www.usa.siemens.

com/buildingtechnologies

The 12 Things You Need to Know

about Monitoring-Based
Commissioning (MBCx)
Jim Butler – CTO – Cimetrics
Craig Engelbrecht – Director of Smart Services and Technology – Siemens
Jim Lee – CEO, Founder – Cimetrics
Jim Sinopoli - Managing Principal, Founder – Smart Buildings, LLC

White Paper | July 2013 1. It goes beyond energy savings.

2. It’s a team effort.
3. Process, process, process.
F rom the moment a building is constructed and starts consuming resources, it starts 4. Implementation requires full
deteriorating. Mechanical, electrical, automation, and all building systems naturally buy-in.
decline over time in terms of both performance and efficiency. The results can be the
same; operations and maintenance costs rise, energy consumption rises, and occupant 5. It’s more than just a rule devel-
comfort may decline. oped in a lab.
6. You might not have all the data
Building owners and managers know they have options to prevent this natural progres-
you want and need.
sion, but are often overwhelmed by a glut of contradicting information, misinformation,
and misconceptions in the marketplace. Different vendors different use terms like com- 7. When it comes to data, it’s all
missioning, existing building commissioning, fault detection and diagnostics, smart hands on deck.
buildings . . . the list is nearly endless. 8. MBCx doesn’t work on its own.
Although the terms are different, the message is the same: “Let us analyze and optimize 9. The software doesn’t “drop in” and
your building and we’ll save you money.” It’s certainly an attractive proposition—spend a get to work.
little money now, save a lot of money later. But because of the terminology confusion,
10. Don’t turn it on all at once.
abundance of market options, and lack of standardization in approaches to dealing with
this issue, building owners and managers have become understandably leery of sales 11. If you’re not committed to fixing
pitches. In the midst of the confusion, though, lies a truth; what the industry calls con- issues, don’t waste your money on
tinuous or monitoring-based commissioning does, in fact, deliver improved building MBCx.
performance and energy efficiency. 12. Optimization strategies go hand-
in-hand with analytics.

A white paper issued by: Siemens. 1

© Siemens Industry, Inc. 2013. All rights reserved
 White paper | Monitoring-based Commissioning | 10 July 2013

The real long-term value

of commissioning is in
the building performance
improvements and
compliance efforts. That
value is possible through
a comprehensive
combination of the right
people, processes, and
technologies.”

Defining MBCx is the first step toward understanding it; we

Defining Monitoring- will now review the 12 things you need to know about moni-
toring-based commissioning.

Based Commissioning 1. It’s not just about the energy savings.

The same Lawrence-Berkeley National Laboratory report
asserts that MBCx is a highly cost-effective strategy. The
buildings involved in this benchmarking analysis realized
According to a report by the Lawrence-Berkeley National
average energy savings of 10%, with some ranging as high as
Laboratory, “Monitoring based commissioning (MBCx) com-
25%; and the investment had a simple payback period of 2.5
bines ongoing building energy system monitoring with
years, according to the report. Those are impressive results to
standard retro-commissioning (RCx) practices with the aim of
be sure.
providing substantial, persistent, energy savings*.” What we
are really talking about is a sophisticated package of software Many vendors today offer metering and commissioning ser-
applications that combines building data from a wide variety vices and promise energy cost savings. While that’s an im-
of sources to better manage building performance and effi- portant goal that often gets building owners interested in a
ciency. MBCx involves the implementation of improvement service package, what’s equally as important is the improved
measures along with ongoing service and insights necessary building performance and compliance that can result from
for full transparency, measurement, and reporting. That is, truly comprehensive MBCx strategy.
what facility engineers have done manually for decades can
Through our experience over the years, we have come to
now be completed more efficiently, more comprehensively,
understand that building maintenance is not always thor-
and more accurately by combining building and energy sys-
oughly completed for a variety of reasons, including, without
tem data with an engineering team’s expertise through the
limitation: the mechanical, electrical, and HVAC systems are
MBCx process.
considerably more complex than they once were; mainte-
When MBCx is built into a continuous building improvement nance issues are resolved when the building is no longer
process, it allows combined technologies involved in data comfortable and a tenant complains, or when a piece of
mining to identify faults or issues in building systems with equipment breaks and must be repaired or replaced; and
the necessary human analysis to determine how to address because regular maintenance schedules (for example, filter
those faults or issues. Truly advanced MBCx solutions will also replacements every six months) are not sufficient to support
help identify and prioritize resolution paths; for example, if the building’s most effective performance. MBCx is a com-
there is simultaneous heating and cooling in air handler 5, prehensive business process to improve the way buildings are
facility engineers should investigate a leaking chilled water maintained by using technology as an enabler.
valve to avoid a potential costly expenditure.

A white paper issued by: Siemens. 2

© Siemens Industry, Inc. 2013. All rights reserved
* Mills, Evan, and Paul Mathew. Monitoring-Based Commissioning: Benchmarking Analysis of 24 UC/CSU/IOU Projects. Rep. Berkeley, California: Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory, 2009.
 White paper | Monitoring-based Commissioning | 10 July 2013

The results can include a lower likelihood of premature It requires a new approach that is no longer simply reactive to
equipment failure; assistance with federal, state, local, and break/fix scenarios but now can be proactive based on data,
corporate requirements and regulations; energy and opera- analysis, and operational processes built in to the business.
tional cost savings; and, finally, sustaining and perpetuating The upfront investment in proactive services will ultimately
the improvements you have made. reduce operating costs by enabling your team to work more
efficiently and, more importantly, improve building perfor-
2. It’s a team effort.
mance.
While MBCx involves highly sophisticated technologies, even
the best software applications do not always perform exactly 4. Implementation requires full buy-in.
as you need or want them to without the right people work- The term “building owner” refers to more than a single person
ing with them. Monitoring-based commissioning means as- or entity who owns the building. “Building owner buy-in”
sembling a high performance team comprised of building means getting all facility engineers, technicians, and infor-
engineers, controls contractors, mechanical contractors, mation technology specialists on board to plan for and partic-
commissioning resources, and others. The objective is to ipate in an MBCx implementation. And because it requires
assemble subject matter experts from every aspect of the continued, long-term engagement and participation, all
building’s performance to most effectively review and ana- stakeholders should be aware of and committed to imple-
lyze the mined data. This team will understand the building’s menting and sustaining the process.
unique operations and how to interpret the issues that might
5. It’s more than just a rule developed in a lab.
arise on a dashboard.
MBCx is no off-the-shelf, lab-developed process. That is, eve-
ry building has unique controls, unique configurations, and
3. Process, process, process.
unique data. The many diagnostic algorithms must be con-
The technology and the people are there. Having the right
tinually tested and improved upon, rather than developed
processes to support their efforts is critical to maximizing
and tested in sterile lab environments. Preparing these algo-
their effectiveness.
rithms means getting a picture of the building’s systems and
Fault detection and diagnostics (FDD) and similar solutions creating a model that considers the original control drawings
identify out-of-range states for various systems or equipment and design intent. No rules can come out of the box and
within a building. A fault is not an alarm; a fault indicates apply to every building, every climate, every situation.
that the system is not running optimally. FDD analysis con-
MBCx can provide a series of tried-and-true algorithms that
tinually monitors building performance and can identify
support the rule development process in the field. The me-
many faults each month, depending on the complexity of the
chanical, electrical, and energy systems produce vast
systems and the size of the building. The technology can give
amounts of data that can be measured and compared against
you great insight and information, but you need the people
a set of expected values. When the actual values do not
available to finish the interpretation and analysis. Those
match the expected values, the algorithms will generate a
teams require effective processes to facilitate that regular
fault, and in the cases of evolved MBCx, a root cause. Engi-
analysis and proactively optimize building performance and
neers get a wide-ranging picture of what is going on in the
efficiency. Building owners who engage in MBCx may need to
building, and MBCx can be customized to the characteristics
develop new business processes to support the teams and
of a particular building.
technologies in new ways.

Fault Evaluation and Ranking

(Fault Index based on Energy Waste,
Equipment Type, Bldg/Area Served,
Safety, Customer Defined)

Business
Reaction
Performance Fault Fault Fault 1. Tolerate Process
1. Work Order
Monitoring Detection Isolation Diagnosis 2. ASAP
2. PO
3. Stop, repair
4. Optimization 3. Finance
Alarm
Management

M&V and Performance

Reporting Implementation
(Building and System Index based
on faults, performance, KPIs)

A white paper issued by: Siemens. 3

© Siemens Industry, Inc. 2013. All rights reserved
* Mills, Evan, and Paul Mathew. Monitoring-Based Commissioning: Benchmarking Analysis of 24 UC/CSU/IOU Projects. Rep. Berkeley, California: Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory, 2009.
 White paper | Monitoring-based Commissioning | 10 July 2013

activities of skilled personnel in the building. Consider one

6. You might not have all the data you want and need.
example where a building’s HVAC system was overtaxed in
Most of today’s building automation systems are designed
trying to cool a building. Engineers could determine, through
specifically to control the building’s systems; not as tools to
MBCx, that one of the temperature sensors was reading tem-
analyze and trend data. IT professionals can extract data, but
peratures significantly higher than in other areas of the build-
it is not necessarily going to be comprehensive enough to
ing; but it took the intervention of a person walking the
provide the analysis you want as quickly as you need it. Insuf-
building to realize that the sensor was located behind the
ficient data leads to fewer insights and more tentative con-
soda machine to realize the full value of that data. The EBCx
clusions, and so effective commissioning may require a build-
was a critical aspect of that full diagnosis and correction.
ing automation system upgrade or hardware improvements,
for example, in order to uncover and leverage the trending For further reading on a comprehensive commissioning strat-
data that’s buried in the building automation system. egy, please read Commissioning: An Essential Part of a Com-
prehensive Energy Strategy, by Michael Chimack.
7. When it comes to data, it’s all hands on deck.
A complete picture of building performance is only available
when you have all data hands on deck. Automation system
data, energy data, equipment data, service work orders—all
of it must work together. Each set of data provides valuable
information, but is not effective as a comprehensive strategy
on its own. Looking at utility usage as an MBCx strategy is
akin to diagnosing cancer by listening to a stethoscope. Many
of today’s “commissioning” vendors may position their work
as comprehensive, but if they’re examining just one set of
data, you’re getting a partial picture at best.
8. MBCx doesn’t work on its own.
MBCx can provide persistent performance improvements and
operational savings, but without a comprehensive commis-
sioning strategy, it’s not going to deliver all the results build-
ing owners want, need, and demand from commissioning
vendors and partners. A comprehensive commissioning strat-
egy must include existing building commissioning (EBCx) to
help ensure that a building is performing optimally according
to current needs, while MBCx can not only ensure savings,
but also identify advanced measures for performance im-
provement. This comprehensive commissioning strategy is
only effective when combined with the traditional diagnostic

A white paper issued by: Siemens. 4

© Siemens Industry, Inc. 2013. All rights reserved
 White paper | Monitoring-based Commissioning | 10 July 2013

11. If you’re not committed to fixing issues, don’t waste

9. The software doesn’t “drop in” and get to work.
your money on MBCx.
In our fifth point, we learned that no off-the-shelf MBCx MBCx will undoubtedly identify issues in a building to be
package is available to work in any building in any situation. resolved. And though you may have dedicated budget to the
Likewise, no software package can simply be “dropped in” MBCx implementation, if you’re not prepared to dedicate an
and get to work for the building. Configuration requires a ongoing operational budget to correct faults or implement
team-wide effort to gather data, configure rules, and gener- facility improvement measures, you’re wasting your money.
ate usable information. Regardless of what commissioning Monitoring-based commissioning is a comprehensive process
vendors’ marketing departments might promote, no solution that involves the right people and technologies; use the
can be turned on and immediately generate savings. Often, technologies to change your processes and the way you
because not all data is available and because of a building’s manage a building
preexisting conditions, engineers will have to rely on imper-
fect data in order to arrive at solutions. Again, MBCx is one 12. Optimization strategies go hand-in-hand with
part of a comprehensive energy strategy that involves the analytics.
right people, processes, and technologies to be effective. Optimization strategies can work well on their own, but
buildings need to combine those strategies with fault detec-
10. Don’t turn it on all at once.
tion and diagnostics and building analytics. Chilled water
Most organizations don’t have business processes built
optimization solutions like Siemens Demand Flow™, demand
around ongoing building commissioning. If you turn on MBCx
response for load optimization, and Aircuity with demand
across an entire portfolio of buildings, you may identify so
based ventilation all provide automated optimization but
many issues that building engineers will become over-
make sure proper fault detection rules are implemented to
whelmed. It can be difficult to establish effective and reliable
support and keep the optimization strategy on track.
response processes. Rather, it’s best to start slow and with a
smaller workload so you can develop a process that will allow
you to be successful. As you get more comfortable with your
strategy, then it’s possible to take on more and more respon-
sibility and to bring data into the process as it’s refined.

Optimal Building Equipment Replacement

Performance and Upgrades

100%
Advanced Control
Building Performance

Strategies
Ex: Chilled Water
System Optimization
BAS adapted to current usage
.
Repairs performed
based on actionable
Information from MBCx

Building
degradation MBCx Software drives
and maintains savings

1 Years 5

A white paper issued by: Siemens. 5

© Siemens Industry, Inc. 2013. All rights reserved
 White paper | Monitoring-based Commissioning | 10 July 2013

Successful MBCx Delivers Value

As the Lawrence-Berkeley National Laboratory report confirmed, MBCx does deliver energy savings and a return on invest-
ment, but the real long-term value of commissioning is in the building performance improvements and compliance efforts.
That value, however, is only possible through a comprehensive combination of the right people, processes, and technologies
to continuously optimize a building’s performance and efficiency.

Abbreviations
EBCx Existing Building Commissioning
FDD Fault Detection and Diagnostics
MBCx Monitoring-based Commissioning
RCx Retro Commissioning

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Building Technologies Division
1000 Deerfield Parkway
Buffalo Grove, IL 60089

www.usa.siemens.com/buildingtechnologies
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are owned by Siemens or their respective owners.
© Siemens Industry, Inc. 2013

A white paper issued by: Siemens. 6

© Siemens Industry, Inc. 2013. All rights reserved