An International Approach to Building Commissioning Educating people with the knowledge they need to improve energy performance to lower operational cost and impact climate change Steven P. Driver Ph. D Certified Energy Auditor and Manager iii Steven P. Driver, PhD Certified Energy Auditor and Manager Copyright © 2018 All rights reserved. No part of this book shall be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted by any means without written permission from the author. International Standard Book Number: ISBN-13: 978-0-578-46554-8 iv ABSTRACT An International Approach to Building Commissioning was written purposely by Steven P. Driver, PhD, to educate anyone interested in reducing operational costs in buildings and making a difference in climate change. Through the application of energy conservation techniques, whether in your home or at your workplace, this book can help you reduce energy consumption. This book was written to educate homeowners, building managers, real estate developers, university and campus facility maintenance personnel, employees, and anyone else with an interest in helping our environment. This publication offers an understanding of some of the technologies available for mitigating energy waste. This unique publication overcomes proprietary barriers that restricted full understanding of how to combine artificial and human intelligence with respect to building commissioning. After completing several years of post-doctoral research to understand the differences between ongoing and retroactive commissioning, we now have a much better vision of what is required to make our buildings sustainable with respect to energy consumed. This publication is based on over 30 years of experience in energy management which formed the basis for a U.S. trademark for Sustainable Commissioning™, a concept explained in this book. The journey continues in researching new energy reduction technologies and piloting them to further confirm the effectiveness of the concept. The content in this book was validated through the deployment of seven case studies applying the Sustainable Commissioning concept. The results from those case studies have validated an average return on investment of 62% with a 75% internal rate of return, resulting in an 18-month simple payback. The case studies demonstrate not only reduced operational cost but also environmental benefits averaging 1,009 metric tons of carbon emissions avoided annually. v INTERNATIONAL SPONSORSHIP Steven would like to thank his family for their support during the writing of this book. Additional thanks goes to all of his sponsors and people who have helped him make this book possible through their time and donations. It would not have been possible to cover the writing, editing, publication, and copyright costs of this book without them. To all the sponsors who offer technology based solutions, products, and/or services to help reduce carbon emissions, Steven thanks them for their commitment to our environment. At this time, Steven would like to thank those who assisted him with this publication in the following acknowledgments: James Lee – Cimetrics – [email protected] Geoff Wilkinson, Jr. – The Wilkinson Companies – [email protected] Terence McTigue – Integrity Energy Solutions Group – [email protected] Sean O’Riley – Powerstar – [email protected] Ryan Blair – Opterra Energy – [email protected] Gaetan Noel – Pragmathic – [email protected] Chris Fraga – AEDG – [email protected] David Goodman – DAK Industries – [email protected] Nina Kalanzis – [email protected] Nasir Khan – FMA – [email protected] Christine Greever – University of Colorado – [email protected] Steve DiGiacomo, P.E. – Energy Management Associates – [email protected] David Landman – Eneractive Solutions – [email protected] Nick Hill – Hill Energy Services – [email protected] vi Steven would like to thank his family for their support during the writing of this book. Additionally, Steven would like to thank the peer reviewers of his book for their time as subject matter experts in energy. Without their input, this e-book would not have been possible. Special thanks goes to the following individuals recognizing their efforts: PEER REVIEWERS James Lee - Cimetrics Steve DiGiacomo P.E. - Energy Management Associates Terry McTigue - Integrity Energy Solutions Group DISCLAIMER By purchasing this book, you will gain an understanding of the Sustainable Commissioning process to help achieve maximum savings in your building. Although the author and publisher have made every effort to ensure that the information in this book was correct at the time of publication, the author and publisher do not assume any liability to any party for loss, damage, or disruption caused by errors omissions, whether such errors or omissions result from negligence, accident, or any other cause. Please note: Due to proprietary and confidentiality reasons, company and client names are not cited in the case studies. This book is not intended to represent or advertise any one company or service. The mention of any company in this book is for the purpose of demonstrating the value of its services and its commitment to energy conservation. vii TABLE OF CONTENTS TABLE OF CONTENTS ........................................................................................................................... viii LIST OF FIGURES ....................................................................................................................................... x ABOUT THE AUTHOR ............................................................................................................................. xii CHAPTER I: UNDERSTANING ENERGY ............................................................................................ xiii LIST OF TABLES ..................................................................................................................................... xiii Intent .......................................................................................................................................................... 2 Building Commissioning and its Impact on Climate Change ............................................................. 3 Setting and Defining your Goals .......................................................................................................... 11 Sustainability and Law, What’s the Correlation? ............................................................................... 14 Standard Energy Audit Practices ........................................................................................................ 16 Public Understanding on Building Commissioning ........................................................................... 19 Basic Systems Design Overview ......................................................................................................... 23 The Physiological Effects of Buildings on Humans .......................................................................... 47 Renewable and Off-Grid Technologies .............................................................................................. 53 CHAPTER II: CONCEPT AND IMPLEMENTATION OF SUSTAINABLE COMMISSIONING ........ 56 Differentiating between Human and Artificial Intelligence ............................................................... 56 The Sustainable Commissioning Approach ....................................................................................... 58 Energy Audit and Retroactive Commissioning Process................................................................... 63 Basic Tools and Equipment ................................................................................................................. 64 Individual Systems Operations Review .............................................................................................. 66 Utilities Operations Review .................................................................................................................. 71 Training and Development Review ..................................................................................................... 79 Maintenance Operations Review ........................................................................................................ 80 Laboratory Operations Review ............................................................................................................ 82 Organizational Practices Review ......................................................................................................... 84 Conducting the Operational Audit ....................................................................................................... 85 Water Treatment Review ...................................................................................................................... 97 Energy Culture and Awareness Review ........................................................................................... 105 Building Envelope Review .................................................................................................................. 114 Building Controls and Systems Ventilation Review ........................................................................ 116 Air Filtration Review............................................................................................................................. 126 Heating Systems Review ...................................................................................................................