EE&D was contracted by DCAMM in August 2013 to provide retro-commissioning services for the Massachusetts Department of Environmental Protection’s Senator William X. Wall Experiment Station (Wall Lab) project.

The four-year, two-phase Wall Lab construction project renovated the historic 22,000-square-foot facility and expanded the lab by an additional 13,000 square feet, achieving a LEED Platinum certification.  Substantial completion of the project was in June 2011.

However; in 2012 the facility consumed 48% more energy than predicted by the LEED energy model, the building occupants were not comfortable, and there was a history of high maintenance costs due to HVAC system alarms.

While the building was commissioned during construction, to ensure all systems operated as specified, we found that the many systems did not work together to serve the mission of the facility in the most efficient manner.  As an example, all of the many lab hood exhaust systems provided the specified volume of exhaust air, but they provided the maximum amount of air at all times, not only when needed.

Other Retro-commissioning findings:

• The main chilled water valve frequently got stuck in the full open position resulting in over cooling and the need for reheat.
• There was no night set back schedule, no hot water reset or supply air temperature reset.
• Several air dampers and hot or chilled water valves did not operate as indicated.
• The main outside airflow station did not report the correct air flow, resulting in excess outside air, building pressurization issues, and wasted energy.
• A higher than specified exhaust air duct static pressure setting causing the building to be drawn into a negative pressure.
• Conflicting airflow control logic between the supply air and the exhaust air.
• Redundant exhaust fans operating simultaneously also causing negative pressure in the building.
• Unrealistic airflow differential settings resulting in an average of 21 CFM alarms per day.

• Retro-Commissioning