Existing Building Commissioning (EBCx) of large commercial and industrial buildings is a comprehensive and systematic process that improves the operations of your building systems to ensure they meet occupant needs while minimizing energy use. It provides healthy, comfortable and productive work environments by bringing ventilation and indoor air quality up to standards, solving persistent problems with building operation and training Operations and Management (O&M) staff to improve building performance.
The envelope of large commercial buildings need to be sealed to prevent unintended infiltration or exfiltration. The primary concern is energy, but it has an impact on indoor air quality because it impacts ventilation and helps control moisture movement through walls. In the summertime, if warm, moist outside air comes in through leaks and then hits colder surfaces of your conditioned buildings, it can create moisture problems which can lead to mold problems. If you’re drawing air through that space, then you potentially have an indoor air quality issue.
When you have leaks in a building you may end up providing less ventilation or more ventilation than you really intended. When designers look at ventilation in large buildings, they think about how much air they’re bringing in through their outdoor air intakes but don’t really consider how much is coming through the building envelope itself.
Often TEC equipment can be used as part of this commissioning in traditional ways to measure the airtightness of a building, locate air leaks, and measure duct leakage, or HVAC flow. Larger buildings will simply require more blower door fans, Duct Blaster fans or more True Flow Meters to do the test. Our TECLOG3 software makes controlling multiple fans, gathering all the data and generating a report a breeze. Until recently, most blower door testing was performed on small non-residential and residential structures. However, there is now a demand for consultants with the knowledge and equipment necessary to test large facilities using multiple-fan blower door systems. TEC has assembled a manual titled Blower Door Applications Guide: Beyond Single Family Residential to introduce experienced Energy Conservatory blower door users to proven these techniques.
Our customers have also found many innovative ways to use a blower door fans, Duct Blaster® fans and TrueFlow Meters to measure air flow through outdoor air intakes, exhaust systems, and rooftop air handler units.
Here are some examples (click image to enlarge)
