Case Study
Optidrive is ideal for HVAC
Problem
The National Portrait Gallery in Washington DC is the third oldest building in the city. Undergoing a refurbishment, it was having a new HVAC system installed. It need to be capable of accurately controlling the temperature of rooms where some of the nation's most historic portraits are stored and displayed.
Solution
The Optidrive Eco HVAC is a capable variable frequency drive used globally to control HVAC systems. Its use at The National Portrait Gallery in Washington DC demonstrates how the drive is a critical part of looking after part of the United States heritage.
National Portrait Gallery
The National Portrait Gallery is housed in the Patent Office Building, the third oldest federal building in Washington, DC (after the White House and the Capital Building). As a part of the Smithsonian Institute, The National Portrait Gallery is the place that the American nation has set aside to house the portraits of generations of remarkable Americans. These are Americans who have distinguished themselves, such as George Washington, Martin Luther King, George Gerswin, Bob Hope, Marilyn Monroe, Babe Ruth, etc. In total, it contains over 100,000 portraits and stories of famous Americans.
When The National Portrait Gallery re-opens in July 2006, an all new, state-of-the-art HVAC system from York International will be in-place complete with Optidrive Eco HVAC units from Invertek Drives.
Many of the Optidrive units are networked to Siemens APOGEE FLN PLC's via Invertek Modbus Option Modules. Others are independently controlled, serving zoned equipment for "hot spots" and hard to condition areas, typical of older buildings.
Due to the historic and highly valued contents of The National Portrait Gallery Invertek Drives recently provided start-up and maintenance training on the Optidrive units for Pierce Associates personnel (the project engineering firm).
Dan Donaghy, Pierce-Project Leader, and others in attendance, all having "prior VFD experience with brands A through Z", made many positive comments regarding Optidrive's excellent features and it's ease of use.
According to an Invertek Drives USA spokesperosn: "Invertek Drives are increasingly being specified by more consulting engineering firms and are becoming the preferred choice of several HVAC original equipment manufacturers. The National Portrait Gallery is a high profile, prestigious project for Invertek, and many more successes are expected in the months and years ahead."
