Saving Money and Energy
Facility commissioning for LEED is a smart way to start a sustainable building project.
“Commissioning is one of the most cost-effective means of improving energy efficiency in commercial buildings. While not a panacea, it can play a major and strategically important role in achieving national energy-savings goals. If the results observed across the sample in this study are representative of the practice and potential of commissioning more broadly, significant energy savings could be achieved nationally. Specifically, if the median project performance were to be achieved over the entire commercial-buildings stock (essentially, an economic potential, not adjusted for partial penetration rates), the full cost-effective potential would amount to 15 percent of the $120 billion annual energy bill for the sector (as of 2002). This translates into savings of $18 billion annually among existing commercial buildings. In practice, the fraction of the full stock ultimately reached will depend on the effectiveness of public and private efforts to build the market for this emerging service.”
—from “What Owners Need to Know about Commissioning Buildings,” by Michael English, Building Commissioning Association Past-President, published in Construction Owners of America’s Owner’s Perspective Magazine, Fall 2005.
Access the entire article, plus others, at the Building Commissioning Association Publications Page.
Eric Smith, Turner Mechanical Engineer, has earned his "Qualified Commissioning Process Provider" Certification, or QCxP. Certification includes a 5-day course at the University of Wisconsin, offered in conjunction with the Building Commissioning Association (BCA).