February 23, 2017
To Save Money in Building Energy Management, Hire a Retro-commissioning Company
Why Should I Hire a Retro-commissioning Company?
If you have thought about hiring a retro-commissioning company, then you need to read this. You may assume that your maintenance contractor is working to ensure the optimization of your building, but that might not be the case. In order to bring equipment to its proper operational state, reduce both energy and demand costs and increase equipment life, it is important to hire professionals.
Not a Substitute
Retro-commissioning (RCx) is not intended as a substitute for maintenance or a service contract — it is a smart way to provide a fresh start to get the most efficiency out of your building. RCx provides a way for you to strategically target optimization opportunities — essentially doing work upfront to prevent costs, maintenance work and emergencies later down the line. Many low/no-cost solutions can be discovered that offer simple, inexpensive ways to favorably impact your bottom line and restore systems to their optimal state.
Retro-Commissioning Gives You a Plan
Following RCx, you will have a plan in place that will enable you to make intelligent decisions regarding how to manage the critical functions of your building, ensuring optimum performance, energy efficiency, as well as meet occupant comfort requirements. With typical paybacks often less than 18 months, building owners and managers will tell you that RCx is worth the investment because the cost of losing a tenant can outweigh the cost of the undertaking. A good retro-commissioning company is results-oriented, and sets forth with end goals in mind — providing actionable, clear recommendations along with complete implementation assistance.
Who Are Retro-Commissioners?
RCx experts are highly skilled specialists in whole-building energy and mechanical systems. Their approach is based on problem solving, trouble shooting, testing and diagnostic monitoring, and supported by a comprehensive analysis. Retro-commissioners trend a lot of data — they do this to help justify their recommendations for cost-effective solutions to the problems they find. Think of the retro-commissioner as your independent expert who can independently challenge the use of current equipment, practices or methods that are causing problems. Beyond energy savings, retro-commissioners identify potential improvements including indoor air quality, addressing system redundancy requirements as well as operational and maintenance savings enhancements.
Retro-Commissioning is Fundamental to Green Building Energy Management
In many states where energy cost is high, RCx brings a “Best Practices” approach to getting buildings to an efficient status. That is, the best possible way of doing something, taking the most successful elements from many different sources and combining them to create the ultimate approach or process. RCx is recognized by the U.S. Green Building Council (USGBC) as a fundamental prerequisite of the LEED® for Existing Buildings (LEED-EB) operations and maintenance program, which states that you must have a building’s primary energy consuming systems retro-commissioned.
If you have any questions about retro-commissioning, please feel free to reach out to the experts at Edison Energy.
