© Bernd Schifferdecker

10 dos & don’ts for retro­fitting

When it comes to imple­menting a retrofit, Thomas Häberle are in demand. He plans and directs the retro­fitting busi­ness at Kratschmayer, and explains what one defi­nitely should do – and what not to do.


DO!

1. VISIT THE SITE IN PERSON

To be able to plan a retrofit, the company imple­menting it must visit the site to get an idea of what needs to be done. This is the only way to deter­mine how the old fan can be removed from the building, and how the new ones can be installed. On site, it is also easier to deter­mine which trans­port equip­ment can be used and is required.

2. MAKE A PRECISE SCHEDULE

Shop­ping centers or factory build­ings can often only pause their activity for a short time. There­fore, it is neces­sary to iden­tify these poten­tial time windows early on, and then plan the retrofit accord­ingly. A precise schedule should also be created for the conver­sion itself

3. DOCUMENT THE CURRENT SITUATION OF THE SYSTEM

It is essen­tial to docu­ment the desired target set-up of the system together with the customer before retro­fitting. As the systems can some­times be 20 to 30 years old, it is impor­tant to discuss, for example, whether parts of the building have been added at a later stage or removed, as these may also need taking into consid­er­a­tion, or not.

4. ORDER MATERIALS IN ADVANCE

If the retrofit is to be a success, there is no time to procure mate­rials once the process has started. This applies in partic­ular if work is carried out on Sundays or public holi­days. There­fore, all mate­rials should be procured early on.

5. CHECK FOR CONTROL SYSTEM COMPATIBILITY

Today, modern fans often have either an analog-based control system, using a 0-10 V signal, or are controlled via a ModBUS inter­face. In this regard, it is impor­tant to check whether these options are compat­ible with the condi­tions on site. If this is not the case, a suit­able inter­face should be planned and imple­mented.

 

DON‘T!

1. FOCUS ONLY ON THE FAN

A venti­la­tion system is more than just the fan. There­fore, both the whole system and the surrounding area should be incor­po­rated into the plan­ning of the retrofit. This enables you to iden­tify the overall func­tion of the system and to take specific aspects, e.g. pollu­tants in the exhaust air, into account.

2. RELY TOO MUCH ON THE DOCUMENTATION

Even if there is compre­hen­sive docu­men­ta­tion of the system, impor­tant key points should be directly veri­fied again. This can help to rule out the possi­bility that para­me­ters may have changed over time without being docu­mented.

3. PLAN WITHOUT FUNDING

If your fans are effi­cient, the retrofit will pay for itself quickly. However, you can recoup the costs even faster if you make use of the many funding oppor­tu­ni­ties avail­able. You should not forget to apply for these and factor them in right from the start of the project.

4. IGNORE DOCUMENTATION

All of the steps in the project must be precisely docu­mented – from agreeing the target set-up through to energy consump­tion before and after the retrofit. This helps all the parties involved, and often makes funding possible.

5. ASSESS THE COSTS AND BENEFITS FOR THE SHORT TERM

You should always look at the long term when assessing the cost of a retrofit project. Without a doubt, a retrofit costs money at the begin­ning. However, over time, oper­a­tors quickly recoup these costs and also save money on a day-to-day basis.

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