Creating a best-practice operation-and-maintenance (O&M) program increases the efficiency of facility staff, improves building operational practices, and reduces utility costs.
While nearly all benchmarking tools perform basic functions such as comparing energy use between buildings, some tools offer additional features that distinguish them from others.
Collecting energy consumption data from your utility is the first step in benchmarking. However, you will need additional information to complete the benchmarking process.
Benchmarking is a key part of actively managing your building's energy use. It lets you create a standard for comparing, measuring progress, and spotting potential problems.
Boilers are pressure vessels designed to heat water or produce steam, which can then be used to provide space heating and/or service water heating to a building.
Conducting a Night Walk of your building is a good way of identifying a myriad of operational issues that could be costing energy, money, time and tenant comfort.
Investment in effective operation and maintenance (O&M) is the most economical way to achieve reliability, safety, comfort, and energy efficiency in your buildings.
These case studies and articles illustrate real-world applications of the principles discussed in the Building Operations section of the BetterBricks web site.
The fourth grade classrooms are too warm. A motor is broken. The vice principal's office is stuffy. A louver is stuck. What happens when problems like this crop up in most school districts?
The cost of energy includes fixed and variable charges. The fixed charges are set monthly charges, while the variable charges depend on consumption and/or demand. Energy-saving measures reduce only the variable charges.
In offering energy-conservation programs, performance contracting, retrocommissioning, and capital projects, you provide high-value services to your clients.
Activities that improve a building's energy performance fall into four general categories: enhanced O&M, building tune-up, commissioning, and capital projects.
Mike Hatten is an internationally known engineer, recognized for his expertise in building energy efficiency and is a principal of . He combines a design, analysis and training background in his roles as project manager, educator and project engineer.