Retro-Commissioning

Retro-Commissioning of Existing Buildings

Why would any building owner want to commission an existing building? The list would be long and the benefits would substantial. Typical payback for a building owner to commission an existing building can be within one year. The costs associated with the retro-commissioning has a very short payback.

Why is this? Any building of age has been changed since the facility was originally put into service. Minor corrections have been performed affecting the performance of the systems. Systems components required re-calibration and have not been done, so performance is effected. Most older buildings have never been through a commissioning process. The building was turned over to a maintenance staff with problems still in place and the maintenance staff have continued to adjust the building to compensate for the problem areas. The problems lead to energy loss and also effect the useful life of the equipment.

Commissioning basically is a process to verify the building is actually performing to the design intent and also to the requirements of the building occupants. Older buildings are typically expensive to operate and experience a lot of equipment failures. Retro-Commissioning is ideal to older facilities that have never been through a commissioning process. By Retro-Commissioning the facility an energy efficient operation and be achieved. Added benefits would be human comfort, extended equipment life, improved indoor air quality, lower maintenance costs, less emergency repair calls and a higher workforce efficiency.