SMACNA - Arizona Chapter
Sheet Metal & Air Conditioning Contractors National Association
Sheet Metal & Air Conditioning Contractors National Association
As a world leader in innovative facility maintenance and cleanliness, ABM Building Services appreciates the talent and expertise SMACNA and SMART Local 359-trained workers provide in the realm of balance and testing.
Testing, Adjusting and Balancing (TAB) Engineer Damon Fermaint is ABM’s Balance Division Manager. He praises Local 359’s test and balance training and the ongoing education union provides journeymen. The ABM Balance Division relies upon Local 359’s topnotch educational program to ensure properly trained individuals are always on the job.
While ABM employs more than 140,000 people, the Phoenix area balance division currently consists of an elite team of 50 employees. That number will undoubtedly grow soon, says Fermaint.
“We are looking forward to several new companies with large projects coming to the Valley that will provide expansion opportunities, in addition to probably branching out beyond Arizona in the near future,” says Fermaint.
Current clients include such heavy hitters as major chip manufacturers, hospitals, resorts, university campuses and municipalities. New semiconductor plants and other large manufacturing facilities have announced plans to come to the Valley and to neighboring southwestern states in the coming months.
Apprentices learn testing, adjusting and balancing along with HVAC system design and installation, welding, computer-aided drafting (CAD), and architectural sheet metal.
“We are part of the Local 359, and our division exclusively performs test and balance; however, we also are able to put sheet metal workers to work when there are scheduled shutdowns at chip makers three or four times a year,” says Fermaint. “The ability to acquire short-term, highly skilled manpower is a huge SMACNA advantage.”
Fermaint says SMACNA and Local 359 provides access to properly trained individuals who focus on safety and quality of work, factors that allow ABM to remain at the top of the TAB industry.
In 1971, SMACNA helped establish the National Environmental Balancing Bureau (NEBB), and ABM’s Technical Solutions division is NEBB certified, a designation that means professionals have completed coursework and passed examinations regarding safety, instrument calibration, report preparation, development and planning of system maintenance, and more. NEBB now has a worldwide reputation for setting the high uniform standards in testing, adjusting and balancing environmental systems.
Buildings, especially those in Arizona, rely upon balanced and well-maintained airflow systems to keep areas at a comfortable temperature and to minimize energy costs. Air quality needs become more complicated when a facility such as a chip manufacturer requires clean rooms, which also require exhaust system testing and balancing of scrubber exhaust, general exhaust, and solvent exhaust systems.
The Covid-19 pandemic has added new challenges for the TAB crew. In some cases, patient rooms in hospitals needed to undergo airflow reconfiguration to ensure contagions didn’t leave the rooms. And, of course, intensive care units, lab testing areas, and operating rooms all have unique needs to stay current with life safety code compliance standards.
ABM also performs testing and balancing of water systems and sounds/vibrations in commercial buildings.
Between current customers expanding their operations and new companies building facilities in the Valley, ABM and SMACNA will play a large role in the testing and balancing of literally tons of air handling equipment and water systems coming online in the near future.