Building Commissioning / Retro Commissioning

Improving the Performance of Buildings through Commissioning and Retro-commissioning

Mechanical Services has a team of dedicated professionals who perform Building Commissioning and Retro-commissioning Services. These services involve a process to improve the efficiency of a new or an existing building’s equipment and systems. By performing industry adopted Commissioning and Retro-commissioning, the team at Mechanical Services can often resolve problems that occurred during design or construction, or address problems that have developed throughout the building’s life as equipment has aged, or as building usage has changed. Commissioning Services on a new building or Retro-commissioning on an existing building involves a systemic evaluation of opportunities to improve energy-using systems, extend HVAC equipment life, and increase occupant comfort.

During the commissioning and retro-commissioning of buildings, Mechanical Services typically encounters the following kinds of problems that we will identify and fix. They include:

• Equipment or lighting that is on when it may not need to be;
• HVAC systems that simultaneously heat and cool;
• Belts and valves that are not functioning properly;
• Thermostats and sensors that are out of calibration;
• Air balancing systems that are less than optimal;
• Economizers that are not working as designed;
• Controls sequences that are functioning incorrectly;
• Variable-frequency drives that operate at unnecessarily high speeds or that operate at a constant speed even though the load being served is variable.

For Mechanical Services, many of these operations and control improvements cost little or nothing to implement, yet, once corrected, these can have big effects on energy consumption, comfort and safety.  For example, sensor calibration not only improves current operations but also increases the effectiveness of diagnostic monitoring and testing.

Mechanical Services has service programs designed for commissioning new buildings and retro-commissioning existing buildings. The Mechanical Services team strongly recommends considering these services on a periodic basis for any existing building, especially if the building’s configuration, functions, and usage patterns change significantly or often. Building Commissioning and Retro-commissioning is another valuable service provided by Mechanical Services for facility managers looking to get the most performance and the greatest occupant comfort for the least cost.

Often, Retro-commissioning offers the  quickest payback  of all energy efficiency measures.