(Continued from previous post)

I guess what I am trying to say here is that, if you react to the technical issues I raise in my article like I did when I first ran into them. i.e.

I don’t have the time to do all of that or;

I don’t have the knowledge to do all of that or;

I just leave stuff like that to the control contractor;

and you use those reactions as an excuse to not deal with the challenges they represent, then you are missing out on a lot. And (returning to the technical side of things) the reality is that we, as the designers of our systems, are the only people in a position to adequately address the technical challenges raised by the need to integrate them with the variables in the day to day operating environment they will deal with.

Think about it for a minute; if the truth were know, I suspect that it took Claude Debussy some time to write Clair De Lune, that Joni Mitchell didn’t just sit down and record Blue the first time the emotions hit her, and that Tom Petty probably made a few passes at Free Fallin, before he got it just right (my tastes, but you get the idea) (you probably also have some insight into the music I was listening to when I started to write this).

I also suspect that if you were to ask them, each of these artists would say that part of the reason they do what they do is the joy of creation. Speaking for myself, I know that a significant portion of the pleasure I get from my occupation comes from the joy of creation, be it writing an article, doing a training class, developing a system diagram, developing a test strategy, or developing a control sequence. I guess what I really might have been trying to say in the HPAC article is that in my experience, some of the biggest challenges and the biggest creative opportunities I have faced have been associated with the control sequences I have developed. The effort can be significant, but so can the rewards. A well written sequence paves the way for a smooth HVAC system installation and reliable, robust operation. So, I would encourage you to spend some time developing the details of your control sequence, thinking through the nuances and details that make each system a little different from the one before it. As Michael said, “sequences of operation provide the 'score' that orchestrates HVAC systems” and a well orchestrated HVAC system can be a thing of joy and a creation to be proud of.