ComEd Retro-Commissioning Program presented by Jay Amundson at the Illinois Chapter of ASHRAE May 2011 Meeting.

1. Retro-commissioning
Program Overview

2. Agenda
 Energy Efficiency Portfolio
 Business Case for Energy Efficiency
 RCx Program Overview
 Measurement & Verification
 Questions

3. ComEd Smart Ideas for Your Business
Energy Efficiency Portfolio
1. Prescriptive Program
2. Custom Program
3. New Construction Program
4. Technical Assistance Service
5. ComEd RCx program – service is the incentive
6. Compressed Air Program
7. Residential Program
8. Load Response Program
9. Others
 Measures implemented in RCx do not qualify for or overlap with additional
incentives through other ComEd programs

4. A Business Case for Energy Efficiency:
The Triple Bottom Line
 People (human capital):
• Industry leadership among peers
• Employee satisfaction
• Attract forward thinking tenants/customers
• Competitive edge among similar facilities
 Planet (natural capital):
• Reducing CO2 emissions produced by electricity & gas reduces
the greenhouse effect
 Profit (economic value):
• Real estate benefit, higher building value, tenant rates
• Lower operational costs, extends equipment life
• Reduced electric & gas bill

5. A business case for energy efficiency
• 8-9% operating costs*
• 7.5% building value
Perceived increases*
Business • 6.6% return on investment
Benefits improves*
• 3.5% occupancy ratio
to Green increases*
• 3% rent ratio increases**
Source:
*McGraw-Hill Construction, Key Trends in the European and U.S. Construction Marketplace
SmartMarket Report, 2008
**McGraw-Hill Construction, Greening of Corporate America SmartMarket Report, 2007
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6. Building system deficiencies
Envelope
For projects where deficiencies EMS
were characterized, 63 percent
0.1%
Lighting 3.1% Plug loads
of problems were related to the 3.6% 0%
overall HVAC system in some HVAC 0.1%
fashion. 4.2%
Air Handling
37.1%
Terminal units
4.4%
Heating plant
6.3%
Cooling plant
11%
Other
Source: E SOURCE; data from Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory, 30.1%
Portland Energy Conservation Inc., and Energy Systems Laboratory, Texas
A&M University
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7. Retro-commissioning, what is it?
• Retro-commissioning (RCx)
– The process of bringing a building’s mechanical and electrical
systems, including building controls, to peak performance.
– Investigation of existing system performance, the adjustment of the
operating parameters and the repair of equipment.
• Goal: identify low-cost operational improvements that deliver high
energy savings
• Perform building tune-up and adjust existing systems, typically without
capital costs
• Collaboration between Building Operator & RCx Service Provider
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8. Common Misunderstandings RCx:
• RCx is not an energy audit.
• RCx is not a facility evaluation.
• RCx is not a feasibility study.
• RCx is not a study to determine technical feasibility of capital-
investment type energy efficiency projects (co-generation unit)
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9. Benefits to RCx, energy and non-energy
• Reduce building operating costs (energy, maintenance, premature
equipment replacement).
• Extend equipment service lifetime.
• Improve building performance and system integration.
• Increase asset value of the property.
• Reduce comfort complaints.
• Identify potential indoor environmental quality issues.
• Ensure building operations meet owner’s requirements.
• Can increase occupant productivity and safety.
• Provide building operator training.
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10. Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory study
• Median RCx costs (332 projects) were $0.30/ft2
• Median cost savings were $0.29/ft2 -per year
• Median electrical demand savings from baseline consumption is 5%
• Median electrical annual energy savings from baseline is 9%
• Median total annual energy savings from baseline is 16%
The source of this information is Building Commissioning: A Golden Opportunity for
Reducing Energy Costs and Greenhouse Gas Emissions, Evan Mills, Ph.D., Lawrence
Berkeley National Laboratory, July 21, 2009, http://cx.lbl.gov/documents/2009-
assessment/LBNL-Cx-Cost-Benefit.pdf
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11. Natural Gas
 Joint Electric & Natural Gas Energy Efficiency program
• Nicor
• Peoples Gas
• North Shore Gas
 Retro-commissioning:
• Electric and Natural Gas combined into program
• Pilot program last year
• Year 2 starting on June 1, 2011

12. RCx Program Overview

13. Program Overview
 Application Phase: Screening, set goals
 Planning Phase: Identify measures, operational adjustments
 Investigation Phase: Baseline data
 Implementation Phase: Customer installations
 Verification Phase: Report final data to ComEd

14. Customer Commitments
 Program Agreement signed after the RCx Plan is presented
 Commit $10,000 minimum with Simple Payback < 1.5
 Meet deadline specified in Program Agreement
 Support the RSP team in their investigation
 Select and manage the implementation team
 Building Operator Certification, CC

15. Application Phase
 Screening process for selecting successful projects
 To help ensure program cost-effectiveness, an energy savings
target is set, average PY3 is 600,000 kWh / year

16. Planning Phase
 Evaluate function, sequencing and scheduling of major systems
 Interview with facility operation staff
 Set up Building Automation System (BAS) trends
 Spot check equipment on BAS
 Plan critical items for investigation and verification phases
 Identify sufficient measures to achieve target
 Planning Phase milestone decision:
1. Proceed to Implementation Phase
2. Modify RCx scope if energy savings too low
3. End RCx project at Planning Phase

17. View daily, weekly,
or monthly usage
trends
Click on a specific
day to narrow down
your costs.

18. Planning Phase deliverables
 Retro-commissioning Plan
 Preliminary D&C Plans
 Customer Selection Form
 Building Equipment List*
 Site Assessment Form*
*Alternative forms OK with pre-approval

19. Customer Selection Form

20. Investigation Phase
 Detailed investigations by RSP
 Functional testing
 Collect trend logs or data logs
 Revise energy saving estimates
 Define scope of work for candidate measures
 Bi-Weekly Meetings
 Diagnostic & Calculation Plans present findings

21. Investigation Phase deliverables
 Investigation Report
 D&C Plans
 Customer Selection Form
 Standard RCx Procedure Forms
 Building Equipment List

22. Implementation Phase
 Bi-Weekly Meetings
 Customer responsible to implement measures
 Deadline set at 120 days from Program Agreement , or April 1
 RSP provides technical support to implementation team

23. Verification Phase
 Inspect RCMs for installed equipment and controls modifications
 Execute measurement & verification (M&V) Plan from Diagnostic
and Calculation Plan
 Set up trends depending on measure (one to four weeks)
 Conduct functional test depending on measure
 Perform spot measurements
 Revise calculations as necessary

24. Verification Phase deliverables
 Customer Selection Form for completion of RCMs
 Verification Report
 D&C Plans

25. Common RCx Measures
• Fixing ventilation dampers that are open when they should be closed (or vice versa).
• Adjusting chiller operation to better match building load conditions.
• Aligning zone temperature set-points to match the building's actual occupancy
• Reducing ventilation in over-ventilated areas.
• Eliminating simultaneous heating and cooling.
• Reducing supply air static pressure set points.
• Focus on cost-effective operation and maintenance improvements (education to staff
on continuous building performance, digital controls with schedules, etc.)
• Properly tune equipment for maximum efficiency.
• Sustainability in optimum performance schedules (eliminate manual controls where
human interference is more accessible)
• Optimize building systems as a whole, functioning together
• Free energy – use outside air and lighting when available
• Demand savings – operate equipment as needed or when occupied
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26. Measurement & Verification
Overview

27. Calculation and M&V Guidelines
• Adherence eases QC process for RSP and Nexant
• Adherence improves evaluation results

28. Measure tiers
Measure Impacts Percent of Total Site Measure Category
(kWh/yr) RCx Savings
>75,000 Any Tier 1 (Large)
75,000 > 25% Tier 1 (Large)
75,000 25% Tier 2 (Small)
Measures tiers are defined at a strategy level

29. Why measure tiers?
• Focus RSP efforts on larger impacts!
• PY2 Results:
– 125 Measures in commercial buildings
– Small Measures (<75,000 kWh)
• Were only 26% of total impacts
• But covered 78% of the # measures we looked at
• Ways to decrease efforts on small measures:
– Provide calculators
– Reduce M&V requirements for small measures

30. Tier 1 requirements
• Savings calculations based on engineering principles
– “Rules of Thumb” not acceptable
• MS Excel based custom calculations
– Whole-building models not acceptable
– Modeling of buildings/systems with packaged software only with prior
approval
• International Performance Measurement and Verification Protocol
(IPMVP) Option A or B
– Based on field-measured data of both pre-install and post-install
– 2-3 weeks of trending on important parameters
– Spot measurements supporting trend data

31. Tier 2 requirements
• Savings calculations based on engineering principles
– “Rules of Thumb” not acceptable
• MS Excel based calculations
– Program provided calculators for 10 common measures
– Custom calculators developed by RSP for other measures
– Custom calculators developed by RSP where template calculator not fitting
• M&V for critical items
– Screen shots of pre- and post- install setpoints
– Spot measurements for select data
– Trending where critical

32. Tier 2 calculators
• Template calculators
– Adjust economizer setpoints
– Demand control ventilation
– Schedule single AHU
– Duct static pressure reset/reduce
– Schedule CHW or HW pumps
– Condenser water reset
– Chilled water reset
– Supply air temp reset
– Pump differential pressure reset/reduce
– Reduce minimum VAV box position

33. RCX Process Summary
Before
RCx
Submit Kick-off
Screening
application Meeting
Site Interview
Collect Data RCx Plan
Assessment Operators
Sign Invest-
Sign CSF D&C
Agreement igations
Select Implement
Contractors Measures

34. Thank you…
Questions?