Sustainability Manager, Michael Koman will finish his tenure this fall at the University of South Carolina. To highlight his accomplishments over his 15 years of service, he shared his last lecture on how the University of South Carolina's green building program has evolved over his tenure. He discussed the history of green buildings on the Columbia campus and the role LEED has played in moving the campus to its current status. The process, impact and performance of the program showed some pretty impressive numbers, including the new Darla Moore School of Business. The Darla Moore school boasts an impressive 48% more energy efficient, and 41.5% more water efficient compared to conventional building.
Michael discussed the need to incorporate energy efficiency modeling into the design process early on and making sure these measures are incorporated into construction. He also mentions the need for ensuring staffing for maintenance is incorporated into new construction, and ensuring staff has the knowledge and skills to maintain the systems in place. The Darla Moore school has included these measures.
Recomissioning was mentioned as an important part of maintenance. Funding building recommisioning can bring aging equipment back up to the level upon which it was originally intended, and save lots of operational dollars.
Importance of Re-Commissioning
Two reasons buildings systems need to be Re-Commissioned:
- From day one the building systems are not operating properly/efficiently as intended due to inadequate building automation system programming.
- Over time (typically years) control points within the building automation system have been adjusted several times as “BandAid” fixes. The original set points therefore have been custom.
The University will continue to uphold the LEED Silver state mandate for new construction and renovations and incorporate ASHRAE 189.1 into new construction.
We wish Michael the best of luck!