Special Maintenance Considerations - Effective Building Maintenance: Protection of Capital Assets - page 106

Sustainable facilities may have more complex systems and mainte-
nance requirements, such as the following:
• Heating, ventilating, and air-conditioning systems : It is essentially
impossible for packaged, direct-expansion air-cooled HVAC sys-
tems to meet even the most basic energy efficiency goal for sustain-
able design, typically a 30% improvement over the requirements
of ASHRAE Standard 90.1-2007. Thus, water-cooled systems will
usually be applied. Thus, for some owners, maintenance experience
and skill sets may be inadequate, at least initially.
HVAC system controls in sustainable facilities tend to be more
complex and, consequently, require a greater degree of expertise on
the part of the maintenance staff to ensure their functionality.
The over-emphasis by some designers on improved indoor air
quality as a part of sustainable design can result in maintenance
moisture-related problems. The inappropriate use of excess ventila-
tion and/or natural ventilation (including operable windows), can
result in inadequate building humidity control for facilities in hot,
humid climates. While these types of design problems may require
retro-fitting to correct, it certainly a responsibility of the mainte-
nance staff to provide routine inspection and evaluation to identify
problems as early as possible.
• Daylighting : The level and amount of cleaning for daylighting will
increase. Daylighting results in increased glass area that must be
cleaned more frequently that simple vision glass. Likewise, light
shelves, reflective louvers, etc. require routine cleaning in order to
maintain their reflective properties. Leaves, snow, bird droppings,
etc., in addition to normal dust and dirt, reduce their effectiveness if
not removed quickly.
Some daylighting devices such as louvers or blinds have elec-
tromechanical control systems that must be maintained in accor-
dance with the manufacturer's requirements.
And, with the application of daylighting, sensors are required
to dim/brighten the artificial lighting systems in response to the
daylighting available at any given moment. To achieve satisfactory
lighting levels and to meet energy performance goals, these systems
must be routinely maintained.