Dean Ryan was retained to perform an independent review of a report identifying a number of items in need of repair or replacement at two commercial rental properties in Los Angeles. Part of the claims made in the report were being disputed by the tenant and their facility maintenance contractor. Dean Ryan provided a non-biased, independent evaluation of the maintenance and program at these two locations.
The evaluation consisted of the following:
1) review of the disputed facilities inspection report;
2) on-site inspection of the facilities;
3) interview(s) with the maintenance supervisor and maintenance engineer;
4) review of contract HVAC work invoices;
5) phone interviews with supervision and maintenance engineers that performed contract work requests;
6) telephone discussions with the manufacturers of HVAC equipment used in the HVAC systems in the buildings;
7) factory or distributor visit to obtain first hand information on maintenance requirements and life expectancies of Paco Pumps, RayPack Boilers, and Frigid Coil); and
8) review of published literature regarding life expectancy and planned maintenance requirements.
An energy estimate was also prepared for one building to change the operating hours to 24 hours per day, and 365 days per year. An order of magnitude energy and maintenance cost increase was needed to determine if an increased tenant billing was warranted and possible justification for increased metering and maintenance management controls. The energy estimate was prepared using the following procedures:
1) an on-site inspection was made detailing equipment name plate data along with the current hours of operation;
2) a set of operation assumptions were developed based upon the on-site data;
3) weather "Bin" tables were obtained for LAX, the closest "bin" in the vicinity;
4) spreadsheets were developed using a simplified "bin" analysis technique; and
5) results were then reviewed for plausibility.