Hall of Shame

The following photos of energy-wasting problems discovered in real buildings are drawn from the commissioning literature. Submit your examples!

Close-up of wiring

Exhaust fan hardwired always-on [1]

An open glass door in the freezer section of a grocery store with an arrow pointing to rust.

Rust is symptom of poor anti-condensation heating control setpoints in supermarket [2]

Humidity past a condensing cooling coil.

Active humidification downstream of a condensing cooling coil at cleanroom facility [3]

Broken actuator arm on damper of multizone unit, elementary school.

Zone damper actuator arm broken - no temperature control [4]

Left: Plugged filter; Right: Condensation on bottom of FCU and damage to ceiling tile

Plugged filter causing condensation on bottom of fan coil unit and damage to insulation coil and poor air flow [4]

Inadequate cooling and excessive fan power consumption due to poor fit between light troffer diffusers and duct boot provided by a different supplier, allowing up to 25% of flow at diffuser to bypass directly into ceiling plenum. Highrise office tower.

Inadequate fan cooling and excessive fan power due to poor fit between light fixture and ducting, resulting in significant duct leakage [4]

A blue wall with two sections at the base where gray tubes pass through. Black arrows point to various locations where there is an air leakage.

Air leakage in an underfloor air-distribution system [5]

A view of the ceiling of a room with four sets of hanging electric lights. Photosensor looks directly at the electric lights.

Photosensor (for harvesting daylighing) "sees" the electric lights, so never turns off [6]

A photosensor mounted on a wall above a row of windows. A large duct crosses in front of the photosensor.

Photosensor (for daylight harvesting) shaded by duct [6]

Mold behind wallpaper on a portion of a wall below three windows.

Building envelope moisture entry [7]

Moisture damage to a section of wall next to a door.

Building envelope moisture entry [7]

Moisture damage on a ceiling tile.

Building envelope moisture entry [7]

envelopeHot water valve motion impeded by piping [8]

envelope leakageDamage to brick facade of pool building as indication of improper sealing and air flow management

Hot water isolation valve (center) dangerously closed [9]

Sources

[1] Mittal, V. and M. hammond. "Evolution of Commissioning within a School District: Provider and Owner/Operator's Perspectives." 2008. Presented at the National Conference on Building Commissioning, April 23.

[2] Sellers, D. and J. Zazzara. 2004. "Supermarket Commissioning; Designing, Operating, and Maintaining Peak Efficiency," Presentation, September 28.

[3] Sellers, D. no date. "The AHU from Hell." Presentation to ASHRAE Inland Empire Chapter.

[4] Provided by Martha Hewett, MNCEE.

[5] Stum, K. 2008. "Underfloor Air Distribution Systems and their Commissioning," Presented at the National Conference on Building Commissioning, April 23.

[6] Deringer, J. 2008. "Daylighting Systems - Commissioning (CxDL) to Avoid/Fix Problems," Presented at the National Conference on Building Commissioning, April 23, 2008.

[7] Aldous, F. 2008. "Building Enclosure Commissioning: What's the Big Deal?" Presented at the National Conference on Building Commissioning, April 23.

[8] EMC Engineers, Inc. no date. "Commissioning: GSU Information Technology Building," Company fact sheet.

[9] Courtesy of Philip G. Saoud, PE, Peter Basso Associates, Inc.