Major Air
by Jonathan McGaha | 31 July 2010 12:00 am
Mechanics is an intricate discipline.
For students at the United States Army Aviation Logistics School in Fort Eustis, Va., the mechanics of air movement is simply a welcome reality. Located on a peninsula feeding into the Atlantic Ocean, humidity and high temperatures persist throughout most of the summer as temperatures reach the 90s for days on end. Concerned with both comfort and safety, Fort Eustis closely monitors indoor temperatures, frequently having to interrupt instruction for water breaks to ensure student comfort. With 3,500 students going through the program in any given year this resulted in considerable teaching hours lost. Numerous fans from Lexington, Ky.-based Big Ass Fans throughout the various metal and brick structures provide constant, steady air movement that combats the hot, humid air and keeps students and instructors focused on aviation mechanics.
Among the 800,000 square feet (74,320 m2) of constructed space on the base, there are brick bunker-style buildings as well as metal hangers, ranging in age from five to 60 years. With varying degrees of insulation or none at all, the buildings were undeniably hot.
Gauging Comfort
According to Bruce Bulger, Fort Eustis project officer, comfort has been a concern for awhile. “We check on a daily basis with a digital wet bulb scale [testing the moisture level in the air],” he said. “We have to increase water breaks and decrease training time and it can get very costly for us to stop training as the space becomes increasingly uncomfortable.”
Utilizing Big Ass Fans—24-foot Powerfoil X ceiling fans, wall-mounted Pivot fans and the 8-foot (2-m) mobile AirGo with OSHA compliant metal caging—Fort Eustis was able to remove numerous noisy, ineffective floor fans, and provide an element of comfort necessary for learning. Originally brought in as a temporary fix, the 31AirGo fans are now a permanent presence on the base and the old, noisy pedestal fans have long since been removed.
“Every time we plug in an AirGo, we literally replace about 15 pedestal or pole fans,” Bulger said. “Eliminating the excess trip cords, energy usage and extra noise generated by these fans has been a welcome addition.”
Mechanically Inclined
Ranging in size from 6 to 24 feet (1.8 to 7 m) in diameter, all Big Ass Fans are meticulously engineered to effectively circulate air in any environment. The key to their effectiveness is that the huge volume of air generated by the fans’ patented aircraft-grade aluminum airfoils moves very slowly, creating quiet, gentle, non-turbulent airflow. Though large and powerful, they are also incredibly energy efficient because they use very small motors, particularly relative to the volume of air movement generated.
According to the National Bureau of Standards, energy savings of at least 3 percent can be achieved for each degree the thermostat is raised during the cooling season. If a facility owner using a Big Ass Fan is able to raise the thermostat several degrees, energy savings can be up to 24 percent or more year-round. Additional savings accrue during the winter months by circulating heat trapped at the ceiling down to the occupant/thermostat level.
Even though the thermostat setpoint remains the same in the winter, the heating system does not have to work as hard to maintain the given setpoint. By reducing the amount of heat escaping through the roof, it’s similar to turning the thermostat down 5 to 7 degrees.
When compared to a typical 34-inch (864- mm) high velocity fan, AirGo uses 2/3rd less energy and moves three times more air resulting in an extremely efficient cooling solution.
Passing Grade
Big Ass Fans’ quiet operation, vast coverage area and versatility allows for air circulation in uniquely designed spaces. For teachers and students alike, the fans have improved the overall environment providing air circulation without the additional noise.
According to Bulger, there is already enough noise generated by the electrical tools that hum regardless of the class in session. With an average of 18 students and one instructor in a concentrated area, having to shout over the noise from the old fans for eight hours a day made it that much more difficult to concentrate.
“Now that the fans are in place we have fewer disruptions. It can still be humid, but as long as the air is moving it is much better,” Bulger said. As the increased air movement from Big Ass Fans has helped reduce the amount of downtime during classes at Fort Eustis, AirGo has provided much flexibility in the process. The mobility is key, he added, claiming they often find themselves moving the fans around hourly to accommodate the fluid footprint of the space.
Nina Wolgelenter is a writer for Big Ass Fans, Lexington, Ky. For more information, visit www.bigassfans.com.
Source URL: https://www.metalconstructionnews.com/projects/major-air/