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Interested in Receiving up to $200,000 to Retro-Commission your Existing Building?

Miron Bridge Walkway

The statistics are staggering. Buildings in the United States consume 39% of all energy produced in the US and 68% of all electricity produced in the US. They emit 38% of all carbon dioxide, 49% of all sulfur dioxide, and 25% of all nitrogen oxide.

Interestingly enough, of all building types, the top three largest consumers include: food service, inpatient healthcare and food processing facilities. In fact, they consume at least two times the amount of energy an average commercial building consumes. Why? Because they contain specialized, high-energy-consuming equipment, commonly referred to as “process loads” (i.e. cooking equipment, ventilation, refrigeration) or “plug loads” (medical equipment that is “plugged” into outlets). Additionally, these buildings tend to have long hours of operation; typically 24 hours per day.

As the price of energy continues to soar, facility managers and building operators explore ways to reduce and reuse the amount of energy their buildings consume. Typical strategies include: reducing HVAC loads through control strategies or energy-efficient equipment/systems; reusing “waste” energy sources; reducing lighting loads through lighting controls, energy-efficient lighting technology, incorporating daylighting, installing occupancy sensors or daylight sensors; improving the building envelope, etc.

But what if you don’t know where to start? What if you’ve done all of these things? If that’s the case, we’d suggest retro-commissioning your building. What is retro-commissioning? Retro-commissioning (RCx) is a process that seeks to improve how existing building equipment and systems function independently, as well as together, improving the building’s operation and maintenance procedures, thereby enhancing the overall performance of the building. The holistic approach focuses on the energy-related systems and equipment, as well as the building envelope. Additionally, RCx also investigates how a building is operated and controlled. Depending on the age of the building, RCx often resolves problems that occurred during design or construction, and/or addresses problems that have developed throughout the life of the building. In a nut shell, RCx provides a “tune-up” of the existing building equipment and controls so that it functions optimally and improves the operation by working to train the facilities team so that at the end of the RCx process, the building gets better fuel-mileage.

While RCx comes with a cost, there is a Focus on Energy RCx Program that offers eligible customers of participating utilities the opportunity to save up to 15% in energy costs and receive up to $200,000 in financial incentives. For additional information on Focus on Energy’s Retro-commissioning incentive program, please contact us, or simply visit Focus on Energy’s Retro-commissioning website for details.