Energy Efficient Buildings | Recommissioning

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Case Study - Office Building: CRA Building, Victoria (BC)

About 345 occupants work daily at the CRA Building, a 5-storey building of 8,175 m² built in 1995 and located at the Selkirk Waterfront in Victoria. The building houses a number of provincial government ministry tenants, including BC’s forest fire command centre, which operates 24/7 during the peak fire season. Annual energy consumption was about $150,000 before the RCx was done. When completed in 2008, the RCx, focusing mainly on the following electromechanical systems, had reduced the bill by 26%:

it examined mainly the following electromechanical systems:

Two natural gas boilers of 325 kW each (33 hp)
Two air handling units totalizing 39,200 L/s (83,000 CFM)
Two chillers totalizing 80 tons

An Excellent Candidate for RCx!

Despite the fact that this is a relatively new building with well maintained systems, the RCx project showed surprising results:

Energy savings were more than double the initial projection, in particular because of new discoveries during implementation phase
Improvements to tenant comfort were greater than expected and had reduced the number of complaints
The RCx project helped to achieve BOMA BESt environmental certification

Results

Energy savings¹ (60% natural gas and 40% electricity): 3,042 GJ/year (30%)
Monetary savings²: $39,000/year
GHG reduction (equivalent to 30 cars): 164 t of CO₂e/year
Simple payback³: 1.9 year

Cost Breakdown

RCx winning measures		Annual savings
1	Simultaneous heating and cooling Systems were consuming large quantities of natural gas during the summer months. Outdoor air lockout with a temperature prediction algorith was installed to lonk out heating systems during warmer weather. Cost: $6,400 \| Payback: 1.1 year	529 GJ/year $5,800/year
2	Optimization of variable air volume (VAV) systems Adjusted minimum flows and controller logic on each VAV box optimized oêration and limited the use of excessive ventilation. Cost: $3,200 \| Payback: 0.8 year	380 GJ/year $4,085/year
3	Reset of air temperature supply Supply air temperature reset program implemented. Cost: $1,500 \| Payback: 0.5 year	250 GJ/year $2,750/year
	11 other RCx measures Cost: $49,400 \| Payback: 1.9 year	1,883 GJ/year $26,365/year

NB: Costs and paybacks include only implementation phase materials and labour.

A Triple Win Project

"We have been overwhelmingly satisfied with the energy upgrade project SES Consulting implemented at the CRA Building. It resulted in lower operating costs, while simultaneously reducing the building’s environmental impact and enhancing our tenants’ satisfaction and pride in the building."

Karen Jawl, Project Manager

Jawl Properties Ltd.

Victoria (BC), Canada

Free Tools and Guides

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To learn more about CanmetENERGY's activities related to building operation, visit the Building Operation Optimization section of the website.

Stakeholders

Building owner and manager: Jawl Properties Ltd.
RCx consultant: SES Consulting
Collaborator: BC Hydro

¹ Savings verified by an independent third party in accordance with the International Performance Monitoring & Verification Protocol (IPMVP) and standardized according to weather conditions.
² Monetary savings do not include non-energy impacts (NEIs) such as extended service life of equipment or increased comfort for tenants.
³ Includes all costs for the 4 phases of the project.

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