The IFMA Austin News
IFMA-Austin Association
IFMA Austin Thursday, November 11 Austin North Hilton |
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The Crackdown on Refrigerant Management
If you're like most of us, crisis management and refrigerant management
are about the same thing. If it gets hot, you get it fixed.
If it's a small leak, we sometimes take the easy way out and
add a little refrigerant.
That may be cheaper than paying for a major repair and you
had rather not take the equipment down.
Since the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) has been
pointing the finger at Ozone Depleting Chemicals(ODC) you can't do that
anymore. In FY1998 EPA had 677 cases on its enforcement books
and 350 company employees were charged. Typical cases were
illegal sales, failure to respond to an inquiry within 20 days, not
fixing leaks, improper licenses, and venting.
Your service person must be EPA certified for the type equipment
they are working on. They must use certified recovery equipment
and evacuate the system down to specs based on the type of gas.
The owner has 30 calendar days to fix a leak or replace the equipment
within one year. Typically, you have to fix the leak if
the equipment leaks more than 15% a year. Of course if it
leaks 16% in the last 30 days, you have to fix it within 30 days.
Even if your equipment works well, the documentation may be a
burden. You have to maintain the following three year history:
list of all your equipment and location, all service records, the amount
of refrigerant bought, consumed, recovered, reclaimed, recycled or sold.
The cost for non-compliance could be as much as $27,500 per
day per violation, reputation, and jail time. Any person may
be held liable for violations of Section 608 of the Clean Air Act which
could be the owner and/or the operators.
Of course Austin has their "Rules for Implementing the
Ozone-Depleting Chemicals Ordinance dated 1992.
Since you don't like to take risk, and you are basically a
green person, here's some things you can do.
Things that I have, that you might need
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Member Spotlight
Nancy Paine
by Joan Reams
Nancy Paine,
Service Contracts Manager, joined SEMATECH in
1994. She is responsible for fourteen facilities' contracts that include
pest control, janitorial, elevators, landscaping, plants, disposal, etc.
Nancy has a B.B.A. in Marketing from Boise State
University. She was raised in Indiana living several years in California
and Idaho before moving to Texas ten years ago. Her interest include
tennis, golf, gardening, the coast, and jazz. |
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September Meeting
By J. R. Howard The general membership and guest met at San Francisco Steak House on 9/9/99 to hear Lee Gros speak on Austin's Green Building Program. Ed Garcia opened the meeting with an introduction of the guest. JoAn Reames spoke on her membership activities and made available some literature. Tom Cagley urged everyone to come out to the Habitat for Humanity Site and donate some of your Saturdays to an outstanding cause. It's great hands on feel good work. Patty May told us about the November Best Practices Seminar. You'll learn something and if you are a CFM, it's a good place to pick up a few more re-certification points. Lee Gros is an accomplished speaker and is very enthusiastic about being Green. Austin has an exemplary Green Building Program which is part of Austin Energy. The key elements are improved occupant productivity, reduce building operating cost, and conservation of resources. One of his points was about occupant productivity. Most people can evaluate the cost reductions in using T8 lights versus T12, but the soft money benefits you generate when you make people feel good about their work place are much greater. How do you become more green? During construction and renovations, minimize the use of toxic materials, set realistic goals for energy use, air quality, worker productivity, resource conservation and pollution control. Set a goal of 25% less energy and then develop a plan to make it happen. The important thing is to look at the big picture, the whole earth environment and take the long-term view. Use exemplary daylighting strategies, decrease artificial lighting, setup an internal recycling center, recycle your construction waste, use recycled materials, reflective roofs, optimum insulation, ceiling fans, healthy finishes, dimming controls, variable frequency drives, high efficiency motors, design for minimum cut-off waste, recycle gray water and process water. Lee provided four good examples of their work: Whole Foods Market Corporate Offices, Ecomat, Brown Building, and the Robert E. Johnson State Office Building. Their handout was printed on recycled paper using vegetable-based inks. One of the problems that he discussed was the fee structure. Since people who specify lighting and air conditioning systems are paid a percentage of the cost, there is a disincentive to install smaller air conditioners. He recommended a performance based fee system. The designer and customer would set energy consumption goals and both would benefit when they are met. For more information see these web sites: City of Austin, Green Building Program: http://www.ci.austin.tx.us/greenbuilder U.S. Department of Energy's "Center of Excellence for Sustainable Development": http://www.sustainable.doe.gov The Center for Renewable Energy and Sustainable Technology (CREST): http://solstice.crest.org The menu was great at San Francisco Steakhouse. There were three options and many chose the ribeye steak. |
by Tom Cagley
With a little more than half the scheduled work days behind us, the
IFMA house build for Habitat is well on its way. The
most recent weekend saw the completion of the framing and roof trusses,
and the metal roof itself was put on October 9th, with interior
insulation to follow. The windows and tar paper have been
installed.
There is going to be a lot of interior work in the next few weekends, and all volunteers are needed more than ever. Fortunately, the hottest weather is behind us, and, with the roof in place, the opportunity to work out of the heat and sun is welcomed. More
pictures.Tom Cagley is with KD Facility Services in Austin and Community Involvement Chair for IFMA-Austin.
| To get off the bench, join a committee
-Christmas Party – -IFMA 2000 Golf Tournament – -Communications – -Programs – -Membership – -Education – -Community Envolement – Call today and GET INVOLVED!
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1999 Program Calendar
October 14th James Mosley – Motivational Speaker November 11th Best Practices Seminar December (TBD) Holiday Party |
