What is Airflow Balancing?
Airflow balancing refers to the process of adjusting and optimizing the airflow within a heating, ventilation, and air conditioning (HVAC) system or a building’s ventilation system. This task involves precise measurements to maintain comfort and indoor air quality.
The Challenge
Airflow balancing is a complex and precise process, influenced by numerous factors that affect HVAC system performance. Achieving optimal comfort and efficiency requires technical expertise, meticulous attention to detail, and a structured approach to ensure every space receives the appropriate amount of conditioned air.
My Role
My responsibilities for this project encompassed a range of requirements outlined by the project manager. One key objective was to develop a user-friendly workflow that simplified the balancing process. Since the Connected Workflow application already includes multiple modules (mobile apps), maintaining a consistent look and feel was essential to ensure a seamless user experience.
Airflow measurement can be a time-consuming task, but the Airflow Balancing module significantly streamlines the process by eliminating the need for manual calculations. A crucial enhancement introduced later in development was the ability to export results, save them locally on the mobile device, and share them as a PDF via email, improving efficiency and accessibility.
The Objective
- Develop an application that simplifies calculations for technicians while maintaining a cohesive look and feel consistent with the CWa suite (Connected Workflows application).
- Ensure seamless navigation, allowing users to move easily between steps as needed.
- Implement a visual timeline of the balancing process to provide users with clear progress indicators.
- Enable users to export results locally to their mobile devices for easy access.
- Integrate functionality for sharing results via email in a PDF format to enhance collaboration and record-keeping.
CWa for Balancer
Designing the App
Other modules within the CWa suite follow similar layouts and utilize shared assets and design patterns from the system, ensuring a cohesive user experience. The acceptance criteria remained an evolving challenge, requiring continuous adaptation to incorporate new features and enhancements based on recommendations from the product owners.
My Tasks/Devices
This screen serves as a central repository for reports generated at the end of each balancing workflow, allowing technicians to access them later as needed. Additionally, it provides functionality to organize reports by moving them between folders and enables seamless sharing with other technicians via email.
Available Devices
The CWCVT device enables technicians to connect to the HVAC system. Once connected, the app automatically detects and displays all available devices on the network, allowing for seamless integration and system access.
Autocalibration Status
Once the autocalibration process is complete, the airflow test can be conducted, generating a detailed report that the technician can save for future reference.
Takeaways
Before starting this project, I had no prior knowledge of airflow balancing and had never even heard of it. Fortunately, my project manager provided clear and detailed explanations, helping me understand the background and core workflow.
Throughout the project, I gained valuable insight into how complexity increases as more features are introduced—particularly when accounting for edge cases and “unhappy” paths users may encounter.
This was one of the most in-depth and rewarding projects I’ve worked on. Despite evolving requirements, the thorough explanations provided by my product owner in team meetings ensured that there was rarely any confusion, making the development process smooth and efficient.