Mission Monday: HVAC system management

Published Aug. 7, 2023
AFIMSC Public Affairs

Meet Gabriel Perez, a heating, ventilation and air conditioning equipment specialist with the Air Force Civil Engineer Center’s Operations Directorate. Perez and his coworkers on AFCEC’s Civil Engineer Maintenance Inspection and Repair Team evaluate and recommission the mechanical systems providing HVAC to Air Force and Space Force facilities worldwide. It includes testing air and water flows and the systems controlling the various pieces of equipment. (U.S. Air Force graphic illustration)

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TYNDALL AIR FORCE BASE, Fla. – It’s Mission Monday. Meet Gabriel Perez, a heating, ventilation and air conditioning equipment specialist with the Air Force Civil Engineer Center’s Operations Directorate.

Perez and his coworkers on AFCEC’s Civil Engineer Maintenance Inspection and Repair Team evaluate and recommission the mechanical systems providing HVAC to Air Force and Space Force facilities worldwide. It includes testing air and water flows and the systems controlling the various pieces of equipment.
“We’re also available to assist with mechanical design reviews on renovations and new construction,” he said.

We asked Perez, a native of Guam, to tell us a little more about himself and the work he does for the Department of the Air Force.

What do you love about your job?
Meeting with customers at the installations and working with local civil engineering shops to address their site-specific issues.

When it comes to your job, what keeps you motivated?
When we can make a difference at the facilities we’re working on, improving system operations and overall occupant comfort.

Why are you and your team important to the Air Force and Space Force enterprise and your customers?
With rising energy costs, anything we can do to improve system efficiency, decrease energy use and extend equipment life amounts to money that can be used elsewhere in the enterprise.

Describe a project or event you and your team worked on recently that gave you a great sense of accomplishment:
Providing support for Typhoon Mawar recovery at Andersen AFB, Guam. Working with the local shops to bring systems back online was satisfying.

How does what you do support AFIMSC’s strategic priorities?
If the climate controls in a facility don’t work, occupant comfort and work output can be negatively impacted. The facility could be a child development center, a dormitory or an electronics lab where aircraft instruments are calibrated. If the warfighter is worried about the wellbeing of family, an Airman can’t sleep due to a dorm room being too hot or cold, or pilots are unable to fly because instrument calibration couldn’t be accomplished, missions are affected. I feel that the services we provide help to minimize that impact so the warfighters can focus on their missions.

Is there anything else you’d like to add which might help people understand the importance of what you do for the Department of the Air Force?
Our customers include the Air Force Metrology and Calibration Program Office who utilize our services to ensure the precision measurement equipment laboratories can maintain their strict temperature and humidity standards and enable instrument calibration. We have also worked on Air Force Research Laboratory facilities, corrosion control hangars and air traffic control towers. All of these facilities have mechanical systems that at times fail to perform as designed. Our evaluations are used to help local CE shops justify funding and create projects to address issues with these systems.