Resources Archives - Page 18 of 25 - Smart Buildings Center

Information Session on PSE’s Four Commissioning Programs

November 4, 2021 By SBC staff

Please join PSE on November 18th at 12 noon as PSE and Resource Innovations (previously Nexant), PSE’s third-party outreach team, host a 60-minute refresher of PSE’s Four Commissioning Programs. Receive program updates on Existing Building Commissioning (EBCx), Monitoring-Based Commissioning (MBCx), Building Tune-Up and Post-Occupancy Commissioning.

Topics Include:

Overview of the challenges we are hearing from CxPs
Discussion of:
- PSE pre-application customer support
- RI guidance on the appropriate track or PSE program for the customer
- RI application and deliverable support
- Program Flyers
- Clean Buildings Standard (HB1257) timeline from customer’s perspective
- Suggestions?
Review of PSE’s Service Provider requirements to participate
Q&A

PSE and Resource Innovations look forward to working with you and your customers in these exciting commissioning programs.

Register Here

Get Paid to Comply with Seattle Tune-Ups Requirement

November 4, 2021 By SBC staff

Via Seattle City Light’s Monitoring-Based Commissioning Incentive Program

A great way to satisfy the Building Tune-Ups requirements is to comply via the Ongoing Commissioning (OCx) Alternative Compliance pathway. Seattle City Light recently launched their Monitoring-Based Commissioning (MBCx) incentive program for eligible buildings. Clients that complete the MBCx program for their buildings can receive up to $4,000 for the assessment and $0.25 per square feet of conditioned space for the Cx phase while complying with the Building Tune-Ups ordinance. Learn more at the link below.

Monitoring Based Commissioning Incentive Overview

Case Study – O’Brien360, LEED® v4.1 O+M

September 23, 2021 By SBC staff

Our latest case study features a LEED Certification project for Kitsap Community Resources’ Child Development Center in Bremerton, WA. O’Brien360 managed the LEED Certification process and utilized an airflow capture hood from the Smart Buildings Center Tool Lending Library to measure ventilation flow rates within the building. Download the case study to learn more about the project, improvements made, and lessons learned.

Premiere Issue of Smart Buildings Technology

June 29, 2021 By SBC staff

The Premiere issue of Smart Buildings Technology is now available – read about a healthy return to the workplace, smart building assessments, data network design and more!

Click here to access the issue

Check Out Our New Tool Library Video Tutorials – on the SBC YouTube Channel!

June 22, 2021 By SBC staff

With support from Puget Sound Energy, Seattle City Light, and Washington State Department of Commerce, the Smart Buildings Center (SBC) has developed a new video training series demonstrating practical applications of some of the tools available in SBC’s Tool Lending Library for providing healthier air while maintaining energy-efficiency. These topics are especially relevant to occupying buildings during and post-pandemic. Videos in the series include:

Healthier Air in Buildings: Tools and Strategies
This video gives an overview of the tools available for testing air flow, pressure, and CO2 levels in relation to preventing the spread of airborne infectious disease, increasing occupant comfort, and maintaining energy-efficient HVAC systems.
Verifying Ventilation System Effectiveness Using a Flow Hood
This video demonstrates how to use a flow hood to test air velocity going through a grill to determine the ventilation system effectiveness, in this case for restroom exhaust. Calculating air changes per hour is also discussed.
Assessing Air Pressure in Buildings
This video demonstrates how to use a digital pressure gauge and/or air flow meter to determine zonal or building pressure relative to another zone or to the outdoors.
CO2 Measurement for Healthier Air in Buildings
In this video, we discuss the use of CO2 monitoring and data logging equipment to help approximate how well a space is being ventilated with fresh air over time, including a demonstration of graphed data analysis.

These tools and many more are available for short term rental – (for free!) at the Smart Buildings Center website. Follow us on our YouTube Channel for additional video tutorials and other smart buildings content!

The South Landing Development: Inspiring Tenant Engagement

March 30, 2021 By SBC staff

The following case study is provided courtesy of BetterBricks

The actions of building occupants can impact how building systems run, especially if they are adapting to their environments in ways that negatively impact the overall building performance (i.e., covering sensors, adjusting or altering thermostats, bringing space heaters to the office, etc.). Training and actively engaging with building occupants can empower them to contribute to the performance goals of a building. Behavioral change programs or tenant engagement programs are becoming widely applied to achieve energy savings by teaching building occupants how to properly engage with their environments.

A tenant engagement program is a social intervention plan or campaign that encourages the occupants of a given building to participate in positive energy behaviors by using energy-efficient strategies [1]. In buildings with ambitious energy-performance targets, like the Catalyst building at the South Landing development in Spokane, Wash., engaging occupants through education and behavioral change is especially important to reach and maintain energy efficiency targets through the lifespan of a building. Engagement additionally can leverage individual motivations, green-lease agreements, or incentives to attract participation.

Behavior-based energy efficiency (BEE) programs are becoming widely adopted by utilities and are a source of energy savings as more energy-efficient technologies are adopted [2]. Utility BEE programs consist of strategies that increase energy-efficient behaviors through targeted interventions and information delivery [3], but ultimately are designed to engage with residential customers [4, 5]. Utility motivations to reduce energy consumption stems from the costs of energy production and reducing environmental impacts [6], but little has been done to understand how to engage with building occupants who do not directly pay for their consumption [7-9].

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