Research indicates that energy performance in commercial buildings deteriorates over time, regardless of whether it’s an existing building or a new building. Yes, even new buildings, including those that were designed as highly energy-efficient sustainable buildings, realize deterioration of as much as 30 percent in the first three years of operation. This means the retrofit opportunity is not only large, but the effects can be long lasting if the retrofits incorporate new technologies that also aid in long-term operation and maintenance.

To understand the future of sustainable building retrofits, it’s critical to understand the drive toward green. The reasons are many and range from a desire to be environmentally conscious, to more objective goals of earning green building certification, capturing government and utility incentives, or meeting government mandates for reducing energy and carbon emissions.

The driving factor we see most often, however, is financial. When sustainable building retrofits focus on energy efficiency, the result is reduced energy usage and reduced operating expenses. In other words, the cleanest and cheapest kilowatt of energy is the one never used.

Though energy efficiency may not seem quite as “sexy” as some of its sustainable solution counterparts, it is one of the most rewarding. Energy efficiency projects make it possible to provide the same high levels of service that building occupants are accustomed to, simply by using less energy. As a result, operating costs and their environmental footprint are reduced. Not every sustainable building solution offers both a financial and a green benefit.

Overall, buildings consume approximately 40 percent of all energy used in the U.S., and within that, up to 60 percent is utilized by HVAC systems alone. Historically, HVAC systems were designed to constantly operate components at full speed — even when the building was operating at less than full loads — wasting valuable energy. However, as efficiency standards become more stringent and building owners expect better returns on their investments over the long-term, energy efficiency is becoming a primary consideration in commercial HVAC.

While energy efficiency itself is not new, the methods used to achieve HVAC efficiency are rapidly evolving. As a major consumer of power within a commercial building, HVAC system performance follows a similar performance deterioration pattern as other building systems. Commercial HVAC systems are complicated, and performance degradation can result from a variety of factors related to ill-functioning mechanical or control systems.

Until recently, the primary remedy for this degradation in performance has been to go through a commissioning process. Commissioning is a project-based solution that involves assessment of the building’s current operation at a specific point in time, then recommending design and operations improvements to increase energy performance. However, the commissioning process does not include long-term measurement, so commissioned systems are again subject to performance deterioration over time.

Just as enterprise applications have transformed the way business is conducted — and have led to greatly improved productivity and profit levels — the use of enterprise applications is the key to improving commercial HVAC system performance. By creating a network that enables the application of advanced relational-control algorithms to HVAC system operation — as well as the use of online tools to measure, verify and manage system operations on a day-to-day basis — it’s possible to, in effect, continuously commission an HVAC system. Imagine being able to verify at any point in time how efficiently an HVAC system is operating, and if it’s higher than it should be, having the information at your fingertips to quickly detect and diagnose the problem. Conventionally operated plants don’t have those tools available, so equipment problems that impact energy efficiency can go undetected and undiagnosed for months or years.

The U.S. Green Building Council’s (USGBC) Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design (LEED) green building certification program, which has long been held as a symbol of a building’s commitment to sustainability, understands the importance of constant commissioning. In the most recent version of LEED for Existing Buildings: Operations & Maintenance, nine points are reserved for commissioning and performance measurement out of the 35 possible points for Energy and Atmosphere (EA). Specifically, EA Credit 2.3: Ongoing Commissioning calls for “elements of planning, system testing, performance verification, corrective action response, ongoing measurement and document to proactively address operating problems.”

But the importance of constant commissioning goes beyond obtaining LEED points. Rather, it’s the ability to constantly “see” into HVAC system performance that is critical because it enables building owners — for the first time — to rest assured that the return on their energy efficiency investments will continue for the life of the building.

Aventine Aims for LEED

The Aventine, a high-rise office building located in La Jolla, Calif., is in the final review process to become LEED Platinum certified. To achieve this goal, the Aventine retrofitted its HVAC plant and used Optimum Energy’s OptimumHVAC software, reducing energy consumption in the first 12 months of use by 45 percent for a savings of 500,000 kWh and 600,000 pounds of carbon emissions — a cost savings of more than $80,000. As a result, Aventine earned an ENERGY STAR rating of 100, which qualifies the Aventine to receive all the available points for LEED EA Credit 1 — a total of 18 points.

In addition, HVAC system performance information available via OptimumHVAC’s ongoing measurement, verification and management service is contributing to the Aventine’s achievement of additional LEED points for investigation and analysis, implementation and ongoing commissioning, as well as emissions reduction reporting.

“Achieving an ENERGY STAR rating of 100 is unprecedented for a 20-plus-year-old building,” said Carlos Santamaria, director of engineering. “Installation of OptimumHVAC is saving us money and better positioning the Aventine in its pursuit of LEED Platinum certification. This next generation technology is unlike any control strategy in the market today, and its proven energy efficiency benefits can significantly change the way buildings operate.”