Do you know if your building is operating efficiently?
Are all your HVAC systems functioning properly?
Most building owners rely on their property management and service companies to provide these answers. In reality, these questions are usually asked when the utility costs are much too high and everyone seems to scramble to look for answers to resolve wasting more energy. It is estimated that the average building is wasting 30% of its energy consumption. No wonder building owners/property managers are asking questions of their service providers.Today’s commercial/multi residential buildings are long in the tooth, in need of major repairs and recommissioning buildings is often overlooked and simply it’s an opportunity to reduce costs for building owners and operators. Many buildings have never been or were ever commissioned properly years ago which led to poor equipment performance and higher ownership costs. Also, these buildings lack smart controls to help improve equipment operation,utility efficiency and building comfort for tenants.
Main Benefits from Recommissioning Existing Buildings:
1. Optimization & Efficiency – Improve existing building assets by replacing end of life equipment and applying smart controls to monitor and optimize building equipment efficiency. This is the most important point to address because it pays for itself within 2 to 3 years and you have some insight into how the systems are operating. Most customers achieve between 20-30% energy reduction.
2. Improved Occupancy Comfort – Stop being reactive to maintenance calls and be proactive. Recommissioning reduces maintenance calls/ costs while providing a more comfortable living space. Having a smart controls building dashboard improves response time for corrective maintenance actions.
3. Longer Building & Equipment Life – Equipment replacements are expensive and disruptive. With recommissioning, their frequency is reduced drastically and life expectancy of equipment increases.
4. Adds Value to your Building – A building that operates at a higher efficiency, better occupancy comfort and provides lower operating costs in turn adds value to your building by improving asset value.
Reactive maintenance has been the traditional approach in buildings – fixing issues once they occur. However, this can quickly drain maintenance budgets, and minor issues go undetected. Recommissioning provides financial benefits in general, driving up profit margins while reducing O&M expenses.
Recent studies clearly demonstrate that recommissioning is considered the single-most cost-effective strategy for reducing energy, costs, and greenhouse gas emissions in buildings today.
Developing a cashflow neutral approach through utility reduction strategies will help recover the cost of recommissioning along with the cost of implementing energy & water measures to improve building efficiencies.
Mario P Iusi
EVP at SensorSuite Inc.
