Why Buildings Need Commissioning, Recommissioning or Retro-Commissioning
Building Commissioning
Commissioning is a process that ensures a new building’s HVAC, mechanical and electrical systems are designed, installed and programmed to perform optimally.
Ideally, the commissioning process is started early in the design stages—providing optimal capital expenditure savings—and is completed just before the building is occupied—for maximum savings on operational expenditures/maintenance and best occupant comfort results.
If you’re constructing or managing a new building, you probably want to ensure the systems operate in a way that saves you money and keeps the occupants happy.
Building Recommissioning
Recommissioning is a process ensuring the HVAC, mechanical and electrical systems of an existing building were installed correctly, are programmed for the building’s current use/occupancy and are still performing optimally.
Think of this as a “tune up” for your existing building’s systems. As buildings age, their systems begin to wear, they can develop unexpected problems and occupant activities change.
If your building is 10+ years old, has unsatisfactory occupant turnover or simply needs to be “improved”, you should consider affordable systems recommissioning before making any other, more-costly, changes. Few building improvements deliver more long-term value, occupant satisfaction and significant operational savings.
Building Retro-Commissioning
When a new or older property was never commissioned in the first place, Retro-Commissioning helps improve they building’s HVAC, mechanical and electrical systems retroactively in order to improve occupancy and tenant satisfaction while also saving money on operational costs and maintenance.
It’s difficult for owners and managers to tell if a building needs new mechanical systems or simply needs the existing system to be operating at a higher level of efficiency. Retro-commissioning will help you make money-saving choices by understanding if a system even needs to be replaced (vs. simply “balanced”), modelling your long-term savings and choosing the appropriate new system if a replacement is actually needed.