Beyond the Bottom Line: Finding the Commissioning Provider Best Matched to Your Project Imagine you've sent out a request for proposals for commissioning services on your next building project. The bids come back across a wide range of fees. The temptation is to sort by price and work from the bottom up. But before [...]
Sherlock Holmes, Cx Agent In building construction, so many issues can be hidden from plain view — sometimes literally behind brick walls — and often no one even knows they’re there, until the day they become a problem. That’s where we come in. At SES, we work with a wide range of building designs [...]
In our previous article, “What is Retro-Commissioning?”, we covered some of the signs that may indicate that your facility could benefit from Retro-Commissioning (RCx). In this article, we’ll dive deeper into some of those signs, discussing what they mean and what problems they may be symptomatic of. Increased energy consumption It is not the [...]
As a facility manager, you're likely always looking for ways to improve your building's performance and reduce energy consumption. One of the ways you can accomplish this is to implement a retro-commissioning program within your facility. Retro-commissioning, or RCx, involves identifying and fixing problems in an existing building's systems to optimize performance and reduce [...]
Retro-Commissioning (RCx), sometimes referred to as Existing Building Commissioning (EBCx), is an important process for optimizing the performance of existing buildings. It involves the comprehensive evaluation of a building’s systems, their components, and how they interact with each other. The goal of RCx is to identify areas of improvement in the building’s operation maintenance, [...]
As the field of commissioning has grown and evolved over the past 25+ years, it has become a valued component of building projects in the Architecture/Engineering/Construction (A/E/C) industry. There are hundreds of highly respected and qualified commissioning providers throughout the country. Many of them are part of a team within larger engineering firms. When [...]
Laboratories, whether in a college/university, medical building, or research facility, are one of the highest energy-consuming functions in any building. Lab spaces require large amounts of outside air, have high air change rates, and in many cases strict space temperature and humidity requirements. The HVAC systems that serve these spaces typically operate 24/7, 365 [...]
When a multi-zone variable air volume (VAV) air handling system is designed, you might notice that the scheduled leaving air temperature of this unit is about 55°F. Why is that? The 55°F setpoint is based on the typical cooling space temperature and relative humidity (RH) setpoints commonly needed in buildings, which typically ranges from [...]
When designing a building’s heating hot water system, determining the peak heating hot water supply temperature is a critical decision. These systems provide heat to air handling systems, perimeter radiation, radiant panels, fan coil units, reheat VAV boxes and other hydronic heating elements. The hot water supply temperature (HWST) must be high enough to [...]
Implementing and Effective Demand Control Ventilation Strategy When an air handling system is designed, ventilation air requirements are one of the most important aspects. The amount of outside airflow (ventilation) required for a system is dependent on how the space is used. Does the air handling unit serve a gymnasium or an office building? [...]
