Ongoing Commissioning Creates Opportunity for Continuous Energy Savings

Looking for a way to spark savings—and keep it going—in your lab buildings this year? Think ongoing commissioning! This past October, the Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory (LBNL) in California received a Sustainable Laboratory Award for Continuous Improvement for their ongoing commissioning (OCx) program. The program has driven significant energy and water reductions at LBNL, as well as continual improvements in laboratory ventilation safety.

LBNL’s OCx program is led by cross-divisional staff from their Facilities Division, Environmental Health and Safety Division, and Sustainability Office. The OCx team uses the building analytics software SkySpark to collect, store, and analyze data. They have used this data to identify deficiencies such as failed actuators, inaccurate sensors/meters, scheduling issues, broken/ineffective control sequences, inappropriate setpoints, and gaps in data.

Automated fault detection and diagnostics tools, as well as a process of regularly reviewing SkySpark output, help the LBNL OCx team quickly identify and respond to issues creating excessive lab energy or water use or affecting ventilation safety. Facilities staff organize their OCx action items into monthly sprints focused on building-wide mechanical system issues. Integrating this tool into daily facility maintenance activities enables the OCx team to regularly and consistently perform analyses at a level typically only seen in formal commissioning projects.

Collaboration is key to the OCx program’s success. The team includes a maintenance supervisor and two control systems technicians within the Facilities Division paired with Sustainable Berkeley Lab staff, including a control systems engineer, a data/energy engineer, and support from LBNL’s energy and sustainability manager, energy analyst, and Chief Sustainability Officer. They also work with industrial hygienists, research division coordinators, and facilities staff for work outside the scope of the OCx team.

The OCx team focused on two lab buildings at first, then gradually expanded to include more LBNL buildings. In 2023, the team began identifying and responding to lab-specific safety issues related to fume hood operation, space pressurization, and ventilation. The team set up automated fault detection algorithms, called Safety Sparks, and reviews the results biweekly. From early 2023 to spring 2024, the OCx team addressed 85 lab safety concerns, improving both the safety and comfort of lab spaces at LBNL. The efforts have resulted in annual energy savings of over 12,500 megawatt hours and annual water savings of 5.6 million gallons.

For more information about LBNL’s OCx team and other I2SL award-winning efforts, visit https://www.i2sl.org/2024-award-winners.