Retrospective Testing of an Automated Building Commissioning Analysis Tool (ABCAT)

Commissioning services have proven successful in reducing building energy consumption, but the optimal energy performance obtained by commissioning may subsequently degrade. Automated Building Commissioning Analysis Tool (ABCAT), which combines a calibrated simulation with diagnostic techniques, is a simple and cost efficient tool that can help maintain the optimal building energy performance after building commissioning. It can continuously monitor whole building energy consumption, warn operation personnel when an HVAC system problem has increased energy consumption, and assist them in identifying the possible cause(s) of the problem. This paper presents the results of a retrospective implementation of ABCAT on five buildings, each of which has at least three years of post-commissioning daily energy consumption data, on the Texas A&M University campus. The methodology of ABCAT is reviewed and the implementation process of ABCAT on one building is specifically illustrated. Eighteen faults were detected in 15 building-years of consumption data with a defined fault detection standard. The causes of some of the detected faults are verified with historical documentation. The remaining fault diagnoses remain unconfirmed due to data quality issues and incomplete information on maintenance performed in the buildings.