ENERGY SERVICES
COMMISSIONING SERVICES
As the built environment becomes increasingly complex and energy efficiency is held at a higher standard, building equipment and systems must respond to these changes. Owning and operating this equipment requires a significant financial investment, and poor performance can result in money lost through excessive repair and replacement costs. Advances in the built environment have increased the importance of proper planning, design, and operational practices to achieve the efficiency potential of today’s systems.
This quality assurance-based process can provide preventative and predictive maintenance plans, tailored operating manuals and training procedures, and formalized review. It also provides an integration of all project expectations during planning, design, construction, and occupancy phases through design reviews, submittal reviews, inspection and functional performance testing, and oversight of operator training and record documentation.
At Entegrity and across the building industry, Commissioning (Cx) is now an essential response to the need to ensure that building systems are designed, installed, programmed, and operated to provide maximum performance for the owner’s needs.
BENEFITS OF COMMISSIONING
Cx provides tangible and quantifiable benefits to building owners, occupants, and construction teams. First and foremost, these benefits include direct and measurable energy savings, which translate to economic savings. Indirect outcomes include prevention of indoor-air-quality problems, premature equipment failure, and litigation.
COSTS OF COMMISSIONING
As the scope of services, system complexity, and square footage are taken into consideration, the cost of Cx varies widely from project to project. Data compiled from the industry (outlined below) shows that Cx may be the single most cost-effective strategy for reducing energy, costs, and greenhouse-gas emissions in buildings.
| Existing Building | New Construction | |
| Median Building Energy Savings | 19% | 15% |
| Median Simple Payback Time | 2.2 years | 4.2 years |
| Median Cx Costs | $0.26/SF | $0.82/SF |
ENTEGRITY’S COMMISSIONING SERVICES
NEW BUILDING COMMISSIONING
For new projects, incorporating Cx results in reduced energy use, lower operating costs, reduced contractor callbacks, better building documentation, improved occupant productivity, and verification that the systems perform per the owner’s project requirements.
Entegrity provides independent New Building Cx services tailored to meet the Client’s goals and budget. From “Value Engineering” Cx intended to demonstrate a minimum standard of care for Cx where significant project benefits remain, to Cx services to meet the detailed requirements of LEED v4, Entegrity has a solution to meet any new project’s Cx needs.
RE-COMMISSIONING
After being commissioned, building performance generally declines after two to five years. Entegrity’s Cx Team has a deep understanding of why performance wanes and how design and operation decisions affect building operational efficiencies. With this knowledge, we use Re-Cx to return a building to its peak performance.
EXISTING BUILDING/RETRO-COMMISSIONING
Commercial buildings frequently undergo operational and occupancy changes that challenge the mechanical, electrical, and control systems, hindering optimal performance. In today’s complex buildings, systems are highly interactive with sophisticated controls that can create a trickle-down effect such that minor problems have a significant impact on performance. No matter the complexity, all buildings can experience performance degradation over time.
Entegrity’s Retro-Cx process optimizes system operation and control in existing buildings that have not been previously commissioned. Retro-Cx has the most significant promise to substantially reduce energy consumption with paybacks that range from 0.2 to 2.1 years.
ONGOING COMMISSIONING
While monitoring key technologies is essential to maintaining optimum system performance, this is typically beyond the owner’s capacity. Operational staff can input utility information, but engineering knowledge is required to calculate performance.
Entegrity’s Ongoing Cx solutions maintain long-term savings by continuously monitoring energy savings and follow-up Cx as needed. By optimizing system operation and control schedules based on actual building conditions, Ongoing Cx improves system reliability and building comfort.
BUILDING ENCLOSURE COMMISSIONING
Building Enclosure Cx assures building quality by establishing an explicit process to ensure building quality and performance, manage risk, and reduce costly changes and delays.
Entegrity’s Building Enclosure industry qualified staff is well-versed in exterior façade design, building and material science, assembly construction, and performance test standards and methodology. This level of experience enables Entegrity to provide advice and guidance to the entire building team, thereby helping to improve the quality and performance of the building enclosure.
