The start of a new year is a great time for both reflection and planning. Many people create personal resolutions for themselves, but it’s also smart for owners and facility, operations, and service managers to make resolutions for the HVAC efficiency and performance of their commercial buildings. 

5 New Year Resolutions for HVAC Systems

1. Preventative Maintenance

Preventative maintenance is the most important thing you can do to ensure the efficiency and longevity of your HVAC systems. The start of a new year is the ideal time to plan for preventative maintenance on your equipment. This includes scheduling visits with HVAC service providers and creating checklists of tasks that need performed seasonally, such as filter changes, refrigerant checks, and safety control checks. Make sure you take into account the type of facility you have while planning. High-traffic or critical environments like healthcare or manufacturing facilities require more frequent maintenance than others, so be sure to schedule visits accordingly. It’s also important while planning maintenance to prioritize critical systems that have a history of failure. Preventative maintenance can extend HVAC system life by 5+ years and reduce emergency costs. Planning for maintenance each January (or 90 days before your fiscal year begins) will ensure your HVAC systems are covered for the full year. 

2. Inventory Planning

After planning for preventative maintenance, you’ll want to plan for inventory. There’s no use preparing for service work if you don’t also have the replacement parts on hand! Having the right parts in stock makes preventative maintenance easier and cheaper, and a failure to do so can increase costs and downtime. First-time fix rates improve by up to 45% with proper inventory planning. On the other hand, HVAC inventory mismanagement can increase costs by up to 35%. Make sure you have seasonal and consumable parts available like filters, Condair cylinders, belts, or parts not stocked domestically so you’re prepared when it’s time for replacement. A helpful step may be to segment your inventory into 3 parts so you have a clear understanding of what’s high-priority and high-use to stock up on: 

• • • • A items: High-value, critical parts (e.g., motors, control boards)
      • B items: Moderate-use parts (e.g., belts, capacitors)
      • C items: Routine consumables (e.g., filters, batteries)

Other best inventory management practices include reviewing the previous year’s stock issues, including parts that were often out of stock or overstocked, and potentially implementing automatic reordering of parts that require consistent restocking. 

3. Conduct an Energy Audit

January is the perfect time to audit your commercial building’s yearly energy use. Understanding the amount and cost of the previous year’s energy will allow you to see where utility costs can be reduced or where you can better support sustainability goals. Start by benchmarking your energy usage and identifying inefficiencies. See what changes can be made to HVAC systems to reduce usage and costs, and evaluate opportunities for upgrades that can improve energy efficiency, such as VFDs and smart thermostats. 

4. Budgeting & Cost Forecasting

Now that you’ve done the work planning for preventative maintenance and inventory and understand your energy use, you’ll want to budget accordingly. Be sure to allocate budget for service work, maintenance contracts, frequently used replacement parts, emergency repairs, and any upcoming upgrades HVAC systems or necessary HVAC equipment replacements. Utilizing historical data on equipment costs or energy use will help you to forecast costs for the year and budget properly. 

5. Organize & Update Documentation

Organizing and updating HVAC system documentation is often overlooked, but can be just as vital as maintenance or inventory planning. If you’ve never done this before, the start of a new year is an ideal time to begin. Organize important equipment manuals and review HVAC equipment warranty information to make sure you’re prepared in the event of repair or replacement work. Creating and maintaining maintenance logs is also smart. This not only gives you historical data of HVAC equipment issues, but can make it easier for HVAC technicians to understand changes in system performance or identify issues. It’s not a very glamourous resolution, but ensures you’ve put yourself in the best position possible to manage crucial HVAC systems in your building. 

Each commercial building is unique in its own way, and you may find you need to establish different resolutions that align better with your facility’s needs. Even if your fiscal year doesn’t follow a normal calendar, January is a great opportunity to reflect on previous HVAC system issues, needs, and costs, and plan for the future so you’re prepared for anything that arises throughout the year.