Against the Clock: How Dalkia and Smardt Restored Critical Cooling Over a Weekend

When the only chiller serving an Empire State Realty property went down on a Friday morning, there was little room for error—and even less time. With a critical replacement CPU located hundreds of miles away and no standard weekend process for accessing it, Smardt and Dalkia U.S. Chillers mobilized across teams, locations and the weekend to find a solution.

Through technical expertise, rapid coordination and a remarkable commitment to the customer, the replacement part reached Manhattan Sunday evening and the chiller was back in operation before the start of the Monday business day.

CHALLENGE

The situation began around 7:30 Friday morning when the Smardt chiller serving the Empire State Realty property unexpectedly shut down. For building management, the situation was particularly urgent: this was the property’s only chiller.

Dalkia U.S. Chillers immediately dispatched a technician to investigate. A second technician joined the effort as troubleshooting continued, but the team was unable to restart the chiller. With the HMI displaying an abnormal screen, Dalkia engaged Smardt Technical Support to help determine whether the problem was related to the display, controller or CPU.

After working through the possibilities, the teams identified a failed CPU/controller as the likely cause. The technical problem had been isolated. Now they had to solve a different problem: getting the replacement part to the site.

“They were in a panic because it was the only chiller they had. We had to give them answers and a concrete plan for how we were going to get them back online.”
— Joe Taormina, General Manager, Dalkia U.S. Chiller Services

The replacement CPU was confirmed to be available in Smardt inventory at the Plattsburgh facility. But with Friday evening approaching and the weekend beginning, accessing the facility and transporting the part to Manhattan presented a significant logistical challenge. The clock was now working against everyone.

SOLUTION

Rather than allowing the weekend to become a barrier, the Smardt and Dalkia teams began working together on a recovery plan.

Throughout Friday evening and Saturday, the teams coordinated across organizations and locations to confirm the part, arrange access to the facility and determine the fastest way to get it into the hands of the technician. There was no established after-hours process that could simply be activated. The solution had to be created in real time.

Timeline (Friday–Monday)

• Friday: Chiller shutdown
• Saturday–Sunday: Replacement coordination, installation, programming
• Monday: Fully operational the next business day!

“Once we got everyone together, the focus was very simple: what can we do to get this customer back up and running? There were a lot of obstacles, but nobody was looking at them as a reason we couldn’t do it. We were looking for a way around them.”
— Jeff Carstensen, Service Operations Manager, Smardt Chillers Inc.

By Sunday morning, the recovery plan was in motion. Access to the Plattsburgh facility was arranged and the replacement CPU was physically located and secured. Dalkia then arranged for the part to be transported by air to the New York area.

The handoff took place Sunday evening. From there, the part was transported directly to the Empire State Realty property, where a Smardt service technician was already prepared to begin the repair.

The replacement controller was installed and programmed that evening. Within hours, three of the four compressors were operating again. The remaining compressor issue was resolved Monday morning, bringing the chiller fully back online, with only a separate BMS issue remaining to be addressed.

“Once I had the new CPU, the priority was getting it installed, programmed and seeing what the chiller would do. We wanted to get as much capacity back as quickly as possible and make sure the building had cooling.”
— Max Mitchell, Service Technician, Smardt Chillers Inc.

From a Friday morning failure to a Sunday evening recovery, the teams remained focused on one objective: restoring the customer’s cooling before Monday.

BENEFITS

For Empire State Realty, the most important result was simple: the chiller was operational for the start of the next business day.

What could have developed into a prolonged weekend outage was resolved through the combined technical expertise, responsiveness and resourcefulness of the Dalkia and Smardt teams. The response gave the customer a clear recovery plan when the situation was uncertain and delivered a working solution when time mattered most.

The experience also reinforced the value of the relationship between Dalkia and Smardt. Empire State Realty is an important account, with multiple Smardt chillers already installed across its properties and additional opportunities ahead. In a situation where customer confidence could easily have been tested, both organizations demonstrated their willingness to go beyond normal operating hours and responsibilities to protect the customer’s operation.

The weekend response also highlighted an important opportunity for Smardt: turning exceptional individual effort into a repeatable service capability.

“I can’t stress enough how critical it was to have that chiller operational on Sunday. This wasn’t just about fixing a piece of equipment. It was about protecting our customer’s operation and our relationship with them.”
— Joe Taormina, General Manager, Dalkia U.S. Chiller Services

The experience reinforced the need for stronger regional critical-parts availability and defined after-hours parts access, helping ensure that future customers can benefit from the same level of responsiveness without relying on an ad hoc process.

Ultimately, the incident demonstrated what can happen when a customer challenge becomes a shared priority.

When every hour matters, strong partnerships, technical expertise and a determination to find a way forward can make all the difference.