Buildings don’t always perform as intended once they’re occupied. Occupants may complain about being too hot or cold, energy use might be higher than expected and systems could operate differently to the originally anticipated usage patterns. Facilities teams then spend time and effort reacting to these issues without clear performance data or direction. Over time, incremental changes such as setpoint adjustments [...]
Many buildings are commissioned one system at a time – heating, ventilation, cooling, controls, lighting, audio visual and fire safety are all tested against their design intent, witnessed and documented. But, buildings never operate this way. They rely on multiple systems working together as an integrated network. Most commercial buildings rely on a full-function fire test (FFFT) to confirm life-safety systems i [...]
When a building relies on 24-hour cooling for critical rooms and equipment, even a small oversight can lead to a major failure. On a recent commercial office project commissioned by our team, a design error created exactly that scenario. The cooling towers – essential to the building’s heat-rejection system – were designed with automatic water-level control but no independent level alarms. Although the BMS provid [...]
