flexiblefullpage
billboard
interstitial1
catfish1
Currently Reading

Calculating the ROI of building enclosure commissioning

Calculating the ROI of building enclosure commissioning

A researcher at Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory calls building enclosure commissioning “the single-most cost-effective strategy for reducing energy, costs, and greenhouse gas emissions in buildings today.”


By C.C. Sullivan | June 28, 2013
According to Evan Mills, PhD, a researcher at Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory, building enclosure commissioning, or BECx, should be viewed as “the single-most cost-effective strategy for reducing energy, costs, and greenhouse gas emissions in buildings today.”
 
(This article excerpted from BD+C's June 2013 AIA/CES course on cladding and exterior insulation. Take this free course at BD+C University.)
 
Mills studied the benefits of BECx, noting that commissioning only costs about $1.16/sf for new construction and $0.30/sf for existing buildings on average, with a payback period of as little as 14 months. Savings associated with using BECx from both maintenance and energy savings average about 16% for existing buildings and 13% for new construction. The main benefit is that whole-building energy savings are guaranteed, thanks to the pivotal role of the enclosure in determining efficiency performance.
 
“Further enhancing the value of commissioning, its non-energy benefits surpass those of most other energy-management practices,” including major first-cost savings through right-sizing of HVAC equipment, Mills has testified. “When accounting for these benefits, the net median commissioning project cost was reduced by 49% on average, while in many cases they exceeded the direct value of the energy savings.”
 
The National Institute of Building Sciences published its NIBS Guideline 3-2012 on enclosure commissioning last year. The U.S. Green Building Council has allowed the application of BECx to earn an innovation credit in the LEED rating system, and BECx was even considered as a prerequisite, but that proposal lost momentum, says Rob Kistler, AIA, NCARB, Committee Chair for NIBS Guideline 3 and Principal, The Facade Group.
 
It appears that LEED v4 will not explicitly encourage the detail review, onsite testing, and observation that some enclosure experts say is what makes BECx effective, notes Tristan Roberts, with BuildingGreen’s LEEDUser service. Instead, the new LEED draft language directly quotes NIBS Guideline 3, which describes the following techniques as part of proper BECx for enhanced building commissioning:
•  Devise a plan early in the project cycle that describes testing requirements, acceptance criteria, and documentation.
•  Review details in the construction documentation to check for overall performance, continuity of weather barriers and insulation, and constructability.
•  Conduct observations on the job site as required for critical milestones in enclosure installation, from field mockups to trades startup to field testing.
•  Use mockups to benchmark workmanship requirements and ensure compliance with specifications and manufacturer’s installation requirements.
 
The NIBS committee for BECx, which Altenhofen serves on, recommends including a consulting enclosure expert for the building project, especially in the construction administration phase. The expert will help ensure proposed cladding materials and systems are integrated properly into the design process, followed by visual observations of a statistical sampling of installation of work. Toward the end of the CA phase and before acceptance, a blower-door test will check whether the air infiltration levels are equal to or better than standard.
 
As noted in the summary of NIBS Guideline 3, BECx helps reduce the chances that inadequate cladding work will be discovered during the punch list phase: “The performance of the enclosure cannot be verified until the entire building is completely enclosed. At this time it is not possible to tune or dial in the performance. To access a nonperforming subsystem or assembly might be very expensive.”
 
(This article excerpted from BD+C's June 2013 AIA/CES course on cladding and exterior insulation. Take this free course at BD+C University.)

Related Stories

| Oct 13, 2010

Modern office design accentuates skyline views

Intercontinental|Exchange, a Chicago-based financial firm, hired design/engineering firm Epstein to create a modern, new 31st-floor headquarters.

| Oct 13, 2010

Hospital and clinic join for better patient care

Designed by HGA Architects and Engineers, the two-story Owatonna (Minn.) Hospital, owned by Allina Hospitals and Clinics, connects to a newly expanded clinic owned by Mayo Health System to create a single facility for inpatient and outpatient care.

| Oct 13, 2010

Biloxi’s convention center bigger, better after Katrina

The Mississippi Coast Coliseum and Convention Center in Biloxi is once again open for business following a renovation and expansion necessitated by Hurricane Katrina.

| Oct 13, 2010

Tower commemorates Lewis & Clark’s historic expedition

The $4.8 million Lewis and Clark Confluence Tower in Hartford, Ill., commemorates explorers Meriwether Lewis and William Clark at the point where their trek to the Pacific Ocean began—the confluence of the Mississippi and Missouri Rivers.

| Oct 13, 2010

Maryland replacement hospital expands care, changes name

The new $120 million Meritus Regional Medical Center in Hagerstown, Md., has 267 beds, 17 operating rooms with high-resolution video screens, a special care level II nursery, and an emergency room with 53 treatment rooms, two trauma rooms, and two cardiac rooms.

| Oct 13, 2010

Campus building gives students a taste of the business world

William R. Hough Hall is the new home of the Warrington College of Business Administration at the University of Florida in Gainesville. The $17.6 million, 70,000-sf building gives students access to the latest technology, including a lab that simulates the stock exchange.

| Oct 13, 2010

Science building supports enrollment increases

The new Kluge-Moses Science Building at Piedmont Virginia Community College, in Charlottesville, is part of a campus update designed and managed by the Lukmire Partnership. The 34,000-sf building is designed to be both a focal point of the college and a recruitment mechanism to get more students enrolling in healthcare programs.

| Oct 13, 2010

Cancer hospital plans fifth treatment center

Construction is set to start in December on the new Cancer Treatment Centers of America’s $55 million hospital in Newnan, Ga. The 225,000-sf facility will have 25 universal inpatient beds, two linear accelerator vaults, an HDR/Brachy therapy vault, and a radiology and imaging unit.

| Oct 13, 2010

Apartment complex will offer affordable green housing

Urban Housing Communities, KTGY Group, and the City of Big Bear Lake (Calif.) Improvement Agency are collaborating on The Crossings at Big Bear Lake, the first apartment complex in the city to offer residents affordable, eco-friendly homes. KTGY designed 28 two-bedroom, two-story townhomes and 14 three-bedroom, single-story flats, averaging 1,100 sf each.

| Oct 13, 2010

Residences bring students, faculty together in the Middle East

A new residence complex is in design for United Arab Emirates University in Al Ain, UAE, near Abu Dhabi. Plans for the 120-acre mixed-use development include 710 clustered townhomes and apartments for students and faculty and common areas for community activities.

boombox1
boombox2
native1

More In Category

Healthcare Facilities

Watch on-demand: Key Trends in the Healthcare Facilities Market for 2024-2025

Join the Building Design+Construction editorial team for this on-demand webinar on key trends, innovations, and opportunities in the $65 billion U.S. healthcare buildings market. A panel of healthcare design and construction experts present their latest projects, trends, innovations, opportunities, and data/research on key healthcare facilities sub-sectors. A 2024-2025 U.S. healthcare facilities market outlook is also presented.




halfpage1

Most Popular Content

  1. 2021 Giants 400 Report
  2. Top 150 Architecture Firms for 2019
  3. 13 projects that represent the future of affordable housing
  4. Sagrada Familia completion date pushed back due to coronavirus
  5. Top 160 Architecture Firms 2021