Building Electrification Commissioning

Originally Aired 10/12/2023
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Presented By:
Brendon Mattis, PE, CxA, LEED AP, Engineering Economics
Brendon Mattis started his career working in the design and construction group at the University of Missouri in the early 1990’s with an interest in energy conservation and how buildings really work. This interest led him to Seattle Washington to begin his career in building commissioning with EEI. With 30 years of experience delving deeply into how buildings work, he has learned many lessons the hard way. Hopefully today we can share some stories, concepts, and ideas to move the building performance forward.
Building electrification is the application of electrical solutions to space and process heating, including domestic hot water, in place of traditional fossil fuels. The goal of electrification is to eliminate the carbon dioxide emissions from carbon-based fuels (a.k.a. decarbonization) from the building energy sector and requires concurrent transformation of grid electricity generation to carbon free sources. Commissioning is critical to building electrification, beginning with reviewing/commenting on Owner’s Project Requirements and including system performance, reliability, maintainability, and resiliency objectives. This presentation will address the commissioning role in building electrification, explore case studies, and highlight challenges and opportunities. Nationally, 62% of electricity is currently generated from fossil fuels, providing about 1 unit of electrical output for 3 units of fuel energy input; source carbon must be considered to understand electrification impact on emissions. To ensure near term emissions reduction, electrification projects should first employ load reduction and energy efficiency strategies, and then apply systems that most efficiently utilize the required electrical input, avoiding electric resistance heating. Critical for electrification, heat pumps extract heat from low-grade sources, can provide 3 or more units of heat output per unit of electrical energy input, and may also displace some cooling energy input for simultaneous cooling needs. Applying heat electrical energy input, and may also displace some cooling energy input for simultaneous cooling needs. Applying heat pumps in cold climates can be challenging, as capacity and temperature output decreases with lower source temperatures, yet higher output is required for peak winter design capacity; high temperature requirements for older existing systems present additional challenges.
Learning Objectives:
Describe the goals of building electrification.
Recognize near term emissions impacts of building electrification.
Discuss the challenges of building electrification design and operations.
Identify recommended strategies for building electrification projects, including the role of commissioning.
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