Today’s HVAC systems have the technology to perform amazing things —providing comfort, safety, and efficiencies. To achieve optimum performance, the systems must be “tuned” to stay in sync with the activities of the occupants and monitored to affirm proper operation.

This can be done through building optimization, a post-construction service which includes:

1. Working with the building owner to develop an optimization plan
2. Providing oversight of the optimization plan through the duration of the established time period
3. On-going monitoring of the building systems to ensure they function at peak performance

The objective of this service is to optimize the function of the building’s HVAC systems.

Optimization provides:

• Occupant comfort
• Reliability
• Energy efficiency
• Operation efficiency
• Extended life of the equipment

All of these elements combined allow Schmidt Associates to provide long-term optimization services that save both energy and dollars, while ensuring occupant comfort. Want proof?

During design of a recent project, we modeled the building to predict the actual energy usage once built, based on parameters about hours of operation and other conditions provided by the client. However, once the building was occupied, the actual energy bills were much higher than the energy model predicted, so we started providing optimization services.

In 2015 the building had achieved an Energy Star Score* of 45. It was using almost 140,000 kWh of energy each month. Through two year’s worth of optimization, the building now has an Energy Score of 89 and is using approximately 122,000 kWh each month. The decrease in energy consumption is the direct result of properly scheduling the equipment, fine tuning the VRV system, and removing the data center usage from the rest of the building.

The building wasn’t designed poorly. It wasn’t constructed poorly. It just required special attention in certain areas to maximize its performance.

 

* ENERGY STAR is a U.S. Environmental Protection Agency voluntary program that helps businesses and individuals save money and protect our climate through superior energy efficiency.