Syllabus - CUNY Building Performance Lab

BUILDING PERFORMANCE LAB
CUNY INSTITUTE FOR URBAN SYSTEMS
CITY UNIVERSITY OF NEW YORK
Introduction to Building Re-Tuning (BRT)
FALL 2014 SYLLABUS
OVERVIEW COURSE DESCRIPTION:
This 15-hour (5-session) course is intended to familiarize building operators with the principles and
practices of Building Re-Tuning (BRT). BRT is a structured process for investigating building/HVAC
system operations to identify and correct common faults that lead to energy waste. The process
emphasizes the use of building data, drawn from various sources but especially from an automated
building control system (BAS/BMS). Students learn how data is acquired, converted to graphical formats,
and interpreted for operational diagnosis. The course requires practical hands-on work by students in
their home facilities. In-class sessions combine lecture, discussion, and feedback from weekly project
assignments.
Maintenance of Building Operator Certification (BOC)
This course satisfies the annual continuing education requirement for Maintenance of Certification of BOC
Level 1 and Level 2.
LEARNING OBJECTIVES:

To understand the Building Re-Tuning process, its objectives and its implementation.

To be able to:
 identify systems for re-tuning and the associated data requirements.
 set-up trend logs and graphical representations.
 interpret graphical representations to diagnose common system operating faults.

To begin the thinking and planning for a long-term building operations improvement process.
INSTRUCTORS
Michael Bobker, MS, CEM – Executive Director, CUNY BPL – [email protected]
Dakers Gowans, P.E. – Principal, Left Fork Energy, Inc. – [email protected]
Office Hours: Instructors will be available after classes and by appointment.
COURSE LOCATION & SCHEDULE
Location:
CUNY School of Professional Studies
st
th
119 West 31 Street Room 403 (4 Floor), New York, NY 10001
Schedule:
Thursday evenings 6-9pm
Thurs. 10/2/14 through 10/30/14
TEXT MATERIALS are drawn from the Large Building Re-Tuning Resources, on the website of the
Pacific Northwest National Lab (PNL) http://www.pnl.gov/buildingretuning/resources.stm . You can also
reach this website by typing into Google search “PNL Building Re-Tuning´, going to the main website, and
then to the Large Buildings Re-Tuning Resources page.
Texts
Guide to Re-Tuning Measures (“Guide”)
http://www.pnl.gov/buildingretuning/retuning_measures.stm
Energy Charting and Metrics Tool (ECAM) – pre-recorded webinars (3) (“ECAM webinars”)
http://www.pnl.gov/buildingretuning/webseries.stm
Energy Savings Modeling of Standard Commercial Building Re-Tuning Measures: Large
Office Buildings – pdf download (“ES Modeling”)
http://www.pnl.gov/buildingretuning/documents/pnnl_21569.pdf
SUPPLEMENTARY: If you want additional practice, especially for walk-down and investigative
processes, you can register for the self-paced on-line training:

Building Re-Tuning On-line Interactive Training
http://retuningtraining.labworks.org/training/lms/
Further resources and background materials are provided in the Bibliography at the end of this syllabus.
You will notice that those materials contain many references to Retro-commissioning (RCx) and
Continuous Commissioning© as these are closely related methods from which BRT has developed.
REQUIREMENTS AND GRADING

Successful completion of the course is based on attendance and the instructors’ evaluation that a
final project is acceptable. Students must attend all five sessions of the course.

The course project is defined further below. It must be conducted in the student’s home facility or
a facility overseen by the student. Student must have user access to the building’s functioning
Building Automation System (BAS) either directly or through a co-worker.

Successful students will receive a Certificate of Completion from the CUNY Building Performance
Lab / School of Professional Studies.
ASSIGNMENTS
Prior to the first class, complete the assignment sent to you via e-mail. This assignment asked you to
complete a short survey and do a short reading assignment on the PNL website. It is important that you
make sure that you are able to successfully access the PNL website and navigate around it.
WEEKLY ASSIGNMENTS are shown below. There is a practical assignment and a reading assignment
for each week. The more you can accomplish and write for each weekly practical assignment, the better
shape you will be in for the final Project submission.
PROJECT. A project conducted in your home facility is the most important part of the course, for both
learning and evaluation. The project will be built up in steps through weekly assignments and submitted
at the fifth (final) class session. The goal of the project is to initiate a BRT process in your facility. Ideally,
a project will include data acquisition trend logging, graphical presentation, and diagnostic interpretation.
But we recognize that the class is short and not all projects will be able to accomplish this full scope.
Projects can be regarded as successful if they clearly articulate the steps to be taken and the
procedures to be implemented for BRT at your specific facility. This will be discussed further during
class sessions and as weekly assignments are reviewed. A separate Project Description handout will be
provided and reviewed in class 2.
INTERN SUPPORT. The CUNY BPL may be able to provide some student intern support for BRT
implementation by assisting with data collection and trend logging processes. Training participants can
inquire about taking advantage of this opportunity for help in setting up their data acquisition and charting.
Note that resources are limited and should be used only in cases where there may be difficulty or
unfamiliarity with set-up and usage of the BAS trend logging function.
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WEEKLY TOPICS AND READING ASSIGNMENTS
Class/
week
1
2
CLASS TOPICS
ASSIGNMENTS
(DUE FOR NEXT CLASS)
Course structure and requirements
What is BRT.
• Systems & measures addressed by BRT.
• The BRT process – acquiring data, creating and
interpreting charts
DISCUSSION
 Check access on-line to the Guide
 Review of pre-class survey:
 Your systems and monitoring practices.
 Your BAS system and how you use it.
Starting BRT.
 Identifying Systems of Interest (SOI).
 Understanding SOI functions and variables
 Types of Charts and their interpretation
 Data acquisition via trend logs.
DISCUSSION
 SOI functional variables and Key Performance
Indicators (KPI)
3
4
5
Implementing BRT
• Working with the data. ECAM. CSV files.
• More data plot (chart) interpretation and
operating improvements
DISCUSSION
 Review of SOI, data acquisition planning, and
trend-logging initial experience
Planning for BRT.
• Creating your “baseline” and KPI
• Energy-use data
• Starting a systematic, step-by-step process
DISCUSSION
 Barriers encountered, steps planned.
 Systems considered, what learned?
Concluding ….and Really Starting
• Findings from ES Modeling of BRT measures
• Sample presentations and discussions – learning
from each other
• Discussion of class, outcomes, opportunities
• Evaluation
Page 3 of 4
o
o
Review your BAS system documentation
for trend logging.
Review/consider your practices with BAS
– short description.
READ in Guide
o Occupancy Schedule
o Zone Heating & Cooling Control
o Central Utility Plant Heating Control
o Central Utility Plant Cooling Control
o
o
o
SOI exercise – identify system functions
and list data points.
Trial trend log set-up.
Engage intern support.
READ in Guide
o Air-side Economizer Operation
o AHU Minimum Outside Air Operation
o AHU Static Pressure Control
o AHU Discharge Air Control
o AHU Heating and Cooling Control



Continue trend log set-up and logging
SOI write-up – what system being
investigated, what functions, how data
acquisition has gone
Trial graphical plots and interpretations
READ
 ECAM Webinars, parts 1 and 2
o
o
o
Continue graphical plots and
interpretations
Write-up “BRT Implementation Plan”
Prepare final Project submission
READ in ES Modeling
o Abstract-Exec Summary-Approach,
pages iii - xii
o
Submission of final project (hurrah!)
BIBLIOGRAPHY
With just a few exceptions, the following materials are available on-line without charge. Use the URL or
do a Google search by the title and follow the link. You can also access this syllabus at the BP Lab
website with live links to most of the documents.
Associated Air Balance Council (AABC) ACG Commissioning Guideline for Building Owners, Design
Professionals and Commissioning Service Providers
http://www.commissioning.org/commissioningguideline/ ACGCommissioningGuideline.pdf
Brambley, M.R., and S. Katipamula. 2009. "Commercial Building Re-Tuning: A Low-Cost Approach to
Improved Performance and Energy Efficiency." ASHRAE Journal, 51(10):12-23. (hand-out)
California Commissioning Collaborative California Commissioning Guide: Existing Buildings
www.cacx.org/resources/.../CA_Commissioning_Guide_Existing.pdf
Claridge, D.E., M. Liu, Y. Zhu, M. Abbas, A. Athar, and J.S. Haberl. “Implementation of Continuous
Commissioning in the Texas LoanSTAR Program: Can You Achieve 150% Estimated Retrofit Savings
Revisited.” In Proceedings of the 1996 ACEEE Summer Study. ACEEE: American Council for an
Energy Efficient Economy, Washington, D.C.
Energy Design Resources. Advanced Variable Air Volume VAV System Design Guide.
http://www.energydesignresources.com/media/2651/EDR_DesignGuidelines_VAV.pdf
Federal Energy Management Program (FEMP) Operations and Maintenance Best Practices Guide
www1.eere.energy.gov/femp/pdfs/omguide_complete.pdf
Federal Energy Management Program (FEMP) Continuous Commissioning Guidebook for Federal
Energy Managers eber.ed.ornl.gov/CommercialProducts/ContCx.htm
Honeywell Engineering Manual of Automatic Control
customer.honeywell.ca/techlit/pdf/77-0000s/77-E1100.pdf
Mills, E. 2009. “A Golden Opportunity for Reducing Energy Costs and Greenhouse Gas Emissions.”
http://cx.lbl.gov/2009-assessment.htm.
Portland Energy Conservation Inc. (PECI) A Practical Guide for Commissioning Existing Buildings
eber.ed.ornl.gov/CommercialProducts/RetroCx.htm
Portland Energy Conservation Inc (PECI) A Retro-Commissioning Guide for Building Owners..
http://www.peci.org/sites/default/files/epaguide_0.pdf
Portland Energy Conservation Inc. (PECI) Functional Testing Guide and Control System Design Guide
www.peci.org/ftguide
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