Building systems need to be tuned up. Regular recommended service makes sure that individual units run correctly, but often does not address the total picture. Not only do machines and “gizmos” need to be re-tuned or calibrated. To stay in top performance, the entire building needs to be looked at.

A wide diversity of factors could be costing you tenants and money. Things like weatherstripping, insulation, improper or outdated maintenance procedures. The very construction itself may be costing you. A good “architectural eye” can spot these.

Look at weatherstripping and seals around your windows. If the rubber seals are beginning to discolor, or the texture is less than completely pliable, your seals may be aging and need replacing. This is an easy solution to some complaints, by the way.

What about lighting: how many managers know that updating lighting can cause significant changes in HVAC (besides lower electric bills)? A lighting efficiency change will propagate changes throughout the building HVAC system that need to be addressed. I think of it as a happy problem that will pay for itself fast!@

The 250,000 sf World Wildlife Fund headquarters in DC is about to complete retro-commissioning and is applying for LEED-EB (Existing Building) certification. I managed and documented an “enhanced commissioning process” and have helped complete an application to the US Green Building Council for LEED certification that should land them the highest rating, Platinum. Also completed and finalized the commissioning of a LEED Commercial Interiors renovation project for the building. Lastly, I have just validated their U.S. Department of Energy – Energy Star application for the entire building, with a rating of 86 (based on 100).

Another recently completed commissioning job included 80,000 sf of new interiors for the European Commission in DC.

I am providing this service as a contractor to CPM Scheduling, LLC. CPM is a highly respected and growing LEED commissioning consultant that has successful work in over a dozen states from Colorado to the East Coast. I currently act as Senior Commissioning Authority on their behalf.

I have a half dozen other projects, encompassing at least another 600,000 sf, in various stages, and as they are completed, I will tell about them here.

Building Commissioning: A Golden Opportunity for Reducing Energy Costs and Greenhouse Gas Emissions
By Evan Mills, Ph.D.
Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory for: CEC (PIER) July 21, 2009

This white paper contains some compelling arguments in favor of re-commissioning. Money and energy are two items. A building is a kind of organism. We tend to forget that nature and behavior tend to tear and break things down. The passage of time wears things out and we have to maintain our buildings, and just like cars, they need to be tuned up regularly. It’s amazing how much money is being lost by neglecting to do a tuneup. Government and institutional buildings are especially prone to this benign neglect. In government, its often a case of out of sight, out of mind.

Here is a flow chart that I like. Charts are great for reducing complicated processes down to one glance… I like a good flow chart because they are visual, and I tend to be visual, maybe because of my defective ears.

This chart was borrowed from ASHRAE by the National Institute for Building Sciences (NIBS), and is posted on their Whole Building Design Guide web site. Click on the thumbnail to see the full size version.

I quote:

“This report responds to a widely held concern that end-users do not have confidence in the nature and level of energy savings that can be achieved through the commissioning process.”

This is what I think of when they say “sustainable”: The report states that there is a 16% median annual rate of return on investment for existing buildings and and 13% median annual return on new construction. EXCELLENT. How many other investments bring in that rate of return on a sustained basis?

The report continues:

Applying … [this] to … non-residential buildings corresponds to an annual energy-savings potential of $30 billion by the year 2030… An industry equipped to deliver these benefits would have a sales volume of $4 billion per year and support approximately 24,000 jobs.

EXCELLENT!

What does a trend chart look like?

An example of a daily building trend chart

The US Department of Energy has a gather and track data process listing the following steps.

STEP 2: Assess Performance
* 2.1 Gather Data
* 2.2 Establish Baselines
* 2.3 Benchmark
* 2.4 Analyze Data
* 2.5 Technical Assessments & Audits

Let’s look at Step 2.1, ‘Gather data’.

Daily and hourly charts are more detailed require additional metering devices. This is a deeper and more involved, as we will see.

If your building has a control center, it is very possible, that energy consumption patterns can be found in the computer logs. In many older buildings, this may be problematic. This is where upgrades to metering should start.

Deciding on what to measure and then installing the meters and using the data correctly is the key. By studying the building systems, and determining what wires or pipes are carrying the “energy in question”, we can be sure we are installing the meter(s) in the correct physical location.

Next, installing a communication link between these meters and a data collection center, such as a desktop computer, creates the basic data collection network. The cost of this approach is extremely reasonable. Wireless measuring devices are becoming very widespread. In fact, with IP networking, whether hard wired or wireless, it is an incredibly simple and cheap way to get a handle on this.

Having the data in hand will help the engineers and operators. But we want to understand how the building system in question is being controlled. The charts can be complicated. Decomposing the building systems down to their simple points will yield a lot of valuable information. once it is charted. Having your building engineer or an outside consulting engineer experienced in HVAC controls is often necessary.

More reading about energy measurement and metering and a prior article on measurement in Noels Green Blog.

What are we measuring?

Motors, lights and electric resistance heaters are the major electric energy consumers. Boilers, unit heaters and furnaces are the major gas/oil consumers.

Of course, a major component of electric use is the ‘plug loads’, which is equipment actually plugged in. These are usually in the control of the user/occupants themselves. They include computers, task lighting, televisions, refrigerators and so on.

Electric heaters are often being used by user/occupants who feel cold and do not get their complaints/needs heard or met. This is unfortunately, a ubiquitous problem in the USA, just now getting serious attention after years of ignoring.

The next wave

Now here is a very nice “downstream” application for building information modeling. It is not getting much attention. Yet.

The same Building Information Model which is being used to design and build with, can easily be re-used as a framework for the building control center! Metering and all other energy systems mapped in the BIM? You would have a ready-made view of the Building Energy Consumption!

This has been a theoretical possibility for many decades, but the cost and complexity of it was such that no one besides a NASA or a nuclear research lab could implement it. Now we have a chance to see the possibilities of such high powered data collection and analysis being done on a desktop computer. Hooray for IT!

The Buildings Sector accounts for about 40% of U.S. Energy, 72% of Electricity, and 34% of Natural Gas use. Building energy costs totaled $390 billion in 2006.
The Buildings Sector accounts for about 40% of U.S. Energy, 72% of Electricity,
and 34% of Natural Gas use. Building energy costs totaled $390 billion in 2006.
Source: Buildings Energy Data Book, Sept. 2008

To put some solid numbers on benefits of commissioning, Evan Mills, PhD, and colleagues at Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory, Portland Energy Conservation, and Texas A&M University (Energy Systems Laboratory) reviewed published and unpublished data on 224 buildings in 21 states, representing 30.4 million sf of commissioned space—73% in existing buildings, 27% in new ones. Total commissioning costs for these buildings were $17 million (2003 dollars), an average $0.55/sf.

Among their findings:
■ An average 11 deficiencies were found in existing buildings, 28 in new buildings. HVAC systems represented the bulk of the problems.
■ For existing buildings, median commissioning costs were $0.27/sf; energy savings came to a median 15% (18% average); payback times were less than nine months (0.7 years).
■ For new buildings, commissioning costs were $1.00/sf (0.6% of total construction costs), yielding a median payback of 4.8 years.
■ Reduced change orders and other non-energy benefits accounted for $0.18/sf savings in existing buildings and $1.24/sf for new construction— “comparable to the entire cost of commissioning,” the researchers note.

The authors conclude that “commissioning is one of the most cost-effective means of improving energy efficiency in commercial buildings.” While not a panacea, they admit, it is “one of the most cost-effective and far-reaching means of improving the energy efficiency of buildings.”

Post-occupancy evaluations can help property owners, developers, and AEC firms determine how buildings are functioning for tenants or occupants.

What can I add to this? Implementation and testing YOUR PROJECT. CALL ME TODAY for a no-cost evaluation