It is getting close to Fall / Why adding Humidification to a room and/or a Building is Required ... or Not

 

Humidification or No Humidification, that is the question

ESD, these three simple letters of our alphabet are the sole reason for adding moisture, via a Humidifier are even in our lexicon.

Electro Static Discharge, this occurs when an electrical charge (Static Electricity) leaves one mass and Zapps another mass.  Typically it is when you walk across the room in the winter, then you grab the door knob and Bam!, you get that little zap.  Well, in a computing environment, that little Zap! can be deadly to the computing process.  The Zap can contain up to 10,000 volts or more, see: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Static_electricity.

Routinely humidifiers are part of the original design of a data processing facility, computer room, UPS room, etc... It makes sense.  Add moisture to a dry environment to keep the ESD at bay. Well, that works great but historically it can cost a lot of #OPEX dollars to keep the moisture at the desired 40% +/- 5%.  This cost was mainly due to the method that moisture was being induced into the air.  Either large open pans of water with a series of Infra-red bulbs hoovering over them or a cylinder/canister full of water with electrodes immersed in water were energized, then the steam was pulled into the air stream by the #CRAC or #CRAH unit for distribution, works great ... costs a lot to operate.

Many people simply choose not to operate their humidifiers because of the cost, this isn't a good option, just one that has been accepted due to costs.  The data center was designed for humidifiers, if you operate without on, allowing your rooms RH to fall, are you outside of the SLA's that you sold to your customers? http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Service-level_agreement

The solution to this:  Ultra Sonic Humidification.  This technique of inducing moisture into any given environment is 93% cheaper to operate than the two methods I described above, the cylinder and the Infra-red pan.  So for every pound of moisture you add to the air, with Ultra Sonic, if it cost SEVEN CENTS vs. the $.93 for the two old methods.  Simply amazing technology.  There is certainly an exact science to this system, but essentially, it adds water to the air stream by breaking the surface tension of water with a high frequency, much like a tweeter in a high quality stereo or music system versus HEATING water to create the steam vapor.  Why would we want to heat water in a DATA CENTER when the number one mission is to REMOVE HEAT FROM THE DATA CENTER?

Can the same be said for a commercial or medical office building, ABSOLUTELY, in fact, the medical business loves Ultra Sonic.  It allows MRI. CT, PET, CAT scan rooms to be maintained at the proper humidity levels.  This allows for optimum patient comfort, as well as excellent magnet operation.  In the office environment, nothing increases office productivity like HUMAN COMFORT.  Happy people work and don't have to worry about their environment, this is simply one way of helping people smile.

Much more information is available on this methodology, Stulz is the #1 maker and science leader of the technology, see: http://tr.im/4by7b to get a brochure on the subject. Go here for more information in general: http://tr.im/4by7d 

If we can help with your education on Humidification, please let us know, we would love to explain as much as you would like to learn.  Contact info@airtight.co if you want more, mention Humidification in the subject line.

Enjoy your Fall,

The most often used word in contracting: "Green" Sarcastically said or not ... It is real & it is prominent

A Contractors Guide to Green Products / AirTight

By: Jack Floyd & Greg Crumpton / www.airtight.co

 

As energy efficiency becomes a much hotter and hotter topic, contractors and manufacturers representatives alike are having to really focus on products to deliver to their customers that works.

For years we have heard the pundits talking, selling, promoting, etc… We are now at the time in life where the rubber has to hit the road. Products that work on energy reduction are abundant, however, like many other emerging markets and/or ideas, communicating how as well as how to most benefit by them is vital.

AirTight, www.airtight.co, has found a couple of really niche products that do a great job of performing and allowing us to measure and present the savings to the customer. They are both unique in what they are designed to do, but deliver equally impressive results.

 

First: The Stulz Ultrasonic Humidification concept. The concept is fairly simple and straightforward. Rather than using heat to create a vapor as you typically do in an infrared or immersion heater type humidifier canister, the ultrasonic technique using a high frequency to break up the surface tension on the water within the humidifier, where it is then drawn into the air stream. An ultrasonic humidifier, as compared to the normal infrared humidifier that is factory provided in a CRAC or CRAH unit, operates at a 93% energy savings. Meaning for every dollar of energy used to create humidity within a traditional CRAC style unit, the same amount of moisture will be induced into the air for only SEVEN CENTS.


This is a revolutionary concept; we have installed it into some rather high-end data centers with excellent results. The customer likes to get a whole lot more bang for the Humidification buck. This information is available on line at http://tiny.cc/UltraSonic or from your local Stulz equipment representative. The rep locator map is on the same web site, http://tiny.cc/FindMyRep, as the data on the humidifiers.

The second innovative, energy-mizing technology we have embraced early is, low voltage, Power Over Ethernet lighting. Today data centers are under constant pressure to find ways to improve power usage effectiveness (PUE) and drive higher uptimes. Our current partner, Redwood Systems, http://www.redwoodsystems.com , Building-Performance Lighting Platform provides on average a 75% reduction in energy usage from lighting and serves as a single system to monitor disruptions to uptime. The system scales well across a variety of environments from large Fortune 500 data centers and co-location facilities to smaller mission-critical facilities.

Lighting remains the low-hanging fruit to quickly and easily capture energy savings. By controlling LED’s that are highly-efficient at dimming and giving per-fixture control, Redwood delivers best-in-class energy savings for data centers. See how at: http://www.redwoodsystems.com/products

As the world’s only smart building platform to power and control lights and a high-density sensor grid using low-voltage category cable for low cost installation and ultimate flexibility. This approach enables “lighting on demand”. Lights and controls can be easily installed or moved by pulling category (CAT 6) 6 cable to new locations. No line voltage is required for true POE, LED fixtures.

The unique web interface allows for adjustments and improvements on your system by using analytic trends to identify energy saving opportunities and implement continuous commissioning of your energy management system. Real time comparison, as shown below, can be used to capture the energy savings for up to a year with a base line comparison of the original power consumption. 

There are a tremendous number of brands, items and ideas that will lead you to energy savings. The secret? Stay doodling and dabbling .... Waiting and watching will only get you left behind.