For the past 80 years, an acute care academic medical center has served the needs of the Greater Atlanta area. Today, its more than 1,600 affiliated physicians treat patients across dozens of specialties on its large campus. The multi-building, 1.2-million-square-foot campus has been renovated and reconfigured numerous times over the years. Unfortunately, accurate original construction documentation was lost along the way, complicating new commissioning efforts. In addition, continuous workspace reconfigurations degraded energy performance significantly. As a result, the total annual utility spend had exceeded $4.1 million.
The McKenney’s team recommended retrocommissioning (RCx) to improve system performance and to reduce ulitity consumption costs by $250,000 annually. The team identified and evaluated root causes of operational inefficiencies. Then, it recommended strategies and systems to improve efficiency across campus. The comprehensive, labor-intensive yearlong effort included evaluating about 30 percent of the building’s HVAC systems. One year later, the medical center realized more than $500,000 in savings—more than doubling initial targets and estimates. Pleased with the results, the customer requested McKenney’s assess more campus HVAC systems.
Today, about 70 percent of campus HVAC systems have been included in McKenney’s RCx efforts. As a result, campus utilities costs have been reduced about $1M annually. The McKenney’s team maintains a consistent presence at the facility, recommending capital improvements and other cost-saving strategies and solutions as a technical advisor, knowledgeable resource and trusted partner.
THE CHALLENGE
- Incomplete original construction documents
- Multiple workspace reconfigurations
- Reduce utilities consumption spend by $250,000 annually
THE SOLUTION
- Conducted energy assessment to identify root causes of operational inefficiencies
THE RESULTS
- Minimized energy consumption
- Saved nearly $1 million in utilities costs annually
- Increased occupant comfort