In the beginning, the goal is to enable the operations and maintenance staff to work with the system to give it the best chance to perform as designed. Later, the vision is a culture of continuous improvement that can withstand changes in technology and personnel. In between? Plenty of opportunity for thoughtful operations and standardized routines.
In general, we’ve made so many existing platforms “smart” in other industries (e.g., computers, phones, cars, and household appliances), but we’ve neglected the very thing that powers all the rest — electricity.
Last month’s column walked through the scenario of what might happen if the commissioning professional is not engaged until very late in the construction phase.
What better time to talk about integrity than in a presidential election year. Certainly the perception of integrity within the building industry is much, much more low-key than the integrity of politicians, but it is the political environment that sets the bar for bad behavior.
Look at not only some nearly automatic benefits-in-waiting for your average hospital boiler retrofit, but also at some ideas for what to do if there isn’t budget for a full replacement. Meanwhile, a short laundry list of hospital-specific boiler considerations actually includes the laundry (but not how you might expect).
Late last year (November and December, 2015) this column addressed the situation where a third-party commissioning professional is not by with the building owner until the last few weeks of construction.
We almost always think about the BAS as a tool that is a critical part of energy management, so these systems are typically focused on those systems that directly use energy — notably the HVAC and lighting systems.