In recent years, an increasing number of industrial facilities have added high-volume, low-speed (HVLS) fans to make their HVAC systems work more efficiently. There is also a growing awareness of the health and safety benefits of HVLS fans, whose cool breezes can not only help prevent various forms of heat stress, but also make workers more productive, alert, focused and, ultimately, safer.
Some facility managers worry that the installation of these large, ceiling-mounted fans could have a safety downside – by inhibiting the effectiveness of a facility’s sprinkler systems in the event of a fire. The interaction between HVLS fans and sprinkler systems has certainly been of interest to the National Fire Protection Agency (NFPA), who conducted a multi-part study to determine if the operation of these fans could negatively affect the performance of emergency fire sprinklers.