Building Energy Resilience

Part 1: Performance Improvement and Proven Energy Savings

I recently presented at the NCBC conference in Hartford, Connecticut on the lessons we have learned from our retrocommissioning work. Retrocommissioning is a difficult process to predict, as existing systems and opportunities vary so widely depending on the equipment’s age and functional state, as well as the changes in loads since the building’s design. So while projects themselves differ in scope, size and outcome, the lessons we’ve learned about the process apply across the board. In this two-part blog post, I will discuss our experience with the performance improvements (proven benefits to the building) this week and my thoughts on the process next time.

Introduction

End users of a building want to inhabit a space that provides, among other things, a comfortable environment with respect to ventilation and thermal comfort. Thermal comfort is typically comprised of two things: temperature and moisture content (aka relative humidity). Ventilation comfort is derived from providing enough outdoor air to a space to satisfy peoples’ need for oxygen, and mitigate buildup of odors as well as other air borne irritants and contaminants. HVAC systems can easily achieve these goals while simultaneously being energy hogs and maintenance nightmares.

A year or so ago I was part of an “office share” office where I had my own desk in shared office space with other professionals in unrelated fields. At the time, I lived 40 miles from our company offices here in Burlington, and to cut down on the daily commute, for a few days each week I worked out of this shared office closer to my home. It was really a great place to be, interesting, and much better for productivity that siting at the kitchen table!

We have posted several times about the importance of building control systems in achieving efficient building performance. In particular, building control graphics screens are a critical interface for understanding, operating, and maintaining building systems. Through my work in commissioning building systems, I have found opportunities to improve the effectiveness of the control graphics screens provided to clients. The following are a few observations and recommendations that I would like to share:

I’ve been blogging on and off about the challenges I’ve been facing as I seek to build a high performance home. At this point we are looking at cutting back on energy performance, or giving up all together and buying a run-of-the-mill performance house.

In May I attended (and presented at – more on that in another post) the National Building Commissioning Association’s annual conference in Hartford, Connecticut. It was my first time at this organization’s gathering and I was pleasantly surprised by a few turns in the commissioning field that I hadn’t expected - mainly the extensive focus on energy efficiency and energy analysis.

An enthusiastic “champion,” and a collaborative, all-inclusive approach make for a winning program

We were recently approached by a client inquiring about whether we were able to perform a water consumption analysis for their large campus. The client is looking for ways to reduce the campus’ water consumption. This type of work varies for different buildings depending on how the water is used. With this in mind, we needed to construct a unique scope of work in order to develop a plan that could be implemented and be successful.

It’s been 28 years since the April 1986 explosion of the #4 reactor at the Chernobyl Nuclear Power Station in Ukraine. The temporary concrete and steel sarcophagus containing the destroyed reactor, built with the assistance of nearly half-a-million Soviet workers known as “liquidators,” is showing signs of age, as well as signs of its hasty construction. A large multinational project dubbed New Safe Confinement is currently underway, in which a huge steel truss, covered in stainless steel plate, will cover a span 250 feet wide and 850 feet long, to contain the existing sarcophagus.

Building commissioning (Cx) can be a useful risk management tool for facility managers and owners. Incorporating risk management in building Cx requires an understanding of three basic elements: threats, vulnerabilities, and associated risks. Risks characterize the likelihood of vulnerabilities being affected by threats. In a risk management process, once risks are defined they are prioritized for the development of risk reduction strategies. Building Cx provides unique risk reduction and risk management opportunities for facility managers and owners.