Trend Graph Guidance

Use this guide to help you decide what points to trend in your building automation system (BAS). If your
BAS has limited capabilities, you may not be able to trend all the recommended points. If that is the
case, just trend as many as you can.

Occupancy Scheduling
Potential Issues to Identify
• No night setback for heating or cooling
• No weekend setback for heating or cooling
• Excessive supply fan cycling (indicates that night and/or weekend setback temperatures are too
close to normal operating setpoints).

Points to Trend
For each monitored air handler, plot supply fan status vs. time. Status should change to Off during
unoccupied times. Add zone temperature to the graph. You could also trend data for support systems
such as pumps, chillers, and boilers.

Analyze Trend Graphs

• For zone temperatures, trended data should show 5-10°F deviations from setpoints when
setbacks are active during non-shoulder months. Winter zone temperatures should drop down
to 60-65°F and summer temperatures should rise to 80-85°F.
• For discharge static pressures, trended data should show readings of 0" or at least 50% (half) of
normal (occupied) static pressure readings.
• For VAV boxes, status should indicate "Unoccupied" during unoccupied periods.
• For support systems (reheat pumps, reheat converters, reheat hot water boilers, chillers,
towers, pumps, etc.), trended data should indicate that they are turning off at night if all areas
of the building are also shut down.

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Discharge Air Temperature Control

Potential Issues to Identify

• Discharge air temperature not meeting discharge air setpoint
• Unusually unsteady discharge air temperatures
• Reset not being used for discharge air setpoint
• Discharge air setpoints too high or too low.

Points to Trend
For each air handler monitored, review plots of discharge air temperature and discharge air setpoint vs.
time and supply air temperature vs. supply air setpoint. On the same trend graph, plot the reheat
valves. You may also want to plot chilled water valves.

Trended data for discharge temperature reset control that is working should show temperature
setpoints that vary as the building wakes up in the morning, change as the building becomes occupied,
and continue to change during the late morning and early afternoon hours. Changing outdoor ambient
temperatures and solar loading will also cause temperature setpoints to change. This can vary as much
as 10-15°F over the course of the day.

Analyze Trend Graphs

Trended data for discharge temperatures that is flat or rarely varies is a strong indicator of a non-
functioning discharge temperature reset control. Trended data for discharge temperatures that show
sharply falling temperatures well below setpoint that are coincidental to the chiller system starting and
remain well below setpoint indicates a failed (leaking) cooling control valve. Trended data that shows
sharply rising discharge temperatures well above setpoint that are coincidental to the boiler/reheat
system starting and remain well above setpoint indicates a failed (leaking) heating control valve. Look
for deviations between discharge air temperatures and setpoints. Also look for unusually high (more
than 70°F) or low (less than 55°F) discharge temperatures.

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Discharge Static Control
Potential Issues to Identify
Look for situations where:
• Most dampers are nearly closed during cooling (static pressure too high)
• Several VAV boxes on an air handler have dampers fully open (static pressure is too low and VAV
boxes are not able to meet zone loads)
• Dampers are not modulating as conditions change (VAV boxes are not being controlled or are
not responding to control signals).

Points to Trend
For each air handler, review a plot of the damper positions of all VAV units vs. time. Also plot discharge
static pressure and discharge static pressure setpoint vs. time. Next plot fan speed vs. time.

Analyze Trend Graphs

Trended data for discharge static pressure control that is working should show varied static pressure.
Setpoints should vary as the building wakes up in the morning hours and then change as the building
becomes occupied. Changes should continue during the late morning and early afternoon hours.
Changing outdoor ambient temperatures and solar loading will also cause temperature setpoints to
change.

If the static pressure control is constant, then the fan speed (load) should vary.

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Air Handler Heating & Cooling
Potential Issues to Identify
• Unoccupied or 24/7 operation
• Unoccupied hour setback
• Lower or higher than expected discharge air temperature
• Excessive outdoor air intake during occupied periods and during pre-heating and pre-cooling
periods
• Significant reheat during summer (cooling) season
• Non-modulating fan (if VAV)
• Higher than normal static pressure
• Setpoint and static pressure resets
• Simultaneous heating and cooling
• Reversed heating and cooling lockouts
• Economizer not used or not working properly.

Typical Faults to Identify in a Single-Duct VAV Air Handler

• Night/weekend operation
• Static pressure setpoint and resets
• Discharge temperature setpoint and resets
• Minimum outdoor air intake
• Economizer operation.

Points to Trend
• Outdoor, mixed, and return air temperatures vs. time
• Discharge air temperature and discharge air temperature setpoint vs. time
• Discharge static pressure and setpoint vs. time
• Mixed air damper position vs. time
• Fan status and fan speed vs. time
• Cooling coil and heating coil valve positions vs. time
• Heating and cooling setpoints vs. time
• Chilled water and hot water valve positions vs. time
• Occupancy mode vs. time
• Any cubic feet per minute (CFM) device that is part of the air handler control.

Analyze Trend Graphs

Trend graphs should show the monitored air handler switching from heating to cooling (or cooling to
heating) mode appropriately in response to rising and falling outdoor air temperature. For most
climates, there should be one or more times during the day when neither heating nor cooling is running.
Heating and cooling should never run simultaneously. The cooling valve should not open until the
damper is about 80% open, and similarly, the damper should be closed when heating is in operation.

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Air Handler Economizer
Potential Issues to Identify
Your goal is to identify incorrect economizer operation. There are numerous causes of incorrect
operation that you will verify or identify during the building walkdown. Some of these are:
• Incorrect control strategy
• Stuck dampers
• Disconnected or damaged linkages
• Failed actuator
• Disconnected wires
• Failed, uncalibrated, or miscalibrated sensors
• 2 x 4 or other object jammed in damper.

Points to Trend
For each air-side economizer, review plots of:
• Outdoor air temperature, mixed air temperature, return air temperature, and discharge air
temperature vs. time
• Outdoor air damper position (percent open), outdoor air temperature, and return air
temperature vs. time
• Outdoor air damper position and chilled water valve position (percent open) vs. time.

Analyze Trend Graphs

Look for outdoor air dampers open at unusual times of day or under unusual outdoor temperature
conditions (e.g., dampers open when outdoor temperature is near freezing).

Look for outdoor air dampers not open to economizer under favorable conditions (outdoor air
temperature between 40°F and 60°F).

Look for outdoor air damper not closing to minimum position for freeze prevention when outdoor
temperature is less than 40°F or so.

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Zone Conditioning
Potential Issues to Identify
• No night setback
• Significant reheat for interior zone terminal unit during occupied hours
• Overcooling or overheating
• Significant reheat during summer (cooling) season for exterior zone unit
• Supply air temperature too cool or too warm
• No use of supply air reset
• Certain zones (e.g., corner offices) driving air handler operation
• Some zones out of control, oscillating between heating and cooling.

Deciding What Zones and Equipment to Monitor

Here are some general guidelines to help you determine which zones and equipment to create trend
graphs for:
• If there are fewer than eight zones per floor, then trend all zones on the floor.
• For each floor, trend at least one zone on each of the four directions (north, south, east, and
west) and at least four zones in core. In other words, trend at least eight VAV units per floor.
• If the building is less than four stories tall, trend eight zones on every floor.
• If the building is 20 stories tall, then trend eight zones on every other floor (trend a maximum of
80 VAV units).
• Based on operators' input and BAS reports, give special consideration for trending:
o Zones with comfort complaints
o Interior zones with low cooling load (for example, janitor's room or storage room)
o Zones with high minimum airflow setting (for example, more than 35%)
o Exterior zones with reheat during cooling season
o Any offices that are no longer fully occupied as originally designed.

Points to Trend
Trend as many as possible from the following list:
• Zone air temperature and setpoint
• VAV damper position
• Reheat valve position (if supply air is reheated at the zone)
• Recool valve position (if supply air is recooled at the zone)
• Zone occupancy mode
• Zone CFM and CFM setpoint
• Zone discharge air temperature
• Fan status or fan command (for fan-powered units only).

Analyze Trend Graphs

In setting up and analyzing zone trend graphs, your goals are to:
• Get a feel for how many zones on each monitored air handler are heating and how many are
cooling at the same time
• Get a sense of which areas are heating and which are cooling at any given time
• Determine if any individual zones are heating and cooling at the same time.