MEETINGS AND EVENTS

Webinar: Understanding and Reducing Air-System Noise
Feb. 10, 1 p.m. EST

Speaker: Kristen Neath, Canadian national sales manager, AMCA member company

Register now!

Special Middle East Webinar: Sand Louvers and Certification
Feb. 24, 10 a.m. EST/7 p.m. GST

Speakers: Ed Rizk, AMCA Board of Directors, and Abhishek Chhabra, market-development manager, AMCA partner lab

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Webinar: Positive Pressure Ventilators (PPV) and AMCA 240 Updates
March 24, 1 p.m. EDT

Speaker: Kyle Weinmeister, international sales, AMCA member company

Register now!

Update Your AMCA Library

Click here to shop for AMCA technical documents, including the revised AMCA Publication 211, Certified Ratings Program Product Rating Manual for Fan Air Performance, and ANSI/AMCA Standard 500-D, Laboratory Methods of Testing Dampers for Rating.

Click here to learn more about CETIAT's AMCA CRP fan-testing capabilities.

AMCA White Papers

Stay abreast of topics that are top of mind for AMCA and its members. Check out AMCA's white-paper library by clicking here.

'A More Efficient Way to Do Business': Witnesses Testify to Benefits of Virtual Testing

In July, AMCA announced that, with all in-person witness testing at its laboratory in Arlington Heights, Ill., suspended until further notice because of the coronavirus pandemic, it was putting in place a virtual option. Six months later, the program is up and running and receiving praise from participants.

“AMCA’s virtual witness testing is an excellent option as an alternative to in-person witness testing,” Chris Quinones, PE, engineering manager, AcoustiFLO, and active participant in Air Movement Division technical committees, said. “We interacted with AMCA’s staff in real time, allowing us to make quick test adjustments and have immediate access to test data. The quality of the whole experience was great, including the live video stream.”

Jeff Blake, an engineer with Construction Specialties and chair of the ANSI/AMCA Standard 500-L, Laboratory Methods of Testing Louvers for Rating, and AMCA Publication 512, AMCA Listing Label Program, committees, who witnessed a water-penetration test, added: “The cameras were highly functional and crystal clear. It’s always difficult to photograph or video water droplets, but we were able to see the problem areas. … I can see using this when there is a problem with a check test and even during a contract test for a high-performance model. … I think virtual witnessing is a nice step forward for AMCA.”

Geoff Sheard, DSc, president of AGS Consulting LLC and 2013-2014 president of AMCA, said, “Being able to take control of the cameras, pan, and zoom to focus on a specific aspect of a test as it is conducted is not the same as actually being in the AMCA laboratory,” but “is good enough to substitute for the real thing.”

Sheard continued: “Although it is always a pleasure to visit the AMCA laboratory, for those who do not live locally, being able to witness the test virtually, as opposed to traveling for an in-person test, saves time and the expenses that entails. … AMCA has just figured out a more efficient way to do business.”

Brian Reynolds, staff engineer, Trane, who chairs the project-monitoring subcommittee for ASHRAE Research Project (RP) 1769, Experimental Evaluation of the Efficiency of Belt Drives for Fans, agreed: “The AMCA lab is the contractor for ASHRAE RP 1769. The project-monitoring subcommittee planned to visit the lab to witness testing. Due to the pandemic, a virtual visit was scheduled instead. The committee found a virtual visit was very effective for seeing and understanding the test setups and much more cost- and time-effective than an on-site visit would have been.”

AMCA Laboratory Manager Tim Reilly said virtual witness testing was long in the planning.

“Prior to COVID, AMCA was looking into remote viewing of our testing to help ease the burden of traveling for our members,” Reilly said. “Once we saw the severity of COVID, we moved quickly to acquire the equipment and implement it.

“Since its implementation,” Reilly continued, “we’ve had quite a few members partake in witnessing their testing virtually—it has many benefits both for the member and AMCA staff. For the member, it greatly reduces the overall cost to witness a test—travel, accommodations, time away from families, etc.—and allows for multiple staff members from member companies to witness the test, many of whom never would have had the opportunity to see an AMCA test run in person. For AMCA staff, we now have the ability to perform multiple witness tests in a day on different chambers, something we had stayed away from during in-person witness testing to maintain confidentiality on behalf of our members.

“After performing quite a few witness tests,” Reilly concluded, “I am confident the ability to have cameras inside and outside of the chamber creates great value for our members. In the past, trying to capture a trouble area on a still camera was difficult, but now the member can see how the unit is performing and be able to diagnose issues in real time, if any occur. I foresee virtual witness testing to continue once COVID is behind us.”

There is no limit to the number of viewers for a virtual witness test. Viewers see both the test setup and the test run, which they are permitted to record. The cost per test is $300. In a client’s absence, AMCA can record a test and e-mail the video file to the client. The cost is $300 for pressure-drop and leakage tests and $350 (for the use of additional cameras) for water-penetration and wind-driven-rain tests.

To schedule a test, complete a test-agreement form on AMCAConnect. For more information, contact Reilly at [email protected] or +1 847-704-6252.

Shruti Kohli-Bhargava Promoted to Manager, Publications and Standards

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Shruti Kohli-Bhargava, who in November 2019 joined the staff of AMCA International in the role of project manager/technical editor, this month was promoted to the position of manager, publications and standards.

“It has been my great pleasure to work with Shruti for the past year,” AMCA Director of Publications and Standards Joe Brooks, PE, said. “She has shown the skills, abilities, and personality of a superb team player and is an invaluable asset to our Publications and Standards department and the work of AMCA International.”

Shruti manages the work of committees and contractors responsible for developing and updating AMCA publications and standards; administers activities intended to improve the efficiency and effectiveness of AMCA committees; and works closely with the American National Standards Institute (ANSI) to ensure AMCA meets ANSI requirements for openness, balance, consensus, and due process, assuring that all interested parties have an opportunity to participate in a standard’s development. Additionally, she manages the administration of the AMCA Board of Directors and its regional steering committees.

A native of India, Shruti has master’s degrees in family and consumer sciences and food science and nutrition from The University of Akron and SNDT (Shreemati Nathibai Damodar Thackersey) Women’s University, respectively, and a bachelor’s degree in food and nutrition from Jadavpur University. Prior to joining AMCA, she was an independent nutrition and wellness consultant. Prior to that, over a 10-year period, she worked for different divisions of Nestlé USA and Nestlé Switzerland. The majority of her time with Nestlé was spent in project and quality management, which saw her lead global steering-committee meetings and work with a diverse group of internal and external customers in roles such as Systems, Applications, Products (SAP) implementation, writing and executing corporate standard operating procedures, process improvement, and auditing of factories and processes.

Over the course of her 20-plus-year career, Shruti has worked for many not-for-profit/non-governmental organizations, including Child in Need Institute in Kolkata, India, and Rural Litigation and Entitlement Kendra in Dehradun, India.

Shruti can be reached at [email protected] and +1 847-704-6285.

Volunteers Sought for Standard 300 Committee

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AMCA is seeking volunteers to serve on a technical committee tasked with reviewing and revising ANSI/AMCA Standard 300, Reverberant Room Method for Sound Testing of Fans.

To volunteer, click here and complete and submit the form by the close of business on Feb. 25. For more information, contact AMCA Manager of Publications and Standards Shruti Kohli-Bhargava at [email protected].

AMCA Seeking Volunteers for Two New Subcommittees

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AMCA this month announced the formation of two new subcommittees. If you missed the initial signups, there still is time to volunteer. Members are sought for the:

• Industry-Content Subcommittee—Reporting to the North America Marketing Committee, the Industry-Content Subcommittee will be responsible for determining the editorial lineup, reviewing editorial and advertising policies, and consulting on the next contract for award-winning AMCA inmotion magazine; evaluating and prioritizing publishing opportunities with the trade press; identifying topics and authors for articles and white papers; and more. Skills and experience as an author are not required. The group’s first meeting will be held Feb. 9 at 2 p.m. ET. If interested, contact AMCA Manager of Industry Content Scott Arnold at [email protected] or +1 847-704-6335.
• ConstructConnect Guidance Subcommittee—Also reporting to the North America Marketing Committee, the ConstructConnect Guidance Subcommittee will be responsible primarily for exploring ways to leverage information in the database of construction-management-solutions provider ConstructConnect to aid work of the association in the areas of advocacy, education, marketing, and communications. If interested, contact AMCA Advocacy Manager Aaron Gunzner at [email protected] or +1 847-704-6337 by Feb. 3.

According to employment website Monster, the benefits of serving on a committee are many, including opportunities to lead; occasions to manage, plan, and execute projects; acquisition of specialized knowledge and skills; increased visibility; network expansion; and, for those accustomed to working alone, experience being part of a team. In the case of the Industry-Content and ConstructConnect Guidance subcommittees, service has the additional benefit of helping AMCA fulfill its mission to “advance the knowledge of air systems and uphold industry integrity on behalf of AMCA members worldwide.”

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Have you ever found yourself needing to refer to something you recall seeing in a communication from AMCA but not having even the faintest idea of when you received that communication and then spending what seems like forever combing through your e-mail files looking for it, hoping it was not deleted? If you have, you may be happy to learn AMCA is now archiving key announcements.

Available in the members' area of the AMCA website, the archive consists of select member alerts, COVID-19 updates, and issues of ITR Advisor, Global Manufacturing Economic Update, and Monday Economic Report. The communications are categorized according to topic and/or audience: international, advocacy, Air Control Division, Air Movement Division, the Americas, Asia, certification, education, Europe and the Middle East, publications and standards.

“I know how difficult and time-consuming it can be to wade through hundreds of emails, so we wanted to provide a single cross-referenced resource for members to more easily find an alert or message,” AMCA Director of Marketing, Membership, and Education Robb Clawson said.

For communications published thus far in 2021, click here. For communications published in 2020, click here.

CONTENT SPOTLIGHT: ‘Straightening Out Fan Curves’

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From the 2020 edition of award-winning AMCA inmotion magazine:

During the mid-1990s, Ron Michael, regional manager, Loren Cook Co., was conducting a lunch-and-learn at a large engineering firm on the East Coast. As talk turned to fan selection and use of Cook’s software program, Ron was interrupted by the head of the firm’s mechanical department.

“Show us how to read a fan curve,” the head of the mechanical department requested.

Being new to the field, Ron assumed every engineer—especially ones at such a large firm—knew how to read a fan curve, the graphical representation of a fan’s performance, specifically the relationship between the amount of airflow and the amount of static pressure produced.

“My first thought was he actually wants to see if I know how to read a fan curve,” Ron recently recalled, “so I began my presentation in detail, knowing I could not screw this up.”

A few minutes into Ron’s explanation, the head of the mechanical department interrupted again.

“We don’t have that much time, based on our busy schedules,” the head of the mechanical department said, “so we use the Rule of Thumb Method.”

“Rule of Thumb Method?” Ron asked.

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