Refrigerant management best practices should include clear and simple procedures for recording and collecting refrigerant recharge data for each piece of equipment.
Equipment that contains less than 0.5 pounds of refrigerant is not considered part of the base building system and is exempt from this prerequisite. Examples may include small HVAC units, standard refrigerators, and small water coolers.
Take a holistic approach to lighting upgrades. In addition to improving controllability, consider improvements and trade-offs related to comfortable light levels and color temperatures, efficiency and performance, mercury content, and other factors. There may be easy, low-cost opportunities to do things like install more efficient lamps and upgrade fixtures.
Since the credit sets a very achievable threshold, also consider additional opportunities to enhance building performance and occupant comfort. For example, add lighting zones based on specific types of visual tasks and the availability of natural daylight and consider dimming or “stepped” lighting systems tied to daylighting sensors.
The ASHRAE Level I Walkthrough evaluates a building’s energy performance and energy consumption by analyzing building energy bills and conducting a brief visual survey. You’ll need to gather energy consumption data for the entire building to derive performance indicators and identify low-cost and no-cost opportunities and capital improvement measures to improve overall performance.
Ensure that all relevant building personnel have access to operational documentation. Put documentation online in a company intranet site or organize all documents in a binder that is readily available in the appropriate office.
Develop and maintain an annual review procedure to update these operational documents. Specify the personnel who should be involved, and define the types of events that should trigger updates outside the review cycle. These events may include, but are not limited to:
Changes in space uses
Changes in occupancy levels
Installation of new systems
Commissioning activities or changes to mechanical equipment that occur after occupant feedback or monitoring system alarm.
You may have documentation of existing operating procedures, but there’s no guarantee that the existing documentation reflects actual practice. Gather feedback and input from all relevant personnel to capture information that may better codify or improve proper building operations as well as informing the submittal documents. You may find unwritten rules—“that’s just how we’ve always done things”—that have a big impact (good or bad) on building performance.
