[sudo-discuss] Fwd: Omni HVAC status 9/24

[David Keenan]

Hi CCL and Sudo,

Forwarded below is my update to consensus list on the present status of
omni's various furnaces / heaters, including those situated within
CCL/Sudo. I encourage all to read through it, and I wanted to extend my
gratitude to everyone who allowed the safety of the furnace and space
heater to be assessed on 9/23.

In addition to that update, based on feedback from folks in the lab at the
time, *I also wanted to develop a better protocol for the scheduled
maintenance of these fixtures and for infrastructure issues generally with
CCL and Sudo, in particular CCL*.

To this end I had the following questions for CCL:

1. I was told there was a Lab Manager -- I believe whose name is Dave? May
I have this person's contact info?

As moving forward, it would be great to ensure this person is directly
apprised of any maintenance work which may affect CCL.

2. During the work, a CCL'er demanded that the HVAC person present their
Certificate of Insurance (COI). I wanted to respectfully ask that in the
future, if such questions be directed at me or whomever is coordinating the
maintenance for omni, rather than of the tech performing the maintenance.
As I don't believe this is the sort of paperwork that tradesfolk carry
around with them on their person while on ladders etc., and it can feel
vaguely threatening, whereas I am happy to provide this if this is
required.

(Parenthetically on this topic - I also was hoping CCL might provide their
annual COI to me or to the finance WG, to aid the pursuit of re-applying
for cheaper building/fire insurance for the whole building.. I've been
meaning to gather all these)

3. Per my update to consensus, I would like (w/ zero pressure) to ask if
CCL might consider voluntarily safely undertaking a cleaning of the furnace
platform upon which there is a layer of dust (such as wiping down with wet
wipes i imagine, or some other manner involving a minimum of air
disturbance). This way, the furnace could be occasionally serviced or
accessed in an emergency with a minimum chance of dust disturbing CCL areas
below.

I ask since I was informed there are special cleaning and associated
protective procedures in use within CCL, which it was made clear to me,
neither myself as a lay-person nor other non-CCL omninoms may be familiar.
So, I recognize that CCL is itself probably better equipped to do the best
job possible of this.

If that sounds reasonable to CCL, it would be great if this task could be
undertaken sometime in the next week, ie before an HVAC person is scheduled
to return.

See the forwarded message below with regards updates about specific HVAV
fixtures.

Thank you so much CCL & Sudo! and have a great weekend :)

Best,
David

---------- Forwarded message ---------
From: David Keenan <dkeenan44 at gmail.com>
Date: Fri, Sep 24, 2021 at 3:12 PM
Subject: Omni HVAC status 9/24
To: consensus <consensus at lists.omnicommons.org>
Cc: building <building at lists.omnicommons.org>, <
finance at lists.omnicommons.org> <finance at lists.omnicommons.org>


Hi,

The HVAC tech came out on Thursday 9/23 and completed an assessment of the
two fixtures mounted halfway up CCL's north wall, being (a) gas furnace
serving the adjacent disco room and (b) gas space heater serving CCL /
Sudo's room. In addition, I discovered (c) a small modification we need to
make to the furnace serving the ballroom.

*A. Space heater serving CCL/Sudo*:

*This unit was found to be safe & 100% functional; it can be turned on by
activating the switch in the BSL room that has the brown cover plate* (mounted
a bit high up on the wall, but still reachable from a standing position).

In the tech's professional opinion the unit is appropriately sized for the
room and will adequately heat / take the chill out of the room.

Therefore in my own opinion, CCL might consider giving the space heater a
try as an alternative to multiple small electric space heaters that I have
heard have been used in lieu during colder months, due to the increased
life-safety hazard and energy use imposed by multiple small electric units,
and because omni's electrical budget (total available amps) is limited
whereas gas is barely utilized. If the space heater is found to be
effective, I would propose CCL consider stopping the use of multiple
electric heaters.

That said, by design the unit is not attached to a thermostat -- and so
once it is on, it will stay on until it is turned off. This isn't a safety
issue per se, but if left on accidentally, it could lead to energy waste.

Therefore I am recommending the following modest improvements be made:

1. The on/off switch controlling the unit be converted to a timer switch
(e.g, a 30-min-max dial).

This way, the unit will not be accidentally left on, and a timer switch is
an easier / cheaper improvement than adding a thermostat.

2. Lower the switch box a couple feet to a more accessible height (as a
person in a wheelchair cannot reach the present switch location.).

2. The unit's gas valve be lowered to an accessible height, so gas service
to the unit can be easily turned off should the pilot light become
extinguished. At present, a ladder is needed to reach this gas valve.

3. Off-the-shelf CO/explosive gas sensor & a smoke sensor (w/ 10-year
batteries) are mounted to the wall the code-required distance above the
both the space heater and furnace. For the safety of folks working in this
room, imo this should probably have been done a long time ago.

The above suggested improvements would not involve a significant
disturbance of dust, are inexpensive, and are projected to take <2h.

*B. Furnace serving the disco room*:

- It was determined that the blower in this unit needs replacement (keeps
blowing fuses); we are waiting on a cost estimate for this. This fix would
have to be effected by the HVAC tech.

- It was also previously recommended that a separate, small water pump be
installed adjacent to the unit to push condensation down the existing
flexible drip line running to the floor drain. The flexible drip line was
not run at a consistent downward slope, which led to water backing up into
the furnace unit, in turn rusting the bottom of the unit and causing water
damage to the platform visible from below (which presumably, dripped down
onto CCL's workspace). It appears this can be self-installed, and is
anticipated as a low cost improvement.

- The water damage to the platform holding the furnace needs to be assessed
a bit more to see if any structural reinforcement is necessary. Due to the
relatively small quantity of water produced during condensation, I don't
anticipate that the water damage will be all that bad, but we don't want
the platform failing at some point in the future and hurting anyone
beneath. The need for any reinforcement here is TBD.

- I would like CCL to consider whether they as a group might (?) prefer to
take on cleaning this furnace area of accumulated dust (such as wiping it
down etc) prior to additional servicing of the furnace.

The reasons are:

-- The furnace must be able to be accessible for occasional maintenance or
in an emergency, preferably without creating any potential dust headaches
for CCL work going on underneath.

-- I have been informed that there are lab standards for cleaning, with
which lay people / non-CCL volunteers may not be familiar.

-- Although the furnace does not serve CCL, the furnace is in CCL's space,
and it makes sense to me that CCL would participate in the upkeep of
building infrastructure within its space in the interest of collectively
maintaining the building.

*C. Ballroom furnace*:

The ballroom furnace works well, but in the process of trying to assess /
replace the old filters for all these units, I discovered that the filters
are not presently accessible for the ballroom furnace.

The reason is: Studs for the west wall separating the furnace area from the
kitchen were placed literally right up against the filter door. Therefore,
a simple access panel needs to be created in the perpendicular side of the
filter housing, to allow for filter replacement. This fix represents some
light sheet metal work and is not perceived to be a major expense. We are
awaiting an estimate for this.

Having decent air filters in place is of increasing importance due to COVID
and the worsening air quality in CA. We plan to replace with MERV-13
filters to make the omni less friendly to COVID spread for any time when a
furnaces may be in use (MERV 13 isn't HEPA, but does block sneeze-size
droplets along with bacteria etc).

Best,
David
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