Hello everyone, welcome to the first blog posting!
First question: set-points.
Larry Tilford from the Lebanon S.D. asked me the following, "...is [there] anything in ODOE guidelines, OARs, etc., that sets specific recommended set points for temperature in a classroom and/or office environment?"
To my knowledge, no. There is not anything in statute. HOWEVER, you can point to other schools' set-point policy.
Can some other folks with any personal experience around set-point policies please help?
I do not have any examples of success when it comes to changing classroom set point policy. Nor do I have any examples of individual school district's policy-language / board-resolutions around this topic. Maybe its not a "policy" issues?
Anyone have any helpful suggestions?
Take a minute and share your insights with Larry, me, and the Oregon K-12 school community.
Contribute your thoughts and help another school district save some money and the environment. :-)
At Portland Public Schools we don't have a set point policy but our practice is 70F for elementary schools and 68 for middle and high schools. Our heating plants are weary so temperatures fluctuate within a building. We're working to correct that (steam traps and valve replacements underway).
ReplyDeleteMost of our schools don't have air conditioning but those that do probably run them at about 72 - 74F for cooling. It would be good to have standards for AC and to keep the rooms a little warmer (74 - 76F?).
In general, I don't think policy is necessary, but careful attention to practice IS. I think it would be good to promote the "expectation" of dressing appropriately for the weather (and for your room's temperature). It's difficult to create a comfortable environment for every person as we each have different definitions of what is comfortable - and sometimes that changes frequently! Best to keep the temp as constant as possible and dress in layers.
Salem Keizer setpoints
ReplyDeleteOur policy states that heating setpoints are 68-70 for classroom hours and 55 for evening. Heating systems are typically started at 6:00-6:30 in the morning and run until 3:30 or 4:00 unless there is some significant district/community event that would require HVAC. Cooling setpoint is 76 and systems run generally along schoolday schedules.
If room temps do not mirror tstat/controller settings, we do what we can to get that room temp to the setpoint regardless of what the tstat/controller says. If there is a disparity, we try to find cause such as open window, coffeepot or computer under the tstat, etc.; and then make necessary changes. In some cases we allow occupants ability to make their own adjustments over a small temp range.
Policy setpoints are strongly advised guidelines. Enforcement is limited.
From Brent Tolliver, BSD HVAC Foreman:
ReplyDeleteFor the twelve years that I have been in the Beaverton School District we have set a temperature guideline of 68deg to 78deg as the outside limits for occupied spaces. To give us some room for error we set up our controls for 70 deg in heating and 76deg in mechanical cooling. Single setpoint rooms are set to 72degs.
Because in this climate we heat much more of the school year than we cool, the heating setpoint is most critical. We do not heat spaces above 70deg.
Cooling set-points are a lot harder to optimize. With so many different types of zoning systems the cooling should be optimized to use the economizers and minimize reheating of air to spaces not in need of cooling. In large VAV systems we often use a 74deg set point in the zone boxes and use air-handler sequences that minimize mechanical cooling.
Set-points can be proportional, differential, or PID each with its own characteristics. It is better to specify target temperature ranges such as 70deg to 76deg than to be stuck to actual set-points.
Brent Tolliver, CEM
HVAC and Plumbing Foreman
Beaverton School District
503-591-4450