Question 1
The case study is a mixed development which is a 30-story commercial development comprising an office block and a four-story retail podium with two basement levels located in downtown Singapore. This mixed development is accessible by road and MRT station. The retail podium is almost fully occupied and is a prime shopping and dining destination for locals, the working crowd in the surrounding office developments, and tourists.

The office block is of Grade-A office space and is leased to several multinational corporations and local companies.

The ACMV system had been served by two water-cooled centrifugal chillers. Facility Management had installed Building energy systems which are somewhat outdated. The building has an energy management system (EMS) that is not connected to all building energy systems and is not being used in a fully functional way. The monthly energy billings for tenants are in agreed proportion in the tenancy agreements. From the utility/energy billing data, it appears that the building has a peak cooling load in May and October.

Nearly 5 years ago, this building underwent a minor renovation. This renovation included installing a Direct Digital Control (DDC) energy management control system t control the variable air volume (VAV) ACMV system and lighting and a variable speed drive (VSD) for the chilled water system. The building was not commissioned as part of the renovation.

This commercial building had 16 lifts installed dating back to the building that was built in the 2000s. No lift modernization program was involved in the major changes except the replacement of lift hoisting ropes and hoisting motors.

An O&M assessment was performed after the renovation since the building energy bills seemed higher than expected. As a result of the assessment, a few  O&M-related problems including system and equipment operation deficiency were identified. It was also determined that most of these problems had been present since the renovation.

The commercial building is managed by an in-house team for daily system operation and periodic/scheduled maintenance work. Specialized services like lift maintenance, fire alarm system, and BMS are performed by vendors and service providers.

You are the Building Manager of this mixed development. You have observed the existing physical system operation and conditions for quite a while. Study the case and apply for the course materials that you had learned from units 1 to 6 of this course,

(a) Appraise the energy management system in the commercial building operation and examine the challenges of effective implementation of the energy monitoring and measures to achieve the required energy saving. Your analysis should include but not be limited to the following:

• Identify the equipment/system for energy improvement, the potential for energy saving, reduction of energy cost, etc
• Examine and identify techniques used for energy improvement to monitor the
  energy consumption and propose the approach of energy conservation
  techniques.
  Propose and formulate approaches to monitor and meter the energy usage and consumption pattern.

(b) Good preventive maintenance practices are important to prolong the equipment’s life span and the sustainability of building operation. A holistic approach does not only include a conditions assessment that looks at maintenance issues and practices but also includes a thorough operations assessment.

• Examine how well the building control strategies, sequences of equipment
  operations, Mechanical & Electrical equipment performance efficiency
  trending and lighting control will improve building system operation and
  equipment performance.
• Being a building energy professional, propose smart analytic
  techniques you would recommend analyzing in the building.