Ruffin, Alaina Jones (2019-04). A Comprehensive Evaluation of the Impact of Continuous Commissioning(R). Doctoral Dissertation. Thesis uri icon

abstract

  • The primary goal of this study was to quantify the impact of Continuous Commissioning(R)^1 (CC(R)) since the inception of the process in the early 1990s using a comprehensive evaluation of the impact of CC(R) projects implemented primarily by the Texas A&M Engineering Experiment Station's Energy Systems Laboratory. Several quantitative analysis and comparison tasks were completed to accomplish the research objectives. The overall impact of Continuous Commissioning was analyzed including the energy cost savings as well as identification of non-energy impacts. The evaluation of the impact of CC by building type included education buildings, health care facilities, laboratory facilities, and office buildings. ASHRAE Standard 169-2006 was employed for the analysis of the impact of CC by climate zone. The project objectives were compared to the project results using the predicted and actual energy cost savings. The CC energy cost savings were compared based on the level of project completeness as determined by the proposed and implemented CC measures. The impact of CC was presented for several case study projects. The 340 CC projects that were compiled and reviewed include 920 buildings (895 buildings with available information represent over 98 million ft^2 of building area). The impact of CC according to four building types considered 159 CC projects: 76 educational, 46 healthcare, 13 laboratory, and 24 offices with average annual savings of $0.48/ft^2 , $0.64/f^t2 , $1.51/ft^2 , and $0.49/ft^2 , respectively. The impact of 196 CC projects grouped by climate zone designations revealed that the majority of the total annual cost savings, about 90%, is from three zones. The average annual energy cost savings was $0.68/ft2 for climate zone 2a hot and humid, $0.55/ft2 for climate zone 3a warm and humid, and $0.58/ft^2 for climate zone 4a mixed and humid. Comfort issues, including thermal comfort, indoor air quality, and noise, were identified in 59 CC projects with resolutions for at least 34 projects. The annual energy cost savings, as of December 2016, exceeded $29.7 million (2017 $), for 198 CC projects (over 600 buildings with more than 60 million ft^2 of area). The cumulative cost savings up to December 2017 are $390 million (20 17). The terms Continuous Commissioning(R) and CC(R) are registered trademarks of the Energy Systems

publication date

  • May 2019
  • May 2019