Over time, even well-commissioned buildings can have deteriorating performance. Building equipment can fail over time and some of these failures can go unnoticed in space conditions or occupant comfort. Staff turnover happens, new hires don’t get fully trained on system operation, and owners end up operating the building less efficiently. Temporary manual corrections to systems can be left in an over-ride mode indefinitely. Any or all of these events can happen and lead to poor building performance and can cost a lot of money – wasting energy.

Monitoring-Based Commissioning (MBx) is the practice of monitoring building systems to ensure that they are operating efficiently. MBx is the core of all properly implemented commissioning efforts, and should be performed whenever new systems are built or major changes are made to existing equipment. ERG has been providing MBx for decades, but today’s MBx has become easier and more effective with the availability of building data analytics tools. These tools allow building owners to move away from periodic tune-ups and toward a ever-green ongoing process of keeping the building tuned up.

MBx is typically initiated after a retro-commissioning effort has taken place to ensure that the building does not begin, again, to slide toward inefficiency. It harnesses the potential of the live building automation system (BAS) data and analytic fault detection and diagnostic (FDD) capabilities. This practice identifies common faults on an ongoing basis and allows for quick identification and correction of problems.

MBx is typically a service-contract arrangement where ERG becomes an owner’s energy advocate. After an RCx is performed and upgrades are made, we keep an eye on building operations and maintain communication with site-staff with the aim of keeping energy use and costs as low as possible.

ERG is familiar with multiple analytics tools and can tailor them to your building’s needs. After an RCx project has saved you 30%, 40%, or more on your utility bills, don’t let the building’s performance slide. Contact us to help you keep your building tuned up with Monitoring Based Commissioning.