Is Your Building Out of Commission?
Written by an Energy Solutions Specialist at Ahern
While we would like them to be, how building systems are designed is not always how they are installed and operated. For a new building, the process of confirming that a system is installed and operated according to design and project requirements is known as building commissioning (often abbreviated Cx). For an existing building, the same process is known as retrocommissioning (often abbreviated RCx). For an existing building with advanced metering and monitoring, continuous commissioning (often abbreviated CC) is commissioning which is integrated in periodic operation and maintenance (O & M) to ensure building systems are continuously tuned. Finally, value commissioning (Vx) is similar to RCx or CC but is abbreviated and targets very common issues with building systems.
Regardless of specific commissioning, the aim of commissioning processes is to bring a building’s operation to peak efficiency. Beyond intangible benefits such as improved indoor air quality (IAQ) and occupant comfort, commissioning processes have proven to have financial benefits. In 2004, a comprehensive study of 224 buildings across 21 states, representing 30.4 million square feet of commissioned floor area found average savings from commissioning processes ranging between $1.26 / ft2 / year (for medical research buildings) down to $0.17 / ft2 / year for school buildings.1 Ahern has worked in partnership with Focus on Energy2 to successfully complete both Cx and RCx projects for a variety of clients across Wisconsin.
For more information on if a commissioning program could be beneficial for you and your facility, please contact Ahern today.
1Chapter 7 Commissioning Existing Buildings, O&M Best Practices Guide, Release 3.0, eere.energy.gov 2Focus on Energy: Partnering with Wisconsin Utilities, http://focusonenergy.com