In an economy in which many companies are “circling the wagons” and trying to save as much money as possible, it may seem that building retrocommissioning would be a tough sell. However, by focusing on the long-term benefits of the process — cost savings being high on that list — contractors can help building owners and managers realize that now may be the most logical time for retrocommissioning.

“People are focusing on their operational costs. They’re wondering if there’s any way they can save on their utility bills, and that’s where we can step in,” says Dan Slattery, service manager, Geauga Mechanical Co., Chardon, OH.

Slattery points out to potential customers that small inefficiencies in their mechanical systems can add up to become big money wasters over time.

“Take the case of a building in which the system is bringing in too much outside air. It’s a simple fix to fine-tune the outside air settings, but every day we don’t make that simple adjustment is another day that the owner or manager is paying to heat or cool that excess air,” Slattery says.

“Also, we point out to owners how building usage and occupancy changes over time. Many buildings aren’t being used as well as they could be, and need to be tweaked by adjusting airflows, sequences, setpoints, and so forth,” he adds.

Slattery admits that it can be difficult to sell a whole-building retrocommissioning. “You’re not going to hit a home run every time, ” he says. However, Geauga Mechanical keeps an open mind and provides a free consultation to help building owners who may not be able to make a large investment with a long-term payback.

“We’ll go through the building and identify potential savings for the customer,” Slattery says. “Most people buy into the fact that there are at least some areas of their building that aren’t working right. When we can walk through and point out those areas, we may get some small ‘fixes’ to perform now, and also help customers begin to see the value of having us perform a full retrocommissioning later on.”

At Shambaugh and Son an EMCOR Company with locations in Indiana, Michigan, Illinois, and Ohio — and the 1989 ContractingBusiness.com Commercial Contractor of the Year —president and CEO Mark Shambaugh says there are two keys to his company’s ability to sell retrocommissioning.

One Source Improves Building Owner ROI
The first is its ability to provide “single source” in-house capability by combining mechanical, electrical, and temperature controls capabilities. “Being a single source provider allows you to eliminate double markups and become more competitive in improving your customer’s return on investment,” Shambaugh says. “You also gain a much stronger degree of control on scheduling, mitigating change orders from subcontractors, and reducing overall owner risks for successful delivery on the project.”

The second key, Shambaugh says, is to demonstrate to the building owner that your retrocommissioning delivers on its promise of energy savings and an improved indoor environment. This may mean upgrading the measurement and verification software that your company uses to track its energy conservation measures.