Retrocommissioning: Getting Back to Efficiencytest

By Dan Hounsell, Editor

December 2014

Which institutional and commercial facilities can benefit most from retrocommissioning? Many maintenance and engineering managers might assume that older facilities with outdated equipment and technology are the most appealing targets for the process, which seeks to identify and restore key components and systems to their original level of energy efficiency.

After all, newer facilities are more likely to have newer, more energy-efficient equipment and, therefore, not need retrocommissioning. In fact, managers should not be so quick to assume.

“On a number of occasions, I have walked into that have achieved LEED certification and found multiple things that could have and should have been corrected,” says Michael Flatley, senior building systems consultant with Steven Winter Associates. “The fact that a building is Energy Star or LEED certified means nothing with respect to what could be found with retrocommissioning.”