On November 15th, 2016, Baumann Consulting was accepted into the program as a qualified Service Provider in the New York State Energy Research and Development Authority (NYSERDA) Commercial Real Time Energy Management program. The program provides financial support for acquiring building data, meaningful analysis of collected data and for regularly making specific and actionable recommendations that will improve the thermal comfort and energy productivity of buildings.
The NYSERDA program has a total budget of $30M, and projects have the following funding options:
| Incentive Type Option A | Applications received: 6/14/16 – 6/30/18 | Applications received: 7/1/18 – 6/30/21 | ||
| NYSERDA Cost-Share | Cap per Project per Year | NYSERDA Cost-Share | Cap per Project per Year | |
| System Installation | 30% | $75,000 | 20% | $50,000 |
| Service Years 1-3 | 30% | $20,000 | 20% | $15,000 |
| Service Years 4-5 | 20% | $10,000 | 15% | $10,000 |
| Incentive Type Option B | Applications received: 6/14/16 – 6/30/18 | Applications received: 7/1/18 – 6/30/21 | ||
| NYSERDA Cost-Share | Cap per Project per Year | NYSERDA Cost-Share | Cap per Project per Year | |
| Service Years 1-3 | 30% | $35,000 | 20% | $30,000 |
| Service Years 4-5 | 20% | $25,000 | 15% | $25,000 |
Funding is available to building owners and managers who work with qualified partners to install and use appropriate RTEM systems and services that save energy. Baumann Consulting’s network of RTEM qualified system providers can collect, store and transmit valuable building data. Once data is collected and accessible on a real time basis, Baumann Consulting regularly implements retro-commissioning and operation diagnostic services in order to pinpoint wasteful energy loss. Recommendations include but are not limited to corrections to HVAC system set points and schedules, simultaneous heating and cooling, ventilation controls and settings and economizer operation.
A study by the National Center for Energy Management and Building Technologies concluded that effective operations and maintenance reduces commercial building energy bills by 15-20%.[1] Similarly, a September 2012 study by Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratories found that good operational practice in medium sized office buildings resulted in energy use reductions of 15-29%.[2] Furthermore, the study found that poor operational practice increases energy use by 49-79%.
With this potential for energy savings in mind, Baumann Consulting’s commissioning and operation diagnostic services aim to significantly improve building operations. Baumann identifies equipment and systems that are not operating optimally and then recommends specific and implementable corrective actions. In the past, acquiring meaningful data has been a significant challenge in retro-commissioning, continuous commissioning and operation diagnostic efforts. The RTEM program aims to solve that problem and is expected to go a long way in eliminating energy waste in buildings.
[1] Frankel, M., M. Heater and J. Heller. “Sensitivity Analysis: Relative Impact of Design, Commissioning Maintenance and Operational Variables on the Energy Performance of Office Buildings” New Buildings Institute. August 2012.
[2] Liping Wang, Paul Mathew and Xiufeng Pang. Uncertainties in Energy Consumption Introduced by Building Operations and Weather for a Medium-Size Office Building. September 2012. Environmental Energy Technologies Division, Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory.
