When Hansel Phelps Construction Co., Dallas, was contacted by a large regional airline based out of Dallas to lead a complete renovation including several new luggage areas and one very humid baggage handling area, they knew they needed to call on the best. Carrollton, Texas-based
Brandt Engineering, with a staff of more than 1,000 highly trained employees, helps design and build energy-efficient, environmentally sensitive and cost-effective facilities.
Luggage is an extremely important component of travel. When travelers arrive after a flight they expect their luggage to be at the other end waiting for them without disturbance. Bag handlers are responsible for directing luggage from the plane, onto the correct baggage claim belt. If something goes wrong during this process it can lead to a multitude of holdups and some very unhappy customers. Consequently, keeping airline staff productive and comfortable when they are tasked with handling customer luggage is imperative.
Assistant Project Manager Ryan Cox highlighted safety as a top priority for Brandt. He explained that they knew immediately that keeping an exposed area, such as this new baggage handling area, cool in the extreme Texas heat would turn out to be a vital part of the projects success.
Cox recalls, “We knew we needed fans and the key benefits we wanted from these fans were functionality, energy efficiency and reliability.”
Brandt contacted the local Carrollton-based Serco high volume, low speed (HVLS) fan distributor through Texas Air Systems, Dallas, the lead mechanical contractor on the renovation project. After consulting with Serco on the best solution to keep this area comfortable for workers, Brandt decided to partner with Texas Air Systems. Through a series of demonstrations the team elected to install 20 Serco HVLS Fans in the newly constructed outbound baggage claim area.
The beauty of the Serco HVLS Fan is in its unique design, which is comprised of lightweight extruded aluminum blades to optimize fan performance, yet never puts strain on the fan itself. This feature also enables the use of a smaller motor resulting in a more energy-efficient fan. In addition to better performance, the design also creates considerably less torque compared to other big fans. The lightweight design of the Serco HVLS Fan extends the life of the fans’ working parts resulting in substantially reduced wear, which equates to little or no need for servicing.
“With all the challenges we wanted the best engineered fans that could move the most air, the guys get hot down here and there’s no way you can run air conditioning because the area is fully open,” comments Cox. “Instead we decided to run the Serco HVLS fans 24 hours a day. It sounds like a lot but these fans are extremely energy-efficient and the air movement makes it bearable down here.”
The Serco HVLS fans move large volumes of air and produce what has been coined as the “horizontal floor jet.” This horizontal floor jet is produced when the fan creates a large cylindrical column of air that flows down to the floor and outward in all directions, it then circulates the air vertically up the walls and draws it back in a central column, where it again flows toward the floor. The gentle breeze generated causes a sensation of coolness, or a lower perceived temperature, not dependent on air temperature inside the building. Which is ideal for Brandt considering the outdoor baggage area would have no air conditioning. In fact, the circulation caused by the Serco HVLS fan causes the air to feel 7 to 11 degrees cooler as the breeze passes over the skin.
“It’s cool in here, we have workers that just walk through this area to cool off, you can really feel the air that comes off these fans it’s powerful but they don’t make any noise,” mentions Cox.
Quiet fans that move more air are extremely beneficial especially when installed in a workplace where workers need to communicate to ensure that the correct luggage is placed on the correct luggage belt.
Brandt is currently at work on the second phase of the airline’s outdoor baggage claim renovation, adding another outdoor bag claim area set to open before the end of the year. “We are adding another 15 to 17 of these fans in this area,” adds Cox.
Brandt wanted fans to provide high functionality to meet and exceed the goals set forth in this project. The Serco HVLS Fans provide just the right mix of functionality, energy efficiency and quiet operation. The climate control aspect was crucial to the overall success of the baggage claim area. Comfortable workers are productive workers, and workers who can clearly hear directions increase the probability that the correct luggage will be waiting for passengers at the other end.
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Dan Linder is the sales manager, HVLS fans, at Entrematic, Loading Dock Products, based in Carrollton, Texas. Serco is a brand owned by Entrematic that specializes in specialty hydraulic dock levelers, safety products and programmable control systems and offers a complete line of dock levelers, vehicle restraints, dock seals and shelters, energy-efficient HVLS fans, ergonomic lift products and programmable control systems. For more information, visit www.sercoentrematic.com.