Without thorough commissioning, issues such as improper equipment settings, inefficient scheduling, or misaligned system interactions can undermine the performance of building retrofits, limiting the benefits of upgrades over time.

With many voluntary standards, such as NABERS, LEED and BREEAM, now placing more emphasis upon the handover and commissioning stage, the industry is seeing increased adoption of advanced techniques to help limit the performance gap between the design and operation phases. While traditional commissioning approaches may only focus on initial testing and verification, more advanced methods, such as seasonal, LEED enhanced, and monitoring-based commissioning (MBCx) can ensure a deeper level of insight and longer-term performance assurance.

Monitoring-based commissioning, for example, involves the continuous collection and analysis of building performance data using sensors, BMS and other smart metering infrastructure to provide real-time insights into how systems are performing. This process can be supported by tools such as our own iSCAN data analytics platform, which enables users to centralise any time-series data from different building and energy management systems, utility portals, IoT sensors and historic files, compare operational performance against simulated data, and undertake in-use performance evaluations. This allows for ongoing adjustments and optimisation of systems long after retrofits are implemented, helping to identify inefficiencies early on, enable proactive maintenance and ensure that buildings stay on track to meet their energy and carbon reduction targets.

If adopting a monitoring-based commissioning approach, an exciting development is the ability to use data collected during this process to create a performance digital twin or a calibrated energy model. This enables the creation of a dynamic, virtual representation of a building that mirrors its real-time operation, supporting verification of systems performance as well as enabling ongoing analysis, forecasting, and optimisation of the entire building. If the building has an existing VE energy model that has been maintained up to this point, this can provide the basis for a digital twin approach in operation, saving considerable time and effort in the process.

Ultimately, commissioning is a crucial step in closing the performance gap between design and operation, ensuring that the time, money and effort invested in designing and implementing building retrofits do not go to waste. If you’d like to learn more, you read more in our free guide: Energy Modelling for Retrofit: A Best Practice Approach to Decarbonising Existing Buildings. 

You can also check out the resources on our Net-Zero Retrofit page or watch our on-demand Energy Modelling & Data Analytics for Net-Zero Retrofit webinar for further insights and recommendations from the IES Consulting team.