A Building Update from our Junior Warden
by Beth Weinewuth
In the fall of 2004 (a few months after my husband and I were married there on a warm August day), Church of Redeemer installed its very first central air conditioning units for the entire building. These 8 rooftop units, while state-of-the-art at the time, came with a 15-year life expectancy.
An independent facilities audit in 2014 advised that the 8 rooftop units would likely need to be replaced in 2020. In January 2020, the refrigerant used in the current rooftop units ceased to be manufactured due to environmental concerns, increasing the costs of repairs dramatically. Then the pandemic hit and use of the building and its systems got something of a break. This past year, as use of the building resumed in full, the frequency and extent of necessary repairs of the current units increased. It became clear that the time had come to replace all 8 rooftop HVAC units. In March 2022, just before prices for manufacture of the custom units was scheduled to rise by 7% and with an estimated 18-week lead time, 8 new units were ordered and are scheduled for installation this month.
The new units will be more energy efficient, with variable frequency drives on motors, and more sophisticated controls for heating and cooling more specific areas of the building (such as the ability to temperature control the nave/organ area only and not the full chancel in the sanctuary during organ and choir rehearsals). The new units will also have working CO2 (carbon dioxide) monitors, which will improve air quality in the building as well as heating and cooling efficiency. CO2 monitors sense how much CO2 is breathed into a space and increase the fresh-air intake to adjust the level of CO2 in the space, as well help keep the temperature balanced due to the number of people present.
While some of the units may have been able to lumber on a few more years, replacing all 8 units at one time provides both cost savings, increased efficiency, and environmental benefit. The units will be installed over the course of several weeks, limiting the costs of renting the industrial crane necessary to hoist the units onto the building to a minimum. Several sections of damaged ductwork that connect the units to the building’s ventilation system will also be replaced at the same time to further conserve costs and resources.
Thanks to a generous bequest around the time that the original units were installed, a fund for maintenance and replacement of the church’s HVAC systems has been continuously tended, in preparation for those needs. This bequest will cover all costs of the replacement of these units.
If you have noticed that it’s been a little warm in some areas of the building over the past few weeks, it was not your imagination. One of the units is indeed finally failing. But thanks to careful planning (and a little bit of luck) replacements are coming soon!
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