power grid, but a new approach to data center construction may help reverse the trend of ever-increasing energy consumption for powering and cooling these facilities. To help data center operators better understand their options, Mestex, the industry leader in evaporative cooling systems, is providing a free tool to demonstrate how infrastructure can be better deployed to manage competing demands for more capacity and greater energy efficiency.

 “Data centers are the enablers of this digital revolution,” said Mike Kaler, president of Mestex. “The increase in global digital demand and cloud computing is exponential. As demand rises, data centers that house digital information consume more electricity, half of it being used to cool the facility. We wanted to help people see how energy is being consumed and ways for managing infrastructure and costs.”

The company believes intelligent technology combined with a flexible, scalable and energy-saving approach is the best way to “build as you grow.” Adding plug-and-play cooling units – such as Mestex’s own Aztec Evaporative Cooling Units – as capacity increases is the most economical strategy for data centers to manage expansion or new construction while reducing total cost of ownership. Aztec systems are proven to lower power usage by 70% when compared to traditional air conditioning; the system’s digital controls, when integrated with other building automation systems, can extend that savings even further.

To help data center operators get a realistic picture of how their own expansion might play out, the company recently launched the Mestex Open Access Project to provide information technologists, facility managers and financial executives the ability to evaluate energy-saving concepts in a real-world environment. 

“We’ve opened access to our equipment, controls and data, because we want to encourage energy savings and demonstrate to data center decision makers that there are smart, effective ways to increase efficiency and optimize operations,” Kaler said.

The web-based interface offers visibility into the physical plant and air conditioning system of an operating data center being tested as a part of a project spearheaded by the National Science Foundation. The “open access” gives anyone with Internet access an unembellished look at how a data center is operating, in real time, 24/7.

The Open Access Project harnesses the power of Mestex’s direct digital control (DCC) system, which comes standard on all of its HVAC products and can be easily integrated with other HVAC vendors’ products and building automation systems to create an intelligent network that controls cooling for optimal efficiency, performance and longevity, as well as provides web-based system monitoring and management.

 

Note:

Mestex President Mike Kaler will be hosting a presentation on mission-critical cooling systems on Wednesday, April 30, at 10:30 a.m. at AFCOM Data Center World at the Mirage Casino-Hotel, Las Vegas, Nevada. The company is exhibiting (booth #1227) at the conference April 28 – May 2.

Links:

Aztec Cooling Units for IT applications

Mestex Open Access Project Live View  (To access, Internet Explorer 10 or above is required. Enter “guest” as user name and password.)

 

# # #

 

Mestex (www.Mestex.com), a division of Mestek, Inc., is a group of HVAC manufacturers with a focus on air handling and a passion for innovation. Mestex is the only HVAC manufacturer offering industry-standard direct digital controls on virtually all of its products, which include Applied Air, Alton, Aztec, Koldwave, Temprite and LJ Wing HVAC systems.

 

Media Contact:

Christina Divigard

Divigard & Associates

413 341 6780 or Christina@Divigard.com

 

 

"Open Access Project" Update

Mestex is continuing to refine the systems and information stream as part of our "Open Access Project".  As a reminder, Mestex has established a research data pod as a member of an NSF project to improve the efficiency of data centers.  This pod is being cooled with an Aztec IDEC system managed by the Mestex DDC control system. 

The goals of the research project require frequent experiments.  Currently, Mestex is continuing to complete the basic infrastructure of the pod itself.  The video in the link below shows a quick walk-through update on the installation of a containment system.  As you can see, the installation is nearing completion.  In the meantime we are running the 51 servers, a 5 kw resistive load, and some ancillary equipment in the 4 cabinets that are in the pod.  https://onedrive.live.com/redir?resid=B173953F824409BC!7016&authkey=!AKcxEKWl7409R-8&ithint=video%2c.MP4

Since the IT equipment is operating while we finish the containment installation we are able to watch the performance of the IDEC cooling system in real time via  http://webctrl.aztec-server-cooling.com/.  This website is accessible to anyone and viewers can log on using the username "guest" and the password "guest".

One of the areas that concerns data center designers and operators is the performance of evaporative cooling systems "on the shoulder" when ambient dry bulb temperatures are relatively low and ambient RH is relatively high.  Last week we had an opportunity to observe just that situation.

The time was 7:55 in the morning.  The ambient conditions were what most people would consider to be the worst scenario for evaporative cooling…relatively low DB and relatively high RH…in this case, 59.6 DB and 89% RH.  Under those conditions most people would expect the cold aisle conditions to be either too warm or too humid.

However the cold aisle was operating at 78.9 DB and 56.7% RH.  The cold aisle setpoint is 80 DB.  The cooling tower integrated into the Aztec IDEC unit was on, the airflow dampers were positioned for 100% return from the hot aisle, and the system was providing enough cooling (even with this high RH) to maintain the cold aisle temp and an 11 to 12 degree rise across the servers.  Note also that these conditions are inside ASHRAE TC 9.9 A1 Allowable limits.

 

The "Open Access Project" will be continuing throughout 2014 and, most likely, into 2015.  This will provide ample opportunity to observe a wide range of operating environments for the IDEC system.  During that time there will also be research on filtration, fresh air cooling, and further refinement of control algorithms for fully integrated IDEC systems such as the Aztec product.

 

The "Open Access Project"

In the data center and technology world there is an on-going "discussion" about "openness".  Facebook really kicked this into high gear with their "Open Compute Project" where they share design specifics for their data center product designs in order to encourage energy savings across the data center design community.  This bold move allows virtually anyone to take a peek into how Facebook manages the hardware side of their business and how their equipment operates in the real world environment.

Here at Mestex we have taken our own steps in the same direction.  Anyone, anywhere in the world, who has Internet access can see some of our HVAC product designs operating in the real world environment of heating and cooling our facilities in  Dallas, Texas.  Think about how many other HVAC product manufacturers provide such "open access" to their equipment in real time in the real world? 

By logging in as a guest user (adaptaire.appliedair.com and use "guest" for both username and password) anyone can see how our DOAS unit is operating to serve our engineering department, or how a direct fired unit is operating to heat one of our production buildings, or how an air turnover unit is performing to cool a large uninsulated warehouse building, or how an indirect/direct evaporative cooling unit is functioning to control temperatures in a research server room pod located outside our buildings.

No filters, no marketing BS, no "wordsmithing" of performance...just raw unadulterated data and graphics showing what the equipment is doing in real time and how it is performing against the setpoints and goals set for the equipment.   Does this take guts?  Of course it does, but if you have been in the HVAC business for as long as Mestex has, and you have the proven track record that we have, then why not share how equipment really functions and give people a chance to evaluate concepts in the real world?

Our control software continues to be refined and developed based upon user feedback and our own research projects so the information on the display changes from time to time.  It now includes electrical energy data...kw demand information and kwh consumption information for each piece of equipment on the display.  Again, to give viewers an idea of the true cost of operation for various types of equipment.

So, for real world information about data center equipment you can go to Facebook's "Open Compute Project" and for real world information about HVAC equipment you can go to Mestex's "Open Access Project".

Racing Into HVAC

People who know me well know that I am an avid fan of Formula 1 and MotoGP motorcycle racing.  In both of those racing series this year there is a team that is running away with the championship.  In the case of Formula 1 it is Infinity Red Bull Racing.  In the case of MotoGP it is Honda.  Unless you follow both sports and peel back the layers a little you might not realize how much technology sharing there is between the two premier classes.

 

How Controls Software Makes the Difference in Racing and in HVAC

At this point you are probably wondering where I am going with this.  After all, what does racing technology have to do with HVAC?  Well, the connection is the impact of "control software".

The Infinity Red Bull team uses Renault engines but they are not the only team that uses those same engines.  However, Red Bull has developed a "factory" version of the engine control software that limits wheel spin when exiting turns and, as a result, they are wining many races by large margins.

Honda's factory team is also not the only Honda MotoGP bike on the starting grid.  But the "factory" team has engine control software that also limits wheel spin as well as gyroscopic sensing derived from the Honda Asimo robot that allows the factory bike to apply power more quickly than the non-factory bikes.

In both of these cases the other teams using the same basic mechanical components and technologies are developing their own control software packages.  But, without the benefit of factory "inside knowledge" of how the mechanical and control elements mesh, the results are just not quite as good.

Over the last 14 years Mestex, Dallas, has been implementing factory developed digital controls on our equipment.  The control software in our products has been developed using years of field and testing experience that provides unique insights into how quickly our mechanical elements respond, how heat transfer is accomplished within our equipment, and how air moves through our cabinets.  All of that information is "baked in" to our control algorithms.

From time to time well-meaning controls contractors choose to override the factory controls, or circumvent them altogether by asking us to install their control packages, and more often than not the HVAC equipment simply does not perform as well as it could.  We try to provide as much flexibility in our controls for the contractor and end user as we believe the overall system can accommodate. 

When the "factory" controls are not used in an HVAC product the results can be the same as what we see in racing.  The product may continue to operate but it will most likely come up a bit short of the finish line.

Direct Evaporative Cooling Analysis for Two Diverse Climates

One of the common concerns expressed about the use of evaporative cooling for data centers, server rooms, telecom facilities, or other facilities housing heat producing electronics is the ability of evaporative cooling to achieve the target inlet conditions for the electronics.

These two psychrometric charts show the results of an actual analysis in two distinctly different climates.  The target server inlet temperatures were between 65 and 85 degrees F and between 20% and 80% RH.  The mechanical system criteria mandated that direct evaporative cooling be used.

The proposed mechanical system consisted of a direct evaporative cooling system with 12" cellulose media, a steam humidifier, DDC controls, and a hot aisle/outside air mixing section.  The controls would be configured to modulate the outside air dampers, hot aisle dampers, evap media water flow, and the humidifier to maintain the target conditions.

Server Inlet Temperatures from Evaporative Cooling System in Pacific Northwest US

Server Inlet Temperatures from Evaporative Cooling System in Southeastern US

As you can see from the charts the proposed system would easily achieve the desired results.  In fact, it was found that outside air cooling could achieve the targets during roughly 15% of the year, direct evaporative cooling could achieve the results during roughly 60% of the year, and remaining hours of the year when the air was too cold to properly operate the evaporative cooling without fear of freezing a combination of hot aisle and outside air supplemented with the humidifier would hit the target.  The only excursions of temperature over the maximum target of 85 degrees would occur for no more than 5 hours a year based on the NOAA TMY2 weather history.

While not every location would achieve these results the diversity of climate for these two studies imply that direct evaporative cooling, with creative use of mixing and controls, will work in many more climates than most people expect.  To further expand the capabilities of evaporative cooling an indirect evaporative cooling element could be provided to produce even broader temperature control.  Although it was not analyzed for this case we would expect that adding an indirect evaporative cooling element to these systems would have eliminated the few hours of excursion above the maximum dry bulb temperature.

As a means to dramatically reduce energy consumption for these data modules the evaporative cooling solutions such as those manufactured by the Aztec division of Mestek would prove to be extremely effective.  Since evaporative cooling systems are also relatively simple mechanical systems with no refrigerants maintenance of the systems does not require licensed refrigeration technicians and there are very few elements that could fail...increasing uptime and providing much faster recovery time should a repair be necessary.

GreenBuild Toronto

This past week I was able to participate in the GreenBuild conference in Toronto.  This was my first opportunity to attend and I have come away with a few impressions.

First, I was surprised at the sheer size of the exhibit area.  The Metro Toronto exhibit hall is quite large and split into two sections spanning the CN Rail lines in downtown Toronto.  Both sections were completely full with exhibits for everything from flooring to roofing and everything in between.  All exhibitors promoted the "green" or "sustainable" aspects of their products...even if those aspects might not have been obvious on first or even second thought.  In addition to the three Mestek HVAC product booths the exhibit area included product displays from most of the major north American HVAC manufacturers.

The HVAC equipment companies, as well as many of the lighting and appliance companies, shared one common thread.  That is the emphasis on the "man-machine interface"...how the user interacts with the equipment for control or information.  Touch screen displays were everywhere providing access to virtual control points and providing occupant feedback on temperatures and, most importantly, energy utilization.  The degree of sophistication of the displays varied but the message was the same...in order to conserve energy people must have some sense of how much they are using.  It goes back to the old saying that "you can't manage what you can't measure".  The use of energy metrics have been proven to change occupant behavior and the HVAC industry is stepping up to help with that effort.

Mestex started our efforts in that regard several years ago with our Adaptaire DDC control system and we currently provide basic control and trending information via the Internet.  More developments are underway to further enhance the user feedback and help focus their attention on conservation of our energy resources.

Mestex has been providing this open protocol system for almost 10 years and has successfully integrated with virtually every other major control protocol on the market.  This has allowed building owners to gain visibility into the various Mestex brand products through their own building automation system in order to provide a richer set of points for monitoring and control.

Latency Intolerance

Several things occurred almost simultaneously over the last week or so that spurred my thinking for this latest blog post.

The diagram at the right illustrates the network configuration for our DDC control system called Adaptaire.  We have launched a project to add some additional functionality to the software that has been around for almost 12 years now.  The function that we are adding is a real time "dashboard" that will give the building occupant feedback on how well the system is performing.  Because the "dashboard" is displaying information in real time, and might be transmitting that data over the Internet, one of the factors that we need to consider is the speed at which we "refresh" the data.

The second thing that spurred our thinking is our plan to migrate our current product selection software from a desktop environment to a web-based environment.  This means that the data entered and the answers received back from the selection software will be transmitted via the Internet.  Experiments with some very early versions of the software have highlighted "speed of response" issues that must be addressed as we move forward.

The third event that provoked this blog entry was a meeting with one of the chief design engineers for Integrated Design Group, a data center design firm responsible for projects worldwide.  In the course of the discussion this engineer made a prediction that the data center industry will move to more, and smaller, data centers.

The common thread in all of these items is the "need for speed" and that translates into reducing something called "latency".  "Latency" is the time it takes for your input, or our dashboard refresh signal, to actually reach its final destination.  As incredible as it might seem, even though these signals are moving down fiber-optic cables at the speed of light, it can take a "long" time for that signal to reach its end point.  First, remember that "long" in this industry is measured in nanoseconds.  Second, remember that most of the signals that are transmitted are actually transmitted at least twice because of error checking.  In addition, most of the time those signals pass through several routers and servers before reaching their destination and each of those "hops" also includes error checking and traffic control delays.

One solution, and the reason this engineer believes the future of the industry is more, and smaller, data centers is to locate the data centers as close as possible to the source of the signal or destination of the signal. This will reduce the number of "hops" and also reduce the physical distance between points...thus reducing "latency".

The "latency" issue is so important in industries like equity trading that data center companies are battling each other to locate their facility just one block closer to the Wall Street trading floor.

We are all becoming spoiled by the speed at which we can find information via the Internet, download music, watch on-line videos, etc....but the end result is that we are acquiring a new "disease" that I am calling "Latency Intolerance".