Tag: Kansas City

As temperatures rise, it’s time to ensure HVAC systems are geared up for the summer heat to optimize building systems’ performance, conserve energy, and keep occupants comfortable and safe during heat waves, hurricanes, tornados, tropical cyclones, floods, or other extreme weather events.

Whether buildings use district chilled water or operate onsite chillers and cooling towers, regularly reviewing and implementing this guide ensures proactive building readiness for summer temperatures, helps maximize equipment lifespan, and improves overall energy efficiency.

Print out this summer preparedness checklist and review it every spring to prepare staff and equipment for the coming warm temperatures. Please note that the steps will vary depending on the equipment present onsite.

Contact your account manager to explore partnering with Vicinity’s operations and maintenance experts to assist with summer readiness, equipment upgrades, or preventative maintenance programs.

Vicinity leverages best practices at its central facilities to provide a smooth transition into the summer season. These protocols ensure safe, reliable, and consistent operation to prevent service disruptions for customers who leverage chilled water or steam for cooling purposes. Vicinity’s interconnected energy facilities offer 99.99% uptime energy delivery with resiliency through redundant power and fuel sources.

Vicinity’s summer preparedness includes extensive cooling tower and chiller inspection and cleaning at Vicinity’s central facilities that produce chilled water, including basin cleaning, sterilization to prevent bacteria growth, and oil inspections on gearboxes and fan belts. Vicinity also performs eddy current testing to detect leaks on chiller tubes and inspects refrigerant and oil samples. Mid-season, Vicinity performs additional maintenance to ensure smooth operation of the central facilities before scorching weather conditions, hurricanes, tornadoes, tropical cyclones, floods, or other extreme summer weather events. Each day, Vicinity monitors atmospheric pressure, humidity, and temperature to anticipate and meet customer buildings’ energy demands, and confirms redundancies are in place to minimize any disruptions to steam or chilled water service.

By taking these proactive steps, Vicinity delivers reliable customer service year-round and reduces the maintenance needed onsite at customers’ buildings. 

Melt away the challenges of winter weather. Prevent costly equipment damage and disruptions to daily operations by proactively preparing for winter weather conditions.

To enhance preparedness, we encourage you to utilize our emergency winter weather preparedness checklist. Regularly reviewing and implementing this guide ensures proactive building readiness for winter conditions. It safeguards against potential freeze-ups in steam and sprinkler systems, mitigates the risk of roof collapses due to heavy snowfall, and protects against potential flooding during extremely cold temperatures. These risks present safety concerns and entail substantial financial and time investments in repairs, with the possible consequence of building shutdowns.

Print out this emergency winter weather preparedness checklist and review it every winter to prepare staff and equipment.

Maximize steam efficiency, safety, and cost savings with preventative maintenance

Improve the efficiency and safety of steam systems with steam trap inspections by Vicinity’s qualified technicians. Our team will diagnose and identify issues to keep steam systems operating safely and efficiently 24/7.

Steam traps are critical components of steam systems and play a vital role in maintaining their efficiency and safety. Steam traps collect condensate to prevent corrosion caused by built-up moisture and ensure high-quality, dry steam flows through the steam system. Steam traps also block the escape of live steam, minimizing energy waste. Regular maintenance and monitoring are essential to ensure they function correctly and prevent issues that can lead to energy waste, equipment damage, and safety hazards.

Vicinity’s steam trap inspections offer the following benefits:

• Reduced energy costs: Steam traps in good condition help conserve steam, reducing energy consumption and operational costs.
• Improved equipment reliability: Properly maintained traps extend the lifespan of steam-related equipment.
• Enhanced safety: Reducing energy waste and water hammer incidents improves workplace safety.
• Environmental benefits: Energy conservation through steam trap maintenance can reduce greenhouse gas emissions.

How it works

Partnering with our customers, Vicinity tailors each approach specifically to the unique needs of the building. The process of performing steam trap inspections typically includes the following steps:

• Vicinity coordinates an initial walkthrough of the building and provides a quote showing the cost and scope of work.
• Once the customer returns a signed quote, Vicinity’s account manager schedules the work.
• A Vicinity technician conducts the steam trap inspection using an ultrasonic digital detector. If this is the first survey, the technician tags and catalogs each trap for future surveys.
• After the inspection, the customer receives a report detailing:
  • The status of each trap.
  • Recommended action items and the potential savings associated with recommended action items.

Efficiency and system performance

When steam traps fail and steam escapes, systems demand more steam to operate. Steam trap inspections improve the overall operating performance of steam systems, minimizing the amount of energy waste and the associated carbon emissions.

Cost savings

Leaking steam traps result in significant lost capital over the life of the equipment. Analysis by the U.S. Department of Energy and the Boiler Efficiency Institute shows that repairing a faulty steam trap could save thousands of dollars annually. Steam trap inspections represent an opportunity for customers to reduce energy consumption and operating costs.

Safety considerations

Safety is our primary focus. With Vicinity’s trained technicians conducting the inspections, customers can rest assured that the proper measures are in place to safely conduct and identify any steam trap hazards that can lead to a water hammer event. A water hammer event occurs when a failed steam trap allows condensate to build in the steam main. As steam passes over and combines with the excess condensate, it creates a pressure event that can lead to undesirable noise, damaged equipment, and—in worst cases—injury.