Community College in Florida Continues to Make a Big Impact on Energy Savings & Occupant Health

A Florida community college focuses on the health of its students and staff, and collaborated with a company to install airflow measuring stations to validate, verify and ensure accurate ventilation measurement in real-time. The installation achieved desired indoor air quality (IAQ) and energy savings.

a measurable difference!

Improved Air Quality for a Healthier Environment

A Community College in Florida ConŁnues to Make a Big Impact on Energy Savings & Occupant Health

A community college in Florida maintains an unparalleled quality of educa�on by taking the health of its students and staﬀ very seriously. To ensure everyone’s poten�al and talent are developed, the College places the rela�onship between comfort and produc�vity at the core of its priori�es. Installing thermal dispersion airﬂow measuring sta�ons within every campus at the College makes it possible to accurately measure outdoor air ven�la�on in real-�me, even from a smartphone. The college staﬀ collaborated with Original Solu�ons Company Inc., a Manufacturer’s Represen-ta�ve of Engineered HVAC Products, to furnish a network of airﬂow measuring sta�ons at the college campuses. The installa�on successfully achieved the desired Indoor Air Quality (IAQ) goal and energy savings. Users can easily access real-�me data from every airﬂow measuring sta�on via the BACnet integrated Building Management System or the EB-Link App on their smartphone.

Healthy Learning and Living Environment

The Florida Community College stands at the forefront of higher educaŁon, leading with innovaŁon and earning a commendable reputa�on for fostering student success. We aim to create a welcoming and suppor�ve learning environment that helps improve student outcomes. We aim to provide aﬀordable and high-quality educa�on to all applicants. This dedica�on has brought them na�onal acclaim, notably the esteemed Aspen Prize for Community College Excellence. The College takes pride in me�culously cra�ed degree programs, con�nuous educa�on oﬀerings, and fast-tracked skills training, pivotal in shaping Florida into a hub of economic opportuni�es for its residents. Their mission is to equip every student with the tools for triumph and ins�ll a transforma�ve sense of self-belief in everyone.

The College welcomes more than 60,000 students to the twelve campuses. The buildings at the college oﬀer a state-of-the-art facility for character anima�on, digital arts, and recording studio, a building dedicated to engineering, computer programming, and mathema�cs labs, libraries with ample study and research facili�es, chemistry, biology, and robo�cs labs, a theater where performing arts students can showcase their talents through plays, musicals, and other performances, administra�on buildings, health science buildings dedicated to nursing, cardiovascular technology, and dental hygiene. These are just a few examples of the buildings at the College. Each campus oﬀers addi�onal facili�es like student centers, food services, and recrea�onal spaces to support students’ academic and extracurricular ac�vi�es.

Since its installaŁon in 2009, the airflow measurement staŁon has remained accurate and reliable.

As Opera�ons Manager Energy Eﬃciency, Robert is tasked to improve the college’s eﬃciency while maintaining a high Indoor air quality (IAQ) standard. While looking for opportuni-�es for IAQ improvements, Robert found anomalies with the demand control ven�la�on used on the VAV AHUs. At some buildings, the outside air requirements were easily met, but in others, the design requirement would always come short. Upon further inves�ga�on, it was found the airﬂow measurement sta�ons (AFMS) in the problem buildings were dirty. A�er wiping them down, the readings were correct. Looking at all buildings that used AFMS, it was observed that the buildings using EBTRON maintained correct readings using our standard yearly maintenance—s�ll, the other buildings using two other brands needed minimum monthly maintenance to maintain proper readings. One of the campuses had an AHU (Air Handler Unit) in an obscure loca�on, and the maintenance had been missing for at least 7 years. When it was found, it was observed to be an EBTRON Silver series, installed in 1996, and a�er cleaning, it was read correctly in 2019. With the new Advantage Gold series available, this unit was upgraded while replacing airﬂow sta�ons within the buildings. Robert stated, “With this and other informal test, the EBTRON product has proven itself again and again.”

The College was Robert’s first exposure to airflow measurement staŁons (AFMS). Prior to this, he was employed in the light commercial HVAC (HeaŁng, VenŁlaŁon, and Air Condi-Łoning) industry, where airflow measurement staŁons were mostly not uŁlized. Most of the energy consumpŁon at the College comes from the HVAC system. With Florida’s hot and humid climate, dealing with the outside air and controlling humidity is a significant opportunity to reduce energy waste. The College started with Demand Control VenŁlaŁon (DCV) based on CO2 and VAV systems. The AFMS integrated with the DCV oﬀered be�er control and limited under/over ven�la�on. Robert wanted to verify that the buildings met the ven�la�on requirements and ensure the system operated eﬃciently along with the damper’s opening and closing. It is a crucial role of the airﬂow measuring sta�on due to the expensive nature of cooling and dehumidifying outside air.

Robert found the EBTRON Gold series more forgiving regarding duct lengths, accurate, and reliable without the need to clean the probes weekly or monthly! Robert stated: “Standardizing on the EBTRON Gold Series was an obvious soluŁon. The EBTRON product provides accuracy, no addiŁonal monthly maintenance, no calibraŁon, which maintains IAQ and yields more energy savings.”

Original SoluŁons Company, Inc.

Original SoluŁons Company Inc. assisted and conŁnues sup-porŁng the College with selecŁng and starŁng up the EBTRON airflow staŁons. There were locaŁons where probe placement was tricky. But Original SoluŁons Company worked with facili-Łes personnel and installing contractors to meet EBTRON’s suggested placement guidelines to achieve opŁmum operaŁonal performance. The team believes that the long-term success of the College is achieved by providing quality, technology-driven soluŁons that meet their needs.

The College has 2.5 million square feet of buildings; of those, 2.2 million square feet are under chilled water, most with installed EBTRON Gold Series airﬂow sta�ons. All the airﬂow measurement sta�ons oﬀer superior reliability and seamless integra�on with the Building Management System (BMS). For quick access on-site, EBTRON oﬀers EB-Link, which allows access to view airﬂow measurement data – temperature, humidity, enthalpy, dew point, and other parameters. Real-�me and traverse data can be stored on the phone and emailed as a text ﬁle.

Customer Experience and SaŁsfacŁon

The College’s decision-making process heavily relied on the readings’ precision, stability, and reliability. EBTRON’s bead-in-glass thermistor probes accurately and reliably measure airflow and temperature rate with an opŁonal humidity sensor for relaŁve humidity, enthalpy, or dew point. Higher accuracy and analyŁcal data can be obtained since each sensing node is an independent temperature and flow measurement point. EBTRON’s unique velocity-weighted temperature provides a

more accurate temperature measurement than a single point of averaging sensors and, when coupled with the humidity sensor, can provide a more precise enthalpy calculaŁon, which is essenŁal in energy-saving strategies. Each sensor node is calibrated to a NIST traceable airflow standard at up to 16 points, resulŁng in a sensor accuracy of 2% of reading. Robert learned of the computer-controlled manufacturing system with over 30 automated quality checkpoints at the factory. Every sensor node is also independently calibrated to a NIST traceable standard in custom-designed and automated calibra�on wind tunnels. The rugged bead-in-glass design diﬀeren�ates EBTRON from the compe��on.

“To help maintain healthy IAQ levels within the College, we evaluated and informally tested several airflow measuring devices. We were extremely impressed with the results of EBTRON, which proved to be fully accurate with stable readings and minimal maintenance,” states Robert.

EBTRON.,Inc.

1663 Highway 701 South

Loris, South Carolina 29669