HVAC & Climate Control

Most manufacturers recommend monthly routine inspections plus a major service once or twice a year, depending on operating hours and site conditions. At URBANARC we don't apply a generic frequency: during the initial assessment we survey every climate control unit and document its condition, age and intervention needs, and we build the visit schedule on that basis. A chiller serving a corporate tower that runs continuously needs a different frequency from a backup unit with few annual operating hours. Routine inspections cover pressure and temperature checks, sensor calibration and component cleaning; the major service includes the planned replacement of parts with predictable wear. The goal is to anticipate failures and sustain the system's energy efficiency throughout its entire lifecycle.

Both, and with our own staff in either case. Most of the program is preventive: a visit schedule with intervention protocols and critical spare parts defined in advance, designed to anticipate failures and sustain the performance of chillers, VRV/VRF systems, cooling towers and air handling units. That approach is what makes it possible to cut energy consumption by up to 25% and extend equipment lifecycle. Corrective work covers the unexpected: when a failure affects the building's operation, our own technicians respond in under 2 hours. Every intervention, preventive or corrective, is documented in a report with system performance indicators, so the client can track how the installation is evolving rather than only hearing from us when something breaks.

A VRV/VRF (variable refrigerant flow) system distributes refrigerant directly to multiple indoor units with zoned control, which makes it common in corporate and mixed-use buildings where each area needs to regulate its own temperature. A chiller, by contrast, centralizes chilled water production and distributes it through piping to air handling units (AHUs), the typical setup in large corporate towers with central climate control. Maintenance tasks differ too: on a VRV/VRF system the focus is on commissioning, the refrigerant circuit and the indoor units; on a chiller, it's the central unit, the associated cooling towers (cleaning, water treatment) and the AHUs (filters, coils, fans, controls). URBANARC maintains both types of system and assesses which one applies based on the building's existing installation.

Yes, and it's the most common scenario. The service starts with a technical survey of the existing installation in which we document the brand, model, condition and age of every climate control unit, from the central chiller to the floor-level air handling units. With that information we design the preventive maintenance plan around what is already installed, with a visit schedule, critical spare parts and intervention protocols specific to each technology. We don't require replacing equipment that operates within its design parameters: the priority is to extend its lifecycle and sustain its efficiency. When a unit really is at the end of its useful life, we flag it in the report with the data that supports the recommendation, and the client decides with objective information.

When a failure affects the building's operation, URBANARC responds with its own technicians in under 2 hours, 365 days a year, through its permanent on-call team. The intervention prioritizes critical systems, for example areas with specific temperature or humidity requirements, until normal operation is restored. Because the team is in-house rather than subcontracted, the technicians already know the installation from the preventive visits and work with the critical spare parts defined in the plan, which shortens on-site diagnosis. Every emergency is recorded in a detailed intervention report that becomes part of the system's history. This response time is the same standard we maintain across the more than 119 buildings we manage in Buenos Aires and the metropolitan area.