Our brochure “What is Commissioning” describes
in some detail the process of Commissioning as it applies
to new construction. It is a relatively new service, with
few local providers, so chances are that your building was
constructed without the benefits provided by this service.
If your building was not properly commissioned, it may suffer
from one or more of the following deficiencies:
- The indoor air quality in parts or all of the building
is poor as evidenced by frequent occupant complaints of
stuffiness, headaches, respiratory disorders, or odors.
- Frequent complaints by occupants that it’s too
hot or too cold most of the time.
- Your energy bills seem much higher than they should
be, but you have no way to compare them to a good building.
- Your maintenance staff has a poor understanding of how
the HVAC systems are supposed to operate and can’t
seem to solve any of the recurring problems.
- To solve some of these problems you’ve had to
rely on the services of outside contractors whose bills
are exceeding your annual maintenance budget, and the
problems don’t seem to go away.
Perhaps Building Commissioning, LLC Can
Help
If any of your buildings, whenever they were constructed,
suffers from any of these problems, we can help you solve
your problems. Various types of companies may have approached
you in months or years past, offering energy solutions in
the form of Performance Contracting, Energy Management Services,
or other approaches. Their usual motivation is to sell control
systems or maintenance service contracts, and usually on as
grand a scale as possible.
Our approach to problem solving may be more suited to your
needs. We offer engineering-based solutions to your problems,
and only where our help is needed. We have no products to
sell, and don’t want to take over your maintenance
department. We are five individuals with an average of 35
years of HVAC, controls, maintenance and energy knowledge
that can solve problems quickly and efficiently. When we
find the solutions, we can facilitate the most cost-effective
ways to implement the solutions.
We will tailor our services to meet your needs. That may
be one particular piece of equipment that just won’t
run correctly, or a whole system out of control. While we’re
there, we may uncover problems you didn’t even know
you had. At a recent assignment at a central Nebraska high
school, we discovered a set of four water pumps that were
unnecessarily designed into a large HVAC remodel project
five years earlier. One was running year-round, another
was running all winter, and the other two were in stand-by
mode. We disconnected power to all four and they’ll
never have to run again. They cost the owner over $32,000
to install, and they have been wasting electricity at a
rate of $29,000 per year, or roughly the cost of an average
teacher’s annual salary. What’s more, the school
district had an energy audit performed by a performance
contracting company six months earlier, and they overlooked
the presence of these pumps.
Now, we can’t guarantee we’ll save you that
much money that easily, but we will guarantee that you’ll
get your money’s worth for our services. Here is a
list of the things we can do for you:
- Cursory review of energy bills for general comparison
to buildings of similar type
- Comprehensive energy audits of entire facility
- Troubleshooting of HVAC system problems which may include
one or more of the following:
¨ Indoor air quality complaints
¨ Poor or inconsistent temperature control
¨ Equipment failures or malfunctions
¨ Poor air or water system balancing
¨ Noisy system components
¨ High humidity problems
- Thorough review of design drawings to determine if design
errors are causing system problems
- General system training for better staff understanding
of system operations, including how to read and use the
design drawings to better troubleshoot problems in-house
- Specific equipment maintenance training
- Help with setting up preventive maintenance programs
