PEAK's monitoring prevented the potentially devastating impacts of high CO2 levels, which has the potential to threaten tenant health and Indoor Environment ratings.
Background
A largely energy-efficient A-grade office asset in Brisbane boasts a 4.5 stars Indoor Environment (IE) rating. The two major inputs for an IE rating are thermal comfort and indoor air quality.
The asset in question has two critical pieces of equipment, Outside Air Fans (OAF). These are responsible for maintaining fresh air ventilation for the building. When the Outside Air Fans fail or are manually overridden, CO2 levels can climb quickly which threatens indoor air quality and tenant wellbeing.
Issue
1 of 2 critical Outside Air Fans stopped operating during the day and CO2 levels were detected to reach unsafe levels above 1,000ppm. CO2 levels greater than 1,000ppm increase the risk of Sick Building Syndrome, with many countries requiring compliance below these levels. In fact, ASHRAE has recommended indoor CO2 concentrations be maintained at or below 800ppm in offices.
Resolution
With PEAK’s continuous intelligent monitoring of equipment, an alert immediately notified the Operations Manager of the CO2 spike and the exact item of equipment that had stopped running. A ticket was assigned to the onsite mechanical technician, who visited the plant room to discover that someone had manually isolated the equipment (likely after a fire test), before promptly returning the operation to normal.
CO2 levels peaked at 1,200pm, but the swift intervention meant this quickly came down to safe levels before significantly impacting the tenant experience and wellbeing.
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