Colorado Real Estate Journal - June 15, 2016
The building “tuneup” process is being used more and more by building owners, operators and developers as an investment in human capital and a mechanism for reducing operating costs. It allows building owners and operators to improve the efficiency of what’s already in place and address gaps in building performance in both new and existing buildings. The retro-commissioning investment, or building “tuneup,” typically pays back in less than a year and can have a substantial impact on the performance and comfort of building occupants or a company’s biggest resource – its people. According to the 1:10:100 rule, for every $1 spent on energy, $10 will be spent on rent and $100 will be spent on employee salaries. While energy conservation measures can save on utility costs, “comfort” optimization measures can provide even greater savings in human capital costs. Making the investment in building performance and occupant comfort is critical as physical environments account for 30 to 60 percent of variability in worker performance. Whether an existing building was designed with high performance in mind, an energy and comfort audit can shed light on critical issues and provide key takeaways for getting a building and its occupants operating at peak performance. Hord Coplan Macht recently engaged Group 14 Engineering to perform an energy and comfort audit on our LEED Platinum office building in Denver – a 1922 former fire station. While designed as a high-performance building during the 2009 renovation, the audit identified several areas to improve energy efficiency, reduce utility expenses and enhance employee health and wellness through retro-commissioning. The process provided some important lessons for achieving high-performance operation in our own building and those we design in the future. Here are five key takeaways. The devil is in the details, not the monthly utility bill. Relying on a monthly utility bill for a reference on building performance can be misleading. With real-time energy monitoring and submetering in place, it becomes much easier to identify performance or comfort issues plaguing a building. At our building, it was clear that the overnight energy use was high for the existing mechanical equipment. By conducting an occupant indoor environmental quality survey, we were able to pinpoint areas needing to be addressed, including lighting, temperature and acoustics. Don’t take controls complexity lightly. To achieve high efficiency design, we are more frequently turning to highly complex systems operated by computerized controls. Without proper controls, even highly efficient systems may be using more energy than their low-cost competitors. When planning new systems, consider whether a complex system is the most appropriate or if it will be too complex for users and will get overridden. Remember, occupant controllability has a large bearing on satisfaction. Remember the KISS principle when it comes to lighting. There are many times when “keeping it short and simple” is the best choice. While we employed advanced lighting controls in our building, the lighting controls had issues we were not aware of, making the efficient lighting design consume more energy than intended. LED fixture options with built-in controls are ever expanding and can be a good option. Small problems can add up to big dollars. Identifying small issues in a building, such as a pump stuck on, a chiller running long hours or improper controls can add up in energy use and dollars, and it can help improve the comfort and productivity of occupants. As we implemented even small changes in our building, employee comfort improved and the overnight mechanical meter energy was reduced over 60 percent, which is estimated to reduce our energy costs 20 percent. This savings will quickly offset the sound masking system installed to address acoustics in our open office. Gear your building up for a smooth landing. It’s common for buildings to operate for an entire decade with undetected issues that can be easily resolved. The soft landings process developed by BSRIA (owned by The Building Services Research and Information Association) can help solve performance gaps by early measurement and monitoring up to three years after initial operation. Good design is key, followed by ongoing monitoring so buildings can operate as intended and have a positive effect on the triple bottom line: people, planet, profit.