[sudo-discuss] Omni HVAC status 9/24

Fri Sep 24 16:35:03 PDT 2021

Hi David,

I am the Lab Manager. My phone number is: 510-815-0911. I can clean the furnace platform with a damp rag, but I won’t be able to do this until next Thursday or Friday.

David Anderson

From: cultlabsboard at googlegroups.com [mailto:cultlabsboard at googlegroups.com] On Behalf Of David Keenan
Sent: Friday, September 24, 2021 3:18 PM
To: CCL board; Counter Culture Labs Members; Sudo-discuss
Subject: Fwd: Omni HVAC status 9/24

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 

-- 
Key docs for CCL board members: https://tinyurl.com/CCLboarddocs
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