On April 28, 2025, the United States Green Building Council (USGBC) released LEED version 5. Prior to the latest version, LEED v4 was released in November 2013, with v4.1 following in April 2019. While v4.1 addressed market feedback, improved performance, and expanded LEED’s applicability, LEED v5 has now been released to tackle critical challenges [...]
When Sustainable Engineering Solutions (SES) decided to expand its presence into Massachusetts and Rhode Island, it wasn’t just about adding pins to a map. It was about being closer to our projects, improving collaboration, and delivering the fast, responsive service that defines our approach. But more than that, it was about embracing new opportunities [...]
Non-residential facilities typically have multiple cost components on their electric energy bills. The two largest components are the consumption charge (kilowatt hours consumed over the billing period) and the demand charge. The demand charge is based on the amount of instantaneous power the building draws at any given time, typically within any 15-minute period [...]
Since 2008, Sustainable Engineering Solutions has been delivering building systems and equipment that are efficient, effective, and finely-tuned. We’ve grown and learned a lot over the last 15 years, and while our commitment to our work and our clients is timeless, we felt it was time for a new look that reflects the ways [...]
For any project with commissioning, the functional testing portion of the commissioning process is arguably one of the most important and rigorous activities. Unfortunately, if the commissioning process is not properly organized and executed, the functional testing portion of the project may leave the commissioning team with an overwhelming laundry list of issues. However, [...]
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 [...]
When the COVID-19 outbreak hit the northeast, Connecticut was quick to take initiative and implement measures to mitigate the spread of the virus. One of these measures was to conduct studies on the indoor air quality and ventilation rates of the state’s educational facilities. While the numerous companies assisting with these studies and corrections [...]
While you could wait until construction starts before bringing a Commissioning Agent (CxA) onboard, you’d be missing out on significant benefits by waiting until that point, and could even be doing your project a disservice. Involving a CxA early in the process will help you make sure your goals and needs for the project [...]
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, [...]
