For the University of Florida, improving energy efficiency is the most important step toward achieving sustainability in its buildings. That’s why the university turned to Johnson Controls to implement a comprehensive retro-commissioning plan that included service and training of university staff in an effort to optimize the operation of its existing buildings. As a result, the university saw a 22 percent return on its initial investment and improved the level of expertise of its Physical Plant Department personnel.

With more than 900 buildings, the university operates like a small city and has one of the largest connected-load chilled water systems in the country. The campus also features both a cogeneration and a state-of-the-art water reclamation plant. In its continual effort to decrease utility consumption and increase system efficiencies, the university is implementing a comprehensive suite of energy initiatives including lighting retrofits, occupancy sensors, temperature setback programs and chiller plant optimization.

The university also recognized that further savings could be achieved by retro-commissioning their buildings. Challenged with a lack of personnel, a shortage of qualified building technicians and no formalized training program, the university’s Physical Plant Department needed a solution.

A Better Approach
The university’s Physical Plant Department is responsible for operating and maintaining approximately 13 million square feet of occupied space, including the electro-mechanical infrastructure. With HVAC comprising more than $28 million of the university’s annual utility costs of $48 million, they realized ensuring that their air handling equipment was properly serviced and operating as designed could achieve significant energy savings.

In the past, with limited manpower resources, the university had conducted these efforts by beginning with an outsourced engineering study, then sub-contracting the resulting recommendations to mechanical and controls contractors. However, their experience was that this two-step approach resulted in additional overhead costs and a less-than-optimal outcome, since each party’s accountability ended sometime in the process. Nowhere in the process were the university’s maintenance personnel engaged or educated around the initiative, thus the desired results were not sustainable.

Johnson Controls, who has been servicing the university’s chillers and Metasys® building management system for years, had a better approach. The Metasys system is used to monitor and control HVAC systems and equipment in nearly 80 percent of the buildings on campus.  Using Metasys, the university’s engineer and Johnson Controls identified the north chilled water loop as the largest opportunity to reduce energy consumption. The loop is one of nine on campus, each accommodated by a chilled water plant.

Johnson Controls proposed a training and retro-commissioning strategy that would avoid additional engineering overhead costs and provide education for the university’s Physical Plant staff. The strategic approach involved pairing a Johnson Controls mechanic with a Physical Plant Department mechanic and a controls technician from Johnson Controls with a controls technician from the Physical Plant.

The mechanical teams first did a comprehensive inspection of air handling units then cleaned, repaired and reconditioned the units as needed. Controls teams then checked the sequence of operations and implemented controls strategies to maximize equipment performance. More complex repairs or replacements were documented and prioritized for future completion.  Johnson Controls provided additional training as needed to improve the proficiency of university personnel.

Return on investment includes savings, improved expertise, & sustainable performance
The university’s investment in its infrastructure has paid off in three ways. First, as improvements were made at the building level, energy improvements became evident in the energy coordinator’s office. Savings resulting from bringing buildings back to design in the north loop alone equate to a 22 percent return on investment.

Second, mechanics witnessed firsthand the impact that dirty coils, broken dampers and leaking control valves could have on the overall function of a building, its HVAC system and utility costs.  Throughout the process, Physical Plant and Johnson Controls mechanics uncovered and corrected other energy violations such as pumps operating in a manual state causing an over-pumping condition in the loop.

Third, with a better understanding of the Johnson Controls Metasys system, Physical Plant technicians implemented occupancy and operations sequencing strategies to save energy.  Working together with Johnson Controls in a ‘strategic partnership,’ technicians installed meters that allow live measurement of energy consumption at the chiller plant. Again, by allowing the comparison of actual energy consumption by chillers and ancillary equipment to design expected consumption, technicians are able to scrutinize their performance moment by moment.

In the end, by investing capital funding in its infrastructure, the University of Florida has driven savings, increased energy efficiency and paved the way for more sustainable building operations. Building comfort has improved too, which is evidenced by the positive feedback given by the students and faculty. The teams of mechanics and technicians have already moved on to the next chilled water loop, where they’ll be better equipped to identify energy saving opportunities and sustain the performance of the university’s existing assets, and continue the cycle of energy savings, equipment improvement and personal development.

“Energy efficiency can be directly proportional to the facility’s technical maintenance abilities. To achieve maximum efficiency in facilities and systems, a higher level of technical abilities is necessary. Continuous training is recommended.” (John Lawson, Energy Coordinator at the University of Florida)

About the Author
Scott Gordon, LEED AP O+M, is the Energy & Sustainability Product Technical Support Manager for Johnson Controls Service. He has over 30 years of experience in the mechanical contracting and engineering industry. He holds a number of certifications from the Association of Energy Engineers (AEE) and is a member of ASHRAE committee GPC 0.2, The Commissioning Process of Existing Buildings and Assemblies, and GPC1.2, The Technical Requirements to Commission Existing HVACR Systems.

Johnson Controls delivers products, services and solutions that increase energy efficiency and lower operating costs in buildings for more than one million customers.  Operating out of more than 150 branch locations across North America, its Service division provides maintenance, repair and replacement/retrofit services that increase operational and energy efficiencies, minimize risk and equipment downtime, optimize occupant comfort and deliver sustainable results.