MONITORING BASED
CX & METERING :
PROVEN METHODS FOR PROFICIENCY IN BUILDING EFFICIENCY
INTERVIEW WITH MECHANICAL ENGINEER , DAVID KLUG
Mechanical Engineer David Klug is a building energy efficiency expert with extensive energy auditing and monitoring-based commissioning ( MBCx ) experience . During his over 12 years working in the industry , he ’ s had a wide range of experience and taken on many roles , from mechanical designer to project manager to commissioning provider . Along the way , he ’ s remained active in ASHRAE and earned a High-Performance Building Design Professional ( HDBP ) certification , and received an MBA from USC . David uses his considerable skills , knowledge , and experience to help clients measure and verify energy use , reach energy efficiency goals and qualify for utility incentive programs . We spoke to him about how metering and monitoring are essential to building efficiency , low-hanging fruit building owners can pick to improve their energy use and different strategies owners can deploy for better building performance .
Can you give us a brief walk through the MBCx process ?
David Klug : Monitoring-based commissioning is a formal process for retro-commissioning buildings or systems . The term is usually tied to specific programs from utility providers . It ’ s similar to an energy audit or study in that the procedures are outlined by the Commercial Energy Guide , but the MBCx project typically has more stringent requirements than regular audits or studies . The first step requires benchmarking , where you look at the facility and benchmark the existing energy usage . That comes from looking at the utility bills and trend data . The second step is investigating the systems to understand how they are currently operating versus planned operation . This helps you identify things that aren ’ t working the way they ’ re expected to . The next part is providing recommendations based on your findings . These will be things that you can fix ( that aren ’ t working ) and / or things that you can optimize . The major piece is implementation . Some recommendations may be more intensive or require design drawings . Some recommendations are fixes that clients can do themselves , like scheduling or minor programming changes . Particular to the MBCx process is post-verification , where we go back and use trend data and utility bills to verify the savings . That ’ s required where incentives are involved in documenting the savings .
DAVID KLUG Mechanical Engineer
How exactly do MBCx and metering contribute to overall building efficiency ?
DK : As we go through documenting where the baseline is and then looking through to find ways to improve it , many times , owners don ’ t know how their facility is performing . The benchmarking gives them a feel for where they stand performance-wise . They can take the necessary steps to improve efficiency by implementing the recommended optimization actions . Sometimes we ’ ll benchmark several buildings on a site for an owner , which allows us to identify buildings that are not doing well so that owners have a better idea of where to focus their resources and get the most value with more detailed studies .
What recommendations would you give to owners who want to increase building efficiency ? Any simple steps they can take before they throw significant financial resources at it ?
DK : The first thing I usually recommend , which can be done even before a consultant gets involved , is to meter the building . We often run into issues where clients don ’ t have good meter data , so we have to make assumptions on the energy consumption . You need to know what a facilities energy consumption is before improving it . I also recommend keeping an eye on simple things like schedules and how spaces are being used . These things are easy to overlook , but they help you keep a pulse on how your building operates and help identify easy ways to save energy .
Metering doesn ’ t require a significant financial commitment , and it ’ s relatively straightforward ; you can take a couple of meters off the shelf and install them . Most of the time , that won ’ t need a third-party engineer involvement ; buildings owners can do it themselves without having to spend a ton of time on it .
10
Issue 04 / 2021