Continuous Commissioning of Public Schools

Abstract

Continuous Commissioning (CC) is a proven, highly cost-effective process that can improve building comfort and reduce energy consumption. This paper discusses the CC of three public schools in Austin, Texas. These schools include one high school and two elementary schools, one of which also includes a community center. Major CC measures implemented include resetting supply air temperature, duct static pressure, chilled and hot water loop ?P setpoints, condenser water temperature, and reheat water temperature; optimizing economizer operation and heat recovery unit operation; improving equipment scheduling and staging sequence; and adjusting terminal box air flow settings. Also included are some minor retrofits that convert a few constant volume units to variable air volume units and adjusting the fan pulleys for units that are oversized. Even though all three schools are well maintained, the CC project was able to achieve 10-14% energy reduction, which amounts to an annual cost saving of $80,000. With a total implementation cost of approximately $201,800, the simple payback is about 2.5 years.