A condo building in North Vancouver runs on its make-up air unit. The hallways, lobby and shared corridors have no way to pull in fresh air without it, and when the old gas-fired unit quit, the building felt it fast. Air Solutions Mechanical Ltd. came in, crane-lifted the dead unit off the roof, landed a new one, and had the building breathing again.
The Backstory
Every condo building moves a lot of air that nobody thinks about. Residents notice the temperature in their suite, the light in the lobby, whether the elevator is running. They rarely notice the equipment that keeps fresh air moving through the common areas. That is the job of the make-up air unit: it draws outside air in, conditions it, and pushes it into the shared spaces so the building does not go stale.
This building had an older gas-fired make-up air unit that had served its common areas for years. It had reached the end of the line. The building needed a replacement, and they needed it without disrupting the people who live there.
The Problem
When we were called in, the story was simple. The gas-fired make-up air unit that served the common areas was finished. It had been repaired and patched as long as it could be, and the building was facing a full replacement.
Make-up air units are not optional in a building like this. Without one, the common areas lose their fresh air supply. Odours hang around, the air goes stale, and the building stops feeling like a comfortable place to live. It is the kind of equipment that is invisible right up until it stops, and then everyone notices.
We looked at the old unit and the rooftop setup, then gave the building the straight goods. This was a replacement, not a repair. There was no patch that would buy them another season. The smarter play was a new unit, installed properly, with everything reconnected and tested before we left the roof.
The Solution
We replaced the failed gas-fired make-up air unit with a new rooftop unit sized for the building’s common areas. This was not a job you could do quietly. A make-up air unit of this size is too heavy to carry up a stairwell, so the work started on the roof.
We rigged the old unit and hoisted it off the roof with a crane truck. Once the old equipment was down, we landed the new unit and mounted it on the roof in the same location. From there the reconnect work began: gas lines, venting and electrical, all tied back into the new unit.
With the new unit set and connected, we tested unit operation from start to finish. The unit fired, the air moved, and the common areas had their fresh air supply back. We do not call a job done until the equipment proves itself under real operation, and this one did.
The Challenge
The hard part of this job was never the equipment. It was the access and the coordination.
A rooftop replacement means crane work, and crane work means planning: a clear window, a safe lift, and a way to get the old unit down and the new one up without damage to the roof or the building below. Add a building full of residents who still need their common areas to function, and you have a job where the schedule matters as much as the wrench work.
We set the lift around the building’s needs and kept the disruption to one planned window. The old unit came off, the new unit went on, and the reconnects and testing followed without the building losing more than it had to.
The Result
The building has its common-area ventilation back, and it has it with new equipment instead of another round of patches. The new make-up air unit is mounted, connected and running, and the rooftop setup is clean.
For the building, the win is simple. No more stale air in the hallways, no more emergency repairs on a unit that could not be saved, and a rooftop asset that should serve them for years.
“The old make-up air unit had been giving us trouble for a while, and we knew it was on borrowed time. Air Solutions handled the whole thing, the crane, the roof, the reconnects, and had the new unit running without turning the building upside down. Straight answers and no surprises, which is all you want when you are managing a building.”
– Building Manager, North Vancouver
Key Takeaways
- The right call, not the cheap one: the old unit could not be patched, so replacement was the honest fix
- Crane work done clean: the old unit was rigged and lifted off the roof, and the new one was landed and mounted in place
- Full reconnect: gas lines, venting and electrical were all tied back into the new unit
- Tested before we left: unit operation was verified on site, not assumed
- Common areas kept running: the lift was planned around the building so residents felt as little as possible
Serving the Lower Mainland
Air Solutions Mechanical Ltd. serves commercial and multi-family buildings across the Lower Mainland, including North Vancouver, East Vancouver, Burnaby, Richmond and Surrey. Make-up air units are one part of a building ventilation system we look after every day, and we keep common parts on hand so most work gets done without a second trip.
Client: Multi-family condo building, North Vancouver
Project: Gas-fired make-up air (MUA) unit replacement
Equipment: Rooftop make-up air unit serving the building’s common areas
Timeline: Crane lift and replacement completed on site
Location: North Vancouver, BC
Need a make-up air unit replaced in Vancouver? Contact Air Solutions Mechanical Ltd for a free consultation, or see our commercial HVAC services. If your building is losing air in a common area, our emergency repair team and maintenance plans are built for exactly this.
