[ARTICLE] Facility Optimization Services

18-Jul-2011 By Jerry Yudelson, Senior Advisor/Sustainability

Glumac has a long history of improving existing buildings - an example is this historic renovation of the San Francisco Piers buildings.

In 2009, the American Institute of Architects (AIA) proclaimed that, to meet the Architecture 2030 guidelines, the environmental footprint of the existing building market must be profoundly transformed. To accomplish this, AIA recommended that architects and engineers adopt four approaches:

• Shift from designing passively “green” projects to actively restorative buildings
• Assess the true environment value of existing resources when making design decisions
• Establish life-cycle plans that accurately address building and energy performance
• Adopt the most effective tools and technologies to achieve these energy goals

Glumac believes exactly in this strong commitment to sustainability. For the last 40 years, our engineers, energy analysts and commissioning agents have been dedicated to providing and retrofitting efficient building systems, while helping to shrink the carbon footprint of the building industry. More recently, we have accelerated our involvement with improving the energy efficiency of existing buildings.

Glumac’s Facility Optimization services (FOS) for existing buildings are designed to improve their life-cycle performance and reduce their carbon footprint. We combine several in-house specialties on retrofit projects: energy modeling, re-commissioning, design assessment and construction management. Our goal is to improve energy efficiency while meeting industry standards for building comfort and observing current code requirements. We help existing building projects to benefit from opportunities such as technology integration, energy accounting and real-time performance monitoring.

Glumac’s flexible package of Facility Optimization Services (FOS) is customized for each project to meet clients’ specific needs and budgets. These services are categorized as Facility Auditing, Re-/Retro-Commissioning (RCx), Development and Implementation of Energy Performance Improvements, and Measurement and Verification. Existing singly or in combination, these services provide an independent, owner-based perspective that integrates delivery methods and provides the basis for certification under such programs as LEED for Existing Buildings: Operations and Maintenance (LEED EBOM).

Glumac’s extensive experience with the existing building market allows us to provide competitive services, considering all aspects of building system design and operation. We emulate the services of Energy Service Companies (ESCOs) and Performance Contractors (PC), but with higher levels of service, enhanced owner participation and cost transparency.

As ASHRAE President Gordon V.R. Holness noted in the January 2008 edition of the ASHRAE Journal, “Approximately 86% of building construction expenditures relate to renovation of existing buildings, not to new construction.” Holness estimated that “over the next 30 years about 150 billion sf of existing buildings (roughly half of the entire building stock in the United States) will need to be renovated.” Historically, new construction only adds about 2% annually to the U.S. commercial building stock, so the real opportunities for reducing operating costs must be found in building retrofit and renovation.

Glumac’s retrofit options are available for existing electrical and mechanical systems, as well as upgrades for the building envelopes and utility infrastructure that can significantly reduce energy costs across a wide variety of facility types. The Federal Energy-Efficient Commercial Building Tax Deduction program, as well as numerous states and local utility companies, offers incentives for retrofitting these systems.

To further stretch the building budget, Glumac’s FOS options help owners and project developers focus on modernizing the lighting, HVAC, domestic hot water, and building envelope systems. Current projects include hospitals, office buildings and a large convention center. For municipal and school district facility inventories, Glumac also supports on-site power generation, emergency power upgrades and net-metering evaluation projects.

To get a further evaluation of your building’s potential for Facility Optimization, please contact our re-commissioning team leaders Todd McGuire, tmcguire@glumac.com (Northwest); Larry Brown lbrown@glumac.com (Northern California); or Steve Carroll, scarroll@glumac.com (Southern California/Nevada).

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