Learning the lessons of Nature
Delivering buildings that work — Mike Malina on site.
Commissioning is a totally natural process and should be our first step towards sustainable buildings, according to Mike Malina.Our planet is very good at commissioning. In fact, Mother Nature is one enormous piece of self-regulating kit. She is superb at balancing a number of natural processes, such as the water, carbon, oxygen and nitrogen cycles. Upsetting just one of these has a very big impact on the others and, consequently, the environment. This is the foundation of the Gaia theory first proposed by the father of environmentalism, James Lovelock. The same principle can be applied to buildings. Maintaining a good balance of the air and water services provides a better building environment that is efficient, cost effective and will minimise the impact on the wider environment. That means building services have to be properly commissioned in the first place and then subject to on-going planned maintenance and periodic re-commissioning.
Spin Sustainability is an overused word — part of the spin that contributes to the unproductive ‘green-wash’ approach employed by many. It annoys me that a number of inappropriate technologies and solutions are being specified and fitted to buildings in the name of sustainability. Unless technologies are used appropriately and in a cost-effective way, we risk tarnishing the whole concept of renewable and low-carbon systems. The key is to establish a hierarchy of need that starts with minimising energy use and subsequent environmental impact from the outset. A step in the right direction is the emphasis now placed on commissioning in the current Building Regulations. If you can get the ‘brains’ of the building working correctly, i.e. the building-management system (BMS) or the localised controls, then at least you can synchronise all the systems to work optimally and stop them competing with one other. Unfortunately, heating and cooling working against each other is something we see far too often in UK buildings. Poorly commissioned or inadequately maintained systems that have consequently ‘drifted’ from their original set position are also extremely common. Occupants at one end of such buildings are too hot and those at the other are too cold, so some are opening windows while other bring in portable electric heaters. This means the building operator is paying several times over for energy. It is tantamount to literally throwing money out of the window at the hot end and having to pay twice at the cold end.
Root cause Most facilities managers do not know how to get to the root cause and end up ‘fire fighting’ with a series of short-term solutions just to keep occupants happy. Unless they have a good grasp of the overall picture, they will not think to engage a specialist contractor to re-commission the building services because they find it hard to envisage the difference adjusting dampers, valves and systems can make. A basic examination of air and water systems will show, in most cases, that they are catastrophically out of balance. This is fundamental and relatively easy to put right if you call in the right people. Having your main services unbalanced means your heating system, for example, will only operate in patches and hot water will fail to reach all areas of the occupied zones. Such erratic heating will encourage individual users to turn up room thermostats and radiator valves in a doomed attempt to improve conditions. All they will actually do is drive up energy costs. Again if air services are out of kilter, ventilation fans will be overworking in an attempt to redress the balance, and air conditioning systems will consume enormous amounts of electricity without delivering the controlled conditions expected by users. How many times do we see the indiscriminate use of supplementary fan heaters around offices, for example? Commissioning engineers can almost sense where the problems are simply by walking into an unbalanced building. They can feel that the airflows are not as they should be, but putting that right takes a bit of technical expertise and a lot of patience. End users could also do with a little basic building services education. Why do people behave so irrationally at work compared to their own homes when it comes to controlling temperature and ventilation? Many commissioning firms find that building managers and facilities managers are simply at a loss to understand why their highly specified heating and air-conditioning systems are not delivering the required comfort conditions. Do many of them even understand the concept of balancing, and would they, for example, be able to point out a services riser to you?
Balanced footing By applying their engineering skills and adjusting valves and dampers, commissioning companies can relatively quickly put a building back on a balanced footing. As a result the building will be more energy efficient with the desired indoor climate conditions being achieved. Importantly, the workforce will be happier and more productive — a true measure of delivering sustainability.
Mike Malina is technical consultant to the M&E sustainability campaign led by the Electrical Contractors’ Association and the Heating & Ventilating Contractors’ Association. He is also the founder of the energy auditing, training and commissioning practice Energy Solutions Associates.
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