High energy consumption prompted a high-end multifamily building in Washington, D.C. to take measures in response to the city’s Building Energy Performance Standards (BEPS) requirements. To address this challenge, Baumann Consulting was contracted to provide its Facility Diagnostics Service, which involved a thorough analysis of energy usage data and Building Management System (BMS) trends. The analysis identified natural gas consumption during the heating season as the primary area of concern. An itemized action plan was assembled and executed, primarily utilizing in-house resources.
On-site engineers, along with a contracted BMS service provider, implemented several key recommendations:
- Eliminating interactive effects of common areas, fresh air, and terminal air systems
- Adjusting heating and cooling season CW setpoints specific to the equipment served
- Implementing system-specific CW reset program
- Troubleshooting HHW system controls issues following a trend data analysis
- Optimizing the CW filtration system based on operating and water treatment trend data
- Investigating and correcting the positive pressure return plenum condition
- Servicing DHW heat exchangers
- Synchronizing the base building SoO with on-site Aquatic facility SoO
- Implementing a green tenant initiative program
The results of these initiatives were significant, yielding weather-normalized year-over-year savings that included:
- 7-point increase in the ENERGY STAR score
- 33% reduction in natural gas usage
- 2% decrease in electricity consumption
- 11% reduction in site Energy Use Intensity (EUI)
These implemented measures reduced the annual energy cost by approximately $70,000 and avoided more than $2.5 million in BEPS penalties. The combined measures have an ROI of less than 2 months, considering saved utility costs alone.
