Energy Services for Healthy Buildings

Energy Audits

A detailed energy audit is the first step toward identifying conservation opportunities and creating a road map for implementation. By completing a holistic review of building operations and systems, the audit helps building owners and operators meet energy and water reduction goals that can lead to lowered operating expenses, reduced demand and consumption, increased occupant comfort, decreased maintenance needs, and optimized building systems.  

UL Solutions’ ASHRAE Level 1, Level 2 and Level 3 audits are based on the level of detail needed and produce user friendly reports with actionable items. The audit reports are customized to meet client needs whether it be for a green building certification, jurisdictional/state requirement, or a stand-alone study for best practices.

Retro and Re-Commissioning Services (RCx)

Retro and re-commissioning (RCx) is the process of assessing existing building systems and performance with the goal of lowering resource consumption. Using a comprehensive and science-backed RCx process — a methodical approach developed to evaluate, document and improve base building system operations — UL Solutions’ certified commissioning agents (CxA) will work on optimization of existing controls, calibration of critical sensors and functional testing equipment resulting in lower utility costs, better operating performance and improved IEQ.

UL Solutions can conduct a feasibility study to determine which facilities are best suited to undergo an RCx effort and to what level. Our deep expertise in building systems operations, facility services and management analysis allow us to identify those buildings with greater RCx opportunities, helping property owners/portfolio managers make informed business decisions to properly allocate financial resources.

Ventilation Assessments for Indoor Air Quality

UL Solutions will perform a comprehensive ventilation study of your building’s HVAC systems. The American Society of Heating, Refrigerating, and Air-Conditioning Engineers (ASHRAE) Standard 62.1 is a widely accepted standard to ensure the amount of air delivered in buildings by HVAC systems is sufficient to support acceptable indoor air quality (IAQ). 

The introduction of outside air into an occupied space is critical to ensuring occupant health, safety, and productivity. Proper engineering controls, such as confirming adequate ventilation rates, can help reduce airborne contaminant transmission and manage IAQ. Meeting ASHRAE 62.1 ventilation standards is one of the most cost-effective safeguards and mitigation techniques building owners and operators can employ. ASHRAE Standard 62.1 outlines the minimum ventilation rates and other measures intended to provide IAQ that is acceptable to human occupants and minimizes adverse health effects.

UL Solutions’ engineering team will work with your onsite to calculate requirements, measure ventilation rates and assist in adjusting HVAC system set points to meet and maintain outside air settings and comply with the standard or building needs. UL Solutions’ ventilation assessments provide information regarding the current operating conditions and system capacities for air changes per hour (ACH). 

Energy and Water Benchmarking Services

Benchmarking documents a building’s energy and water consumption for comparison to buildings of similar type, size and geographical location. The resulting metrics help owners and operators better understand building performance and identify opportunities to save energy and water in their facility.    

Many state and local municipalities have introduced benchmarking ordinances for reporting energy and water usage for buildings over a certain square footage, property type or location. Benchmarking ordinances are local requirements for a building to provide the previous year’s energy and/or water data to identify areas for energy efficiency. Buildings that fail to report their energy or water usage in time can face monetary penalties and/or public disclosure in certain municipalities. 

Click here to view if your city, county or state has ordinance requirements.

Learn how you can prepare for ordinance reporting in your area. For more information on benchmarking tools and implementing energy efficient strategies in your building, contact UL Solutions today.

Commissioning (Cx) Services

Every building can benefit from a systematic commissioning (Cx) process. Beginning in the design phase and continuing post-occupancy, Cx is a methodical process to help ensure new buildings are designed, built and operated to achieve increasingly stringent performance targets and owner’s project requirements.

Working as a third-party, owner’s representative, UL Solutions can confirm all project work is meeting the Owner’s Project Requirements (OPR) and Basis of Design (BOD) criteria with an objective eye independent of the project team.

UL Solutions provides commissioning services for new construction, tenant improvements/major renovations and building envelope projects. 

Monitor Based Commissioning (MBCx)

UL Solutions will assist the owner, general contractor (GC) and controls vendor throughout the design and construction process. We help develop monitor-based commissioning procedures and identify points to be measured and evaluated to assess the performance of newly installed energy and water consuming systems within the project or building. Continuous, real-time monitoring allows for continuous system optimization and provides tools and data to the building operating teams to help ensure peak building performance.

Energy Modeling

UL Solutions provides our customers with whole building energy modeling services for the project to be used as a basis for energy usage and decisions making. When incorporated early in the iterative design process, designers and engineers can use an energy model to help make strategic decisions that maximize system efficiency without compromising performance. UL Solutions’ modeling services can help you meet green building certifications and code compliance, utility and financial incentives, and help make tactical building construction decisions.