Smart Building Energy Management

BAS: Building Automation Systems (BAS) and Building Energy Management Systems (BEMS) are important technologies since building owners/managers can achieve energy savings and energy efficiency goals for their buildings by utilizing these tools. These systems have become an industry norm for developing/maintaining high-performance buildings. BAS and BEMS are also taking a vital role in these days as the key information sources for building commissioning and performance Measurement and Verification (M&V).

Commissioning: The building commissioning is defined as “Systematic process of assuring by verification and documentation, from the design phase to a minimum of one year after construction, that all facility systems perform interactively in accordance with the owner’s operational needs, including preparation of operation personnel,” which is the official definition of Total Building Commissioning established by the National Conference on Building Commissioning. The energy savings obtained through building commissioning have been reported consistently for the last decades. Several different commissioning terms have also been created in terms of the time and process of commissioning, such as retro-commissioning, re-commissioning, existing building commissioning, new building commissioning, continuous commissioning, ongoing commissioning, and persistence commissioning.

Challenges: As the various names imply, which have been created for building commissioning, there are still challenges remaining in this area for better processes. To perform the commissioning process successfully for energy savings, a standardized technology, both cost- and time-effective, is required for the performance M&V of buildings. This also should integrate the data from existing BAS and/or BEMS systems as main part of the key evaluation parameters.

Therefore, the significance here is that a new commissioning technology, which can maintain and improve the high energy performance level of buildings in real-time basis, needs to be developed. As the new real-time commissioning and M&V technologies have been developed, it is expected to achieve the reduction of cost associated with the building commissioning process and to save energy continuously. A systematic approach for the development of methodology and its application will also be essential part for the success of the development.