With summer in full swing and students out for summer vacation, educational facilities and facility managers should take precautions to update their building’s systems and infrastructure before the new school year. Bud Hammer, President of Atlantic Westchester, a commercial and industrial HVAC business, shares his commentary as to why schools should update their HVAC systems this summer.
As years go on, HVAC systems deteriorate and no longer work at maximum capacity leaving students and faculty in an uncomfortable environment. The main challenge in a learning environment is distraction and discomfort. When a school has old or broken down systems that have not been properly maintained it will ultimately fail, causing a great waste of money and energy. In the winter, HVAC systems fail in heat mode to ensure pipes do not freeze in a facility causing classrooms to overheat leading many students or teachers to open a window.
“There is a direct correlation between a student’s learning environment and how well they perform and pay attention to what is going inside the classroom,” said Bud Hammer, President of Atlantic Westchester. “If there is not enough ventilation in a classroom, students will become sleepy due to an increase in carbon dioxide levels because there is not enough fresh air. If you are there to focus on learning and you are distracted by lack of fresh air, too hot, too cold and/or too noisy, how can you truly expect to focus?”
Proactive maintenance will ensure an HVAC system is running properly all year round. Simple solutions will help improve a building, the learning environment and students and teachers well-being.