hvac
PROJECT
In Hot Water For Lack Of Hot Water At the Kansas City Airport Marriott, it’s digital mixing to the rescue.
M
ost hotel managers have learned through
to make quite a ruckus if a hotel’s worst-case scenario
experience that their toughest, crankiest
coincides with a stressed-out business traveler.
customer is an unhappy guest at midnight
or at five o’clock in the morning. The guest has either just woken up and needs to move
Top. The Powers IntelliStation touchscreen control operates a three-way valve through a high-speed actuator to precisely maintain the selected outlet temperature. Temperature and pressure sensors are included at key points within the panel to enable an immediate response to changes in fixture demand-and-supply water conditions. Inset. The lack-of-hot-water problem at the Kansas City Airport Marriott was resolved with the installation of a Powers IntelliStation digital mixing system.
guests at all hours of the day and night. “The highest demand for hot water comes between
“It’s a situation we work very hard to avoid,” stated
5 a.m. and 6 a.m. and again between 10 p.m. and mid-
Greg Brinkerhoff, director of engineering at the Marri-
night,” added Brinkerhoff. It wasn’t uncommon for
ott Kansas City Airport hotel.
hotel managers to get several calls a week from guests,
out posthaste or, after a long day of travel, needs to get to
According to Brinkerhoff, late arrivers and early
bed immediately. A tense situation can escalate if there’s
risers can push the limits of a hotel’s water-heater and
“Unfortunately,” said Brinkerhoff, “the best we
insufficient pressure–or hot water–for a shower.
plumbing systems. At his 384-room facility, located
could tell them at the time was that hot water ‘was on
adjacent to the busy airport, there is a steady flow of
its way.’”
Angry hotel guests, at the oddest hours, are known 58
COMMERCI A L A RCHI T EC T URE
MAY 2017
commercialarchitecturemagazine.com
displeased about the lack of hot water.
