Like a doctor examining the health of a human body, our building gets a regular check up from many experts and experienced staff members to maintain its health. Why? “Because heating, electrical and hydro functions of the building is the life-support of the building”, explains Senior Building Manager, Peter Crosthwaite.
Today, the life of the building is alive and well. With a frequently fully occupied tenant rate and regular film and photography activities, the building is in a healthy state in terms of day-to-day business activities. However, the building had not always been so diligently managed. In fact, the once derelict building faced many operating challenges; with the boiler system being a testament to that fact.
In 1900, when the building was constructed, the boiler system was originally an oil-based fuel system, requiring 3 boiler machines to distribute heat to the 160,000 square feet property. As an oil-based fuel system, the job was messy and time-consuming to maintain. By 1985, the boiler system had transitioned to gas-based fuel, which eliminated the storage and cleanup of oil that previously fuelled the boiler machines. Not to mention, the black smoke that was emitted from the smoke stack was also gone.
However, although evolving to a cleaner and more efficient gas-based fuel system, management and maintenance of the boiler system was no less chaotic as a result of poor attention to detail.
The workings of a boiler heating system are similar to a recycling process. There are three basic stages:
- Â 1st Stage: Water is chemically treated and boiled to create steam,
- 2nd Stage: Steam travels through the pipes around the building, which distributes warmth throughout the building
- 3rd Stage: Steam cools down and condensates back to water that becomes re-used back to stage 1.
In 2002, when new management took over, it was realized that the pipes and the routing of the boiler system had to be overhauled. The valves that allowed heat to distribute throughout the building had only two settings–fully closed or fully open, which lead to maximum heat levels to rise or shutting off the boiler to cool the building down. A licensed Station Engineer was also required to control the heat level, which costed time and money to the building managers.
As a result, dissatisfaction from the tenants were shared. In fact, the boiler system was shut off Friday morning to cool down the building, then restarted on Monday morning, serving warmth to the tenants 3.5 days out of 7 days of the week.
Today, the boiler system runs at an amazing 87% efficiency. Automatically averaging at 72 degrees Fahrenheit thanks to the digital valves that automates the valves to open and close and a efficient system that monitors the heat distribution through a computer system. The technical aid of a Station Engineer to manually operate the heat distribution is also no longer required. Experts from The Technical Standards and Safety Authority (TSSA) and insurers agree that the boiler system is well and in good health.