Power master planning

THREE MAJOR POWER TRENDS in business and industry today are working together to make the job of building owners and operators more complicated than ever: the push towards 7x24 operation; electrical utility deregulation; and the new er-ending search for more efficiency in equipment. The convergence of these forces is a situation unlike any that has existed for facility executives. To take full advantage of these changes, facility executives need to develop a power master plan.

Beyond Y2K

In about eight months, the Y2K frenzy will be largely over, but 7x24 building operation requirements are here to stay. The pressure that 24-hour operational requirements place on building support systems cannot be understated. The increased uptime requirement stresses equipment that was never intended to run full time. And the lack of a maintenance window threatens reliability.

The challenge is to plan ahead as your company expands or modifies its hours of operation. Is the company looking to move to two shifts, or even three? If so, what portions of the building will be affected first? How will the impact of expanding work hours affect basic support equipment?

The facility executive must examine every element of the building for potential impact on 7x24 operations. The place to start is with the sources of the most common problems for mission-critical systems: power loss and disturbance. That entails a close look at the entire power supply network - from the utility to inhouse generation and distribution - for every mission-critical new construction or renovation project.

A good first step is to make sure incoming power is of the highest quality possible. Then look inside the building at ways to minimize or eliminate such problems as voltage sags and surges, voltage spikes and oscillations, radio frequency interference, power harmonics and power outages. For example, transient voltage surge suppressors can be used at the service equipment, the distribution equipment and the circuit breaker panels. Power line conditioners can eliminate some surges and sags.

Another important area to consider is the uninterruptible power supply. A range of technology options is available and must be evaluated to best match system costs with facility needs.

A back-up generator is also important. It can provide the facility with the ability to withstand long outages by...