What Can AirTight Do To Save You Money?
- Post By: Greg Crumpton
- Date:
- Category: Blog
Sometimes we have to sit back for a minute and really think about what we expect out of our business relationships. There’s the basics: Timeliness, professionalism, details on invoices, accurate orders, etc… Oh, and don’t forget, pick up the phone!
These are the price of admission to the dance. But, in our mind, the meat is one more layer down. What can we do to help our customers save money or become more profitable?
One school of thought is, “It isn’t our responsibility to help them make money” and another, ”It’s tough enough worrying about our business, not much less theirs.”
AirTight refuses to become stagnant, especially to the point of losing sight of how we feel about partnerships. That means we, as AirTight, take care of a customer’s problems just as we would take care of our own problems. That is the true definition of a partner.
How do we do this? We charge for our services, therefore we spend the customer’s money, not make it, right? This is true enough, but it all comes down to how we ask our customers to spend their money. We focus on spending customer resources in smart ways with long-term benefits, not foolish, short-view ways. Our answer, as it fits and as it is appropriate: Emerging Technologies.
The worlds of HVAC, Heat Rejection and Controls and Automation are on the brink of major advancements that will take us from where we are now to what’s next. What’s next, you ask? Energy, the reduced consumption of it, better utilization of it, control of it and now, production of it.
Over the last several years, AirTight has been quietly partnering with industry OEM’s and professionals to learn, understand and teach the basic principles of proper energy use, handling, measurement, and generation. We are using ourselves as our own proving ground, installing Low Voltage P.O.E. LED lighting systems in our offices that require only a CAT 5 cable to a light fixture, not the bulky conduit and power wiring that we’re all used to. Partnering with a company like Redwood Systems, now a division of CommScope, allows us to educate you, our customer, on ways to reduce your lighting consumption of electricity by 50% or more.
UltraSonic Humidification is another great way to reduce the cost of maintaining proper humidity levels within your Mission Critical spaces during the cold and dry months. UltraSonic Humidification, under the Stulz brand, is 97% cheaper to operate than conventional steam canisters or the open water trough systems of most manufacturers. As an example, if your CRAC unit’s humidifier was drawing 11 amps on a 480, 3 phase circuit during normal humidification operation, the equivalent consumption of power would be less than ONE AMP. This with the same or more vapor induced into the air stream.
Most of us drive a car. In order to accelerate, you press the gas pedal. This concept is how great energy saving ideas, like a Variable Frequency Drive on an electric motor work. Now, what if you were able to control the power supply within your computer, or even the whole stack of IT gear in the data center, in the same way? You ramp up the power based upon the actual, real-time requirement of the processor. So, if you are only working the server at 50%, then you really only need 50% of the available power supply to operate it.
The smart folks at Virtual Power Systems have done just that. VPS created the ICE concept, Intelligent Control of Electricity. AirTight has worked with this team to discuss applications for the removal of waste heat. Waste heat = energy consumption. That is the same heat (energy) that we, as a Mechanical Company, work to take out of the data center.
So really, it all comes down to energy. One of the few things that cannot be created or destroyed in our universe. We simply are allowed to move it from one place or state into another.
Here’s another one: XEnergy Technologies has a patented way of utilizing the air that is being moved by your Cooling Tower fan to generate electricity. This locally generated power, meaning right at the cooling tower, is then fed to the motor running the cooling tower fan, thus reducing the operating cost of the cooling tower by 25% or more. This fan has to run in order to remove the heat from the condenser water loop to maintain proper operation of the chiller that serves the chilled water loops anyway, why not recover what you can from it?
We have proven examples and case-studies of these technologies doing what they claim, in a measurable and presentable way.
AirTight is, and always will be a service company. We pride ourselves on being available for you, 24×7/365. At the same time, we realize you have businesses to run, buildings to operate and people within to serve. Our mission is to have viable, tested, cutting-edge technology solutions to offer, when you’re ready to explore how we can help you become more profitable.
If you want to learn more, simply send a quick note to sales@airtight.co and we will be in touch.
